《Arranged Marriage To The Princess Of The Red Scorpions》
Chapter 1 - Two Weeks
Samuel stared at the clock in the ssroom, it was half two which meant he only had half an hour left.
stifling a yawn, he tried to focus on what teacher was saying, but his mind kept wandering. He would be graduating high school and in two weeks he''d be turning eighteen. He hadn''t decided yet if he should be excited or worried.
He ran a hand through his short brown hair. Where most of his friends and peers were excited to be eighteen because it meant freedom and ''being an adult'' Samuel felt an unusual burden about it.
Eighteen didn''t mean freedom for him, it actually signaled the end of his freedom thanks to his parents. Once he turned eighteen or perhaps after he graduated, he''d be stepping into an arranged marriage. His parents didn''t try to hide it from him as they thought it would be better for him to know early on so it didn''t shock him so badly when he was 18.
He had thought about it a lot growing, what kind of person would this girl be, would she want to be with him, what did it mean for his life after that and so on. No matter how much he thought about it though, he couldn''t be upset with his parents because he understood the circumstances. Besides, they were always very good to him and his younger siblings and made sure they couldn''t want for anything as long as it was in their capabilities.
Samuel had his own dreams he wanted to follow, such as getting into college and bing a mathematician. He hadn''t given up on this dream yet because he did consider the fact that maybe whoever this girl was wouldn''t have a problem with him going to college..After all, they''d both only be 18 with plenty of time to get used to each other before deciding on kids and such.
He didn''t realize how much he had spaced out until he felt an eraser hit the back of his head seconds before the bell went off.
"Dude, I was trying to get your attention for thest five minutes." His best friend Roger huffed as he approached the others desk, already having packed his school stuff before the teacher dismissed.
"Sorry I''ve been a bit distracted." Samuel apologized as he started putting his books and other things back into his backpack.
"Really I couldn''t tell at all." the other replied sarcastically. "Got marriage on your mind?" he asked as they walked out of the ssroom after everyone else had already left. Roger was the only friend he had let in on the secret and only because the guy wouldn''t stop bothering about why he never had a girlfriend or seemed interested.
They made an odd pair of friends for anyone who saw them. Samuel was the charming studious looking type while Roger was the jock who yed running back for the schools football team and looked every bit the jock type but cared a bit more about studying than others around.
"Well I only have two weeks left at most before I''ll be meeting her." Samuel replied with a sigh.
"Maybe we should throw you a special after graduation party. You know maybe inviting some friends, somedies, I even know where to get some alcohol." He smirked at the end of his offer.
"You know my parents would never allow it. I don''t mind some kind of graduation celebration but keep it pg.13 otherwise my parents will ban me from ever going out again even if my future partner doesn''t care."
"What they don''t know, can''t hurt them." Roger offered causing Samuel to give him a wry smile. If only he knew the full truth of the situation, he might think different.
"Nice try, but let''s keep it to bowling and dinner with some friends, preferably respectable friends."
"You offend me, all my friends are respectable fellows even if you don''t know them." He rolled his eyes at the jock, they both knew that was debatable, but Roger liked to pretend they were decent people since they were nice to him and never got him in trouble.
"Right, keep thinking that. I need to get home so call meter and try to change my mind. You only got a few days left to do it." He shouted at the other as he stepped into the car and shut the door and as the other gave him a wave in response.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 2 - Letter
"I''m home!" Samuel shouted as he opened the front. The first thing to greet his presence was a white, ck, and gray fluff ball who scampered towards him as fast as they could. "Yes Pepper, I''m happy to see you too." He picked up the wag whose tail was wagging as fast as it possible could while trying to reach the man''s face with its little pink tongue.
Pepper was some mixed breed or other of dog that someone had dropped off by his parents house a few years ago and had decided to adopt them. His parents being the soft hearted people they were couldn''t deny him when he''d asked if they could keep him since he evidentially didn''t have another owner.
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"Come to the dining room." He heard his father shout causing Samuel to frown as he set the dog down. The dining room was only used as a meeting ce during this time of day if there was something important that they need to discuss.
Entering the dining room he saw both his parents sitting at the table, his father a letter in hand looking very focused, his mother looked worried which caused the wrinkles on her pale face to be more apparent.
His parents were only in theirte thirties as they had Samuel when they were rather young, but stress had caused them to look older than they actually were. His father''s brown hair was speckled with gray hairs that could be only really be seen when he was out in the sun or in a well lit from and his mother had more wrinkles and stress lines than she should for someone her age.
"What''s up?" He asked causing them to both look up at him. His mom offered him a smile and motioned for him to sit in the chair opposite of them.
"We know you''re graduating in a few days son and I''m sure there''s something you''d like to do to celebrate, but it looks like we might have to n on doing some of them beforehand." His father exined as he held the letter out to his soon. Samuel didn''t have to guess who the letter was from as he took it from his father. The paper and seal told him everything he needed to know even before he started reading. His parents had received a number of letters such as these over the years though he had never really been allowed to read them except for a few peeks whenever his parents were discussing the contents and how to reply.
Samuel took his time reading the letter as he tried to get a feel for the man who he knew would soon be his father-inw. From what he could tell the man didn''t seem to be overly unfair or mean despite his parents position, instead his response were more of a polite nature akin to how someone would write to an acquaintance they were fond of.
"So he wants me to take some time to meet his daughter before we turn eighteen?"
"He thinks it would be for the best to make sure everything will work out okay ahead of the wedding." his mother exin, nervously tapping her right foot.
"But what does that mean for you guys?" Samuel asked, handing the letter back over to his father.
"We''ll be fine. It would only be for a week after all and then I''m sure we''ll be invited toe up there to discuss the marriage afterwards." his father assured.
"More importantly, are you going to be alright with this? I''m sure even though you knew what was going to happen, it''s stille a lot faster than expected." His mother looked like she was about right to cry when she grabbed Samuel''srge left hand with both her much smaller ones.
"It''s only for a week now, besides I''m sure she must be a rather nice girl." Samuel replied, trying to convince them as much as he was trying to convince himself.
He was a bit disappointed that he hadn''t been given a photo of the girl who would soon be his bride. Growing up he had always wondered when he was much younger if it would turn out that the girl he''d eventually end up marrying would turn out to be someone he knew but as he got older, he determined more and more that such a thing probably wasn''t.
"I''ll write him backter, but for now I think it''s time we ate dinner. Once we are done Samuel, you can tell us what you''d like to do in this uing days before you graduate." Samuel nodded his head in agreement with his father. Even if he was slightly concerned about what the future would hold for him once he meet his future bride, he decided right then not to let the letter take away from him enjoy his current with his family.
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Chapter 3 - Graduation And Preparing To Leave
Over the days leading up to his graduation from high school, Samuel didn''t let the letter, or the limited amount of time left he had with his family before he would be setting off to meet his soon-to-be bride and her family. It was a time for celebration and fun and that was exactly what he did.
He created a list of things that he wanted to do, most of them had to be done in the evening so that his younger brother and sister could join them. His father even went to go pick up his baby sister from their grandparents so that she wouldn''t miss out on the fun. He invited Roger and two of his other friends, Kimberly and James to join then for some of the outing such as when they went bowling and got pizza and visited his favorite amusement.
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? He exined the situation to Roger over the phone that night after he had gotten the letter to let him know the n had changed. On the one hand, Samuel was happy that Roger would be joining him and his family rather than Roger dragging him around to have the fun that he thought his friend should have before getting ready for the married life. It meant that he wouldn''t have to worry about anything going wrong.
While Samuel had been given a lot of freedom growing up, his parents had still been cautious about what they allowed him to do. He was never barred from going on field trips or simr school events that urred, but he was limited in what sports he could take part in out of fear that he might end up getting hurt. He was taught things such as swimming, self-defense and other things his parents thought were important to make sure that he would be safe and take care of himself.
Despite these things, Samuel never felt as though there was anything that he missed out on in life. His parents made sure that within reason of safety anything he was interested in he could partake in or they would go with him. Concerts, movies, amusement parks, other things such asser tag, paintball that could be done safely and did not require physical contact he was allowed to do as long as he made sure he didn''t y with anyone who would be rough with him.
He assumed that his parents were like this because despite the fact that they did not seem to know much about the girl he would be marrying, it seemed as though he still had to make regr updates and reports about him to her father. It felt a little unfair to him as Samuel would have liked some insight into what he was going to be stepping into, but he knew that there was a difference in power dynamic so it was not like his parents could really ask that much from the other since they owed him their debt.
Graduation had been great, his high school made sure as they did each year to make it a spectacr time for those who were graduating. They sted music, gave congrattions speech, made sure that student body president and vice president gave their speech along with the honor students, this included Samuel who had always made sure to keep his grades at their best despite the hard time Roger gave to him about it. Pictures were taken, party poppers went off and balloons were released. Samuel could be at least thankful that he was allowed to graduate with him family before he had to leave. He made sure to get plenty of pictures with them. After graduation, they went to go eat at one of their favorite family restaurants were he was showered with abundance of praise and congrattions from those who knew him there. The owners even gave him family a discount on their meal.
"So, you really have no idea what this girl is like?" Roger asked as he tossed the ck bowling ball, managing to sessfully hit half the pins. His parents had agreed to let him and his friends have a night to themselves to celebrate the night of their graduation as long as he made sure that he was back by a decent hour and kept them updated.
"Nope. I don''t even know what her name is or how much older or younger than she''s supposed to bepared to me. I can''t really me my parents for that thought." Samuel replied, stealing a few fries off his te before getting ready to take his turn to throw the ball. Bowling Bliss always served the best appetizers, even if they were a little overpriced.
"But like, what if she''s not your type or you don''t like her?" Roger was trying his best to wrap his head around the situation but was still failing thus far.
"I think the concern is more what if she doesn''t like me or decides that I''m unfit to marry her. If she doesn''t, I think either my parents or I are going to have to repay the money to their family, or something like that." Samuel replied sighing as he sat down. He managed to get his first strike after throwing the red bowling ball, but he still probably wouldn''t be able to overtake the other in points before the game was over.
"Isn''t this the kind of thing that usually only happens to women?" His friend Kimberly piped up, "I''m not used to hearing about guys getting forced into an arranged marriage such as this." Kimberly had asked toe with them, but more because she was bored and enjoyed thepany rather than because she wanted to y bowling. She never understood what the fun was behind throwing a such a heavy ball and pins it only managed to hit only about a third of the time. She was of Roger''s friend as she was into cheer leading and hanged around more of the popr kids. She had straight long blonde hair and dressed in such a way that showed that she came from a fairly well off family, but that she was not a snob.
"It''s only because of how things turned out. It was expected that his child was going to be a son and my parents were going to have a daughter, but it turned out the exact opposite. He didn''t call the deal off however apparently because he wanted to give his daughter the option to approve or deny it himself." Samuel exined watching as his friend managed to hit a strike, fisting pumping in the air as he watched his points go up on the led screen that showed their scores. His phone suddenly pinged in his pocket, pulling it out he saw that it was from his parents, reminding him that he needed to be home soon so he could get a good night of sleep before he had to leave tomorrow.
"Still, it''s a bit weird of a situation." Kimberly mused.
"It is what it is, it''s not like I can do anything about it. It''s time for me to get going anyways. My parents are going to worry if I do not head home soon since I have to leave tomorrow. I''m sure I''ll be able to take to you guys still even while I''m there and let you know how it is." Samuel assured. He quickly finished his food, allowed Roger to win the game as he was going to anyways and gave hugs and quick words of departure before leaving while his friends decided that they were going to stick around a while longer as Roger had called some of his other friends toe by once Samuel had left.
Tomorrow it was going to be time for him to leave and Samuel was doing his best to convince himself that it was going to turn out to be a better experience than his gut was telling him. The girl he assumed couldn''t have been that bad despite the kind of family she grew up in.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 4 - Towards A New Home
Morning hade quicker than he had expected as he awoke to sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door. He mumbled a e in'' as he sat up and moved his hair out of his eyes. ncing at his clock he saw that it was only six thirty in the morning, a time that was much earlier than he was used to waking up at even to get to school.
His mother was the one who entered his room, she had a nervous smile on her face as she closed the door behind her.
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"I am sorry to wake you up so early dear, but we have an unexpected guest. He says that for you to arrive at the home you will be staying by a decent hour you will need to leave sooner than expected." She told him as she took a seat at the bottom of his bed.
"My future father-inw?" Samuel asked surprised to hear that someone hade to pick him up.
"No, it seems to just be a driver, but it still won''t hurt for you to mind your manners while we eat breakfast. Your father is talking with him right now. Please be quick though." His mother patted his and before standing up and walking out of the room.
"Well this is certain unexpected." He mumbled under his breath as he got out of bed. Having taken a shower the night before, he quickly freshened up and chose to put on one of his more formal outfits which consisted of a dark blue polo and a ck pair of cks. Making a good first impression never hurt his parents had always told him.
Steeling himself he exited his room and made sure that a smile was on his face as he made his way down the stairs and into the living room where he saw his father sitting in his recliner while a man he didn''t know sat on the sofa petting Pepper who seemed to ept the unfamiliar man and his attention.
"And here he is now." Samuel''s father announced as he motioned for his son to enter the room as the stranger turned to look at him. Standing up, the stranger walked over to the young man and extended his hand for a shake.
"It''s an honor to meet the future young sir." He said, giving Samuel a much firmer handshake than he had expected. The man looked to be a few years older than his father with rougher hands and appearance that spoke of someone who was used to doing hard physical work, but the smile on his face told him the other was most likely not a mean person. There was a noticeable scar next to his right eye that Samuel tried not to think about. "You may call me Clive. I was granted the honor today of joining you for breakfast before making sure that you are safely driven to where the Princess is waiting for you." He didn''t miss how Clive had called the girl who would soon be his wife ''princess ''but didn''t darement on it. Instead, he gave a polite greeting.
"It is an honor to meet as well, Clive. Thank you for taking your time toe out here and pick me up. You didn''t need to imposition yourself though."
"Oh, it is truly an honor. Besides, the Boss would probably have someone''s head if we didn''t make sure the young sir arrived safely under our care." The manughed as he spoke. Samuel and his father followed inughing lightly as well. Despite theughter, the change in the heaviness in the air made it clear that Clive was only half joking. Before more conversation could take, Samuel''s mom came into the living room to let them know breakfast was ready.
Breakfast wasn''t as tense as Samuel had expected it to be. Clive was a much moreid back and talkative person that he had expected. While he didn''t find out much more about the girl he would be marrying, he did exin things such as how he would still be able tomunicate with his friends and family over the week, he would have his own room that was located right next to hers but they wouldn''t yet be allowed to spend any nights together without her father''s permission. He had free reign to explore the ce he would be living except for a few areas he said were off-limits until after the wedding. He even humored Samuel by answering some of his mor quirky questions about what to expect.
Samuel had hoped that the interaction had helped take some of the stress off his parents about where he would be going and what to expect. His mom was the quietest over breakfast and it was evident that she was not ready for this morning to be here already but that there was nothing that she could do about it except to hope that everything worked out okay and whoever her son would be marrying would treat him well.
Once breakfast was done, Samuel and his father went back to his room in order to pack a few things he would need for the next week since the idea was that he wouldn''t being back over the next week in order to get him used to living there. Samuel had decided to leave his car with his parents just in case they needed it since he got the feeling he wasn''t going to be driving himself around so long as he was staying with the Red Scorpions.
Once packing and everything was taken care of, Clive politely stepped out of the house to wait in the car so that Samuel could say his temporary good-byes to his family and assure them once again that he would be okay for the duration of the week and that they didn''t need to worry so much about him. He also promised that if he was able to, he would make sure to call or text them everyday to keep them updated about what was going on and how he was getting along with his future wife.
Both his parents gave him a hug. His mom cried more than he had expected her to. His father apologized again for the circumstances and said told him that if they didn''t treat him well, he would find a way to pay back the money and arrange for the marriage to be broken. He had wished his younger siblings had been there for him to see them onest time, but he figured that it would easier for his parents to exin to them that their brother had gone to spend some time with their grandparents and get some freedom after graduating high school.
Once his parents had let him go with more hugs and kisses. He headed out the door and prepared himself for whaty ahead of him. Clive was standing against the door car between the driver and back passenger door. A smile covered his face once he saw the othere out and start heading towards the car.
"Young Sir." He greeted, opening the door for him and waiting for him to be inside before closing it carefully behind him. Samuel felt a little uneasy that he was getting inside a Mercedes, especially one that looked more expensive than he could ever hope to afford in his lifetime. "Please rx and enjoy the trip, it will take us a few hours to get there. There''s music, games, movies for your entertainment, but also feel free to sleep or ask any questions that might still be on your mind until we reach our destination.
"Thank you." Samuel replied, feeling a little overwhelmed by the options. Uncertain of what to do, he decided that he would just sit back for now and enjoy the scenery on the trip. A few hours were all that were between him and the start of his new life.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 5 - Arrival And First Meeting
Samuel was jolted awake in a rather disoriented state by a voice he was unfamiliar with.
"I''m sorry to wake you up young Sir, but I assumed you''d like the full view of where you''ll be staying for the next week." Clive told him, sounding genuinely apologetic.
"No problem. Thank you, I hadn''t even realized that I fell asleep." Samuel replied, carefully rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep so he could see clearly.
The moment he sat up and looked out the front windshield of the car he became stunned speechless. Nothing he had ever thought of couldpare him to the sight that before him.
Clive was driving them towards what looked to be at least a three-story mansion, but that wasn''t all that was impressive. It appeared as though all of thend surrounding the mansion for as far as he could see based upon the fencing that was put up must have belonged the Red Scorpions. From what Samuel could see from the distance, it had to least be thirty acres in all four directions, or perhaps more.
"This¡ Does everyone live in that." Samuel asked leaning forward as he pointed at the mansion. Cliveughed at this.
"Oh goodness no young Sir, that is the house for the main family, extended rtives and necessary servants. The rest of us have our own mansion further away, but still close enough if we are needed at a moments'' notice. The Boss is very good to all of us and makes sure that we are all well taken care of provided that we remember our loyalty to him and do our jobs well."
"I am not sure I can handle all of this." He mumbled as he flopped back in his seat. He knew that the Red Scorpions being such arge group must''ve had money, but this far exceeded his expectations, in fact it made him feel rather self-conscious considering what he hade from.
"Don''t worry about it too much young Sir, it takes everyone a while to adjust once they first get here. You may wish to tidy your appearance as we are getting ready to park at the front and you will soon be in the presence of the Princess." Clive warned as the car began toe to a slow near the front of the mansion. Standing outside near the entrance were what appeared to be a butler and two maids. "No need to worry about your luggage or anything else you have brought with you. Our staff here will make sure that it is taken care and ced in your room for you to go throughter." Samuel felt a chill go up his spine when the vehicle came to a full stop. Something told him this was not going to go as smoothly as he had expected it to.
"How is this going to go?" Samuel asked as Clive stepped out and opened the door for him after a moment of exining the situation to the staff.
"The Princess should already be waiting for your arrival in the lobby. I will fetch the Boss while you two of you exchange greetings." Clive exined leading the way for the younger man to follow. With each step he was beginning to feel more and more hesitant but forced himself to keep going until he stopped outside the room that Clive opened for him. He paused for a few seconds as he through the entrance. Samuel got the feeling that he was going to just as shocked by the inside of this house as he was the outside.
He didn''t have much time to look around or get familiar with anything in his path as he was quickly ushered to the lobby herded to sit down in a chair by a maid who was quiet but came across as very nervous.
"I will be back in just a moment." Clive assured as he made his way through a door leaving Samuel in the room alone with a girl who was lounging on a futon not far from where his chair was ced. The girl didn''t open her mouth to speak, but stared at him with dull expression and pursed lips that made it look like she was highly displeased by the presence of the outsider in front of her. Samuel had to admit he felt a bit intimidated by the girl even though she looked rather small in size. Herck of size however was made up by the ck leather jacket and pants she was wearing with a studded belt that had what appeared to be a dark red scorpion on the front of it. Her hair which was a deep ruby red flowed past her shoulders and cascaded around her seeming to glow against her jacket. She had what appeared to be steel toed boots on and in her right hand she waszily tapping what appeared to some sort of stick on the ground. Samuel wasn''t sure if he should speak or not as he sat there maintaining eye contact with the girl as she continued to just stare at him. Finally after what appeared to be an eternity, she finally spoke.
"Who''s this thin twig in front of me supposed to be?" she asked, boredom in her eyes and a slight frown on her face as she poked the leg of the young man sitting in front of her. With each minute she appeared to look far less pleased than he had expected her to. Before he had a chance to speak, a much deeper voice cut through the silence to answer her question.
"This is Samuel, Lena. Your soon-to-be husband." The man who had just entered the room exined. Samuel could see that there was a slight simrity between the two so he assumed this man must''ve been her father.
"This is Sammy-boy, eh? I had been expecting something a little bit different, but I guess he does have a decent face." Samuel bit his tongue at thisment, holding back the offense he felt at her remark. A bit of a harsh remark for only having just met
"You should be nice Lena, he hase all this way to meet you before he has even turned eighteen, you could at least showing him a little bit hospitality and talk with him for a while before dinner is ready." Her father scolded as he approached the young man. "Thank you for taking the time toe all this way. I would stay and talk, but I think it is more important for you to take some time to get to know each other since dinner is almost ready and there are a few things I need to take care of." Samuel had expected the other to shake his hand, but instead the man gave him a hard pat on the shoulder as he walked past him, once again leaving him alone with the girl sitting in front of him.
"First let me make something clear, I am not doing this by choice, but since you dide this way, I will at least give you a chance." The girl spoke after a few tense seconds of her just staring at him again.
"A chance for what exactly?" Samuel asked as the girl sat up and stared at him with a much sharper look.
"To prove that you''re worthy of being my husband. It''s not something that is going to just be handed to you a silver tter." She replied. "So amuse me until dinner and tell me about yourself." Samuel remained quiet as he stared at the girl, he wasn''t sure exactly where to start or what she might be looking for them to talk about. He assumed she probably knew far more about him than he had expected. Seeing that he didn''t seem interested in breaking the silence, she decided she would have to be the one to make the first move.
"Are you a virgin?" Samuel felt his face heat up the moment that she had asked his question causing her to make a noise that sounded like a ''tch'' "So Sammy-boy''s like."
"And what about you?" Samuel retorted feeling defensive despite how red his face. She smirked at him as she began to stand.
"Oh. I am, but that doesn''t mean I haven''t had a bit of fun. But it seems like I am left with a juvenile peacock who perhaps doesn''t know what he''s doing." Samuel began to feel ufortable as the girl moved closer to him and slightly offended by the way she addressed. But before he had a chance to rebuttal herment, she was suddenly looming over him and looking him over. "Hmm, you are far cuter at a closer look, although you''re far thin. I suppose this is something that I can work with." He felt his breath hitch when she leaned in closer, brining her face to rest near the crook of his neck. He really wanted to move, but he felt a shiver go up his back when a small wet pink tongue brushed against his neck causing his face to turn an even deeper shade of red. "You even smell and taste nice unexpectedly. I''m not sure what that is, but I like it." She murmured pulling away from him and staring at his struck face with a smirk stered on her own. "For now, I will agree to give you this week. Let''s see what will be of it, eh? I won''t lie that I won''t make it easy for you though."
Chapter 6 - Dinner
The conversation was cut short after Lena''sment by the announcement that dinner was ready. Samuel was extremely thankful for this as he wasn''t sure exactly how to respond to the girl in front of him. At the mention of food she seemed lose interest in him and left the room in the direction of what he assumed was the kitchen or dining without another word.
Samuel took a few seconds to straighten himself out and breathe in hopes that his face wouldn''t be so red by the time he got ready to find the dining room himself. he''d only spent a few minutes with her and he''d already started to feel the resolve he had attempted to build up dissolving.
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He managed to find the dining room with Clive''s help. Aside from the rather long table set in the middle of the room with only a few people seated at it and the generally of the dining room, it looked more modest then he had expected. Rather than speaking of money and power through the decor, the feel was more intimate as though someone had attempted to give it a more familia feeling.
The chairs looked to be far morefortable than what he had imagined dining chairs to be based upon what he grew up with. Sitting down rather than sinking, the cushioning in the brown chair shift to mold around to make him feel like he was sitting on an extremelyfortable cushion.
The chairs matched the grey thick curtains that covered the windows as well as the dark carpet. The only expensive looking items in the dining room were the two chandlers that hung above the table which by look Samuel had guessed were custom made.
He felt a little awkward sitting at the table as he didn''t know anyone and because he was considered the fianc¨¦ of the eldest child of the boss, his seat was at the top on the right of the table. At least though it was across from where Lena was sitting rather than right next to her. Samuel somehow didn''t feel as though he could trust the girl to keep her hands to herself after what had happened earlier.
Despite the size of the table and the amount of goodid out across it, there was only a handful of people seated. The boss, who''s name he learned was Zane Scarlet apologized for the absence of his second child, Leo who was away on a business trip, but would be returning tomorrow or the next day.
Eating began while Zane introduced everyone at the table. Samuel wished he had his phone or a notepad to write everyone''s name down.
There''s was Zane''s younger brother Julian, his wife Laura and their two daughters, Zoe and Lisa. While the brother looked as intimidating as Zane, the two daughters looked much tamerpared to Lena. There was an aunt Jessica, cousins Zeke and Zion, Clive and a woman named Candice whom he wasn''t if she was his sister or wife, and six others he''d have to be reminded aboutter. Samuel felt even more overwhelmed when learned that this was only two thirds of the family and he hadn''t even learned the names of the rest of the staff and anyone else who lived there.
Following the introductions, he was bombard with a number of questions about himself, hobbies, goals, family, ns for marriage among other things which he tried his best to answer around eating. Except for one time when Lena spoke up to say that his goal to eventually be a mathematician or ountant sounded boring, Lena kept to herself.
Samuel couldn''tin too much about the meal, the food was excellent although he was unfamiliar with many of the dishes he tried and overall everyone seemed nice enough to him thus far. A part of him hoped that the kindness wasn''t just because of his potential position and the fact that Zane was there. He wasn''t used to such arge family, but felt that considering the fact that there was a lot of power behind being the boss of the Red Scorpions that there probably was some family fighting even if it was behind closed doors.
By the time they were all finished and had taken some time to talk after dinner, Samuel learned that although it was still rather earlier, everyone either retired early or had to leave to finish some business or other that he wasn''t yet privy too. Lena was the first one to disappear after Zane. This actually made him happy for now because it meant at least for tonight, he could take the time to organize his and update his parents and maybe not even have to worry about bride to be until the following day.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 7 - Goodnight Kiss
Once being shown to his room, the problem Samuel ran into was that the space was farrger than he felt that he needed. The bedroom was two if not three timesrger than his room back with his family. The bed also farrger. The room had been furnished with what he considered an oversize dresser and wardrobe along with a nightstand, TV stand with a TV, a ck recliner and a few other odd things he felt like were far too much for him.
The stuff he had brought from his parents house hardly took up any space at all and didn''t take long to organize and put away. Zane had assured him that once he was a full member of the fmily they would take care his wardrobe and other needs which be politely tried to reject but the other would hear none of. He imed that he wanted "The best for his future son-inw.". That idea scared Samuel simply because everything he was already being offered and introduced to was rather overwhelming for him as it was such a heavy changepared to what he was used to.
Once he was done with his room, he made sure to call his parents and update them to let them know he was okay and what was going on so far.
considering it was the first day, he decided that it was better to leave out the fact that Lena didn''t seem to be particrly fond of him but settled instead for saying that they''re getting used to each other and had a nice conversation earlier but it was going to take time to get used to sharing the space.
His mother was thrilled to hear the news and did most of the talking while he was certain his father was listening more intently to hear for anything that could be a sign he wasn''t being treated right or lying about the situation.
They talked for about an hour as Samuely on his new bed. More for his family sake than his own he really hopped that the arrangement was going to work out. He hoped that maybe with some time, she''d warm up to him.
"Little Chickadee." He heard what he assumed was Lena''s voice followed by a firm knock on his Door. "You''re supposed toe and say good night."
"Good night then?" Samuel called back uncertainly. It appeared to be the wrong response because he heard a "tsk" from the other side of the door.
"I meane here and say good night to my face. I''m sure you were taught manners." Her attitude really made him not want to, but he knew that he''d be rude if he didn''t and she wasn''t allowed in his room after it was sote. muffling a sigh, he got off the bed and made his way over to the door.
Opening it up he was met by Lena who was standing with her hands on her hips looking rather impatient and annoyed. With them now both standing, he realized how short she actually was, standing maybe 5''2-5''3pared his 5''10 height yet she somehow still held a very intimidating aura. Before he had a chance to open his mouth and speak, she''d already begun talking again, this time to scold him.
"If this is your best attempt to convince me to be with you, you''re going to need to put a lot more effort in."
"I''m sorry, alright? It''s my first night here and everything is a bit overwhelming for me. I''ll do better tomorrow, but I need time to adjust." He sighed, feeling a bit annoyed himself.
"You better, because there''s a lot of work you''re going to have to do if you want to convince me that you''re good enough." Lena replied.
"How about goodnight for tonight and we can try this again tomorrow." He offered, getting ready to turn and head back into his room. Before he got that far, he felt a firm grip on his upper arm that forced him to turn back around.
"Sammy, you''re forgetting something important here. All good couples should give each other a goodnight kiss." He could hear the teasing tone in her voice, but it didn''t stop the blush from rising to his cheeks. Before he got a chance to say anything, the hand moved off his arm and instead moved to pull his face down towards hers. "Don''t worry, I won''t give you a proper kiss, one on the cheek will do tonight, but tomorrow I expect something better." Lena purred as he felt her lips against his cheek.
The kiss was quick one, but enough to catch Samuel off guard even after the other pulled away.
"It isn''t a good look for you to be so shell-shocked little Chickadee, you''ll eventually have to get used that and more. Night." She gently patted on the cheek before she made her way into her own room not caring that he was still standing there shocked over what had happened.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 8 - Morning
Samuel found that it was a struggle to fall asleep that night. Between what Lena had done and the fact that he was in an unfamiliar ce made it hard for his mind to shut off.
He never really dealt with girls before because he didn''t think there was much of a point with him already being arranged to marry someone. It would only lead to problems for him and whoever he decided to date. Plus, he also tried his best to avoid anything he thought might make it harder on his parents.
That was something he realized he might want to exin to Lena if she thought he was boring and didn''t have much to offer. Maybe it would help her warm up to him if she knew the lengths HW and his family had gone to in order to make sure nothing happened to him before he met her.
It also couldn''t hurt to talk with her father if the next day he was around and still in as approachable mood as he was in today.
After considering these things, Samuel was finally able to fall asleep, but morning ended uping far too quickly for him.
He knew the sun wasn''t rising yet when he woke up and due to the unfamiliar feeling of the sheets and smells around him, he momentarily panicked over where he was at until he remembered what happened the day before. Sighing he rolled over. He really didn''t want to get up, but he had a feeling if he didn''t he would end up beingte for breakfast and whatever else he would be required to do today.
He needed to take a shower before he did anything however as he was too mentally exhausted to take one the night before.
He hadn''t explored every inch of the bathroom the night before, but he somehow wasn''t surprised that like everything else, it felt overdone and toovish for him.
? What did surprise him however was the fact that everything stocked in the bathroom were brands or scents that he used back at his parents house. He supposed it shouldn''t have been that much of a shock, but since it was something that he didn''t remember Clive asking about or his parents saying anything about Zane asking things about him such as that, it made him ufortable as to how they got the information.
He tried not to over think on things too much as he still had the whole day ahead of him and he was certain there would a lot he''d have to deal with which would be better to save his energy for than a small thing such as this.
He was quick about everything he needed to do as he didn''t want to waste time or have anyone waiting on him since he was still uncertain how the schedule worked in this house. He made sure though that his appearance was good so he didn''t leave a bad impression.
"Well look who decided to join us. Morning Sammy-boy." Lena greeted as he came into the dining room. Samuel wasn''t sure he liked the nickname but it was preferable to being called a chickadee. Sammy was fine, but adding boy? There was only a few months age difference between.
"Morning, sorry if I''mte." he replied, trying to greet her politely.
"Not terriblyte. Although while you''re here, it''s your job to make sure I have breakfast each day." He was surprised to hear this.
"I''m supposed to make breakfast?" he asked, moving so that he was standing in front of where she was sitting in the chair. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow but showed no other signs of emotion on her face.
"I think you heard me the first time. I believe you can also cook."
"I can, but that isn''t quite the problem. I thought that it would be-" Lena cut him off before he finished.
"You thought it would be my job because I''m the woman?" he could hear the sneer her voice. He''d obviously assumed wrong. "It seems you still have a lot to learn little Chickadee. Considering the fact that if I choose to marry you, I will be taking over everything that my father is doing right now, I most certainly will not have time to be cooking." She paused, a small teasing smirk on her face "Instead, I''ll be leaving that up to you as my house husband to make sure that everything is properly taken care of." Samuel frowned at this. It certainly wasn''t what he had been expecting. In fact, his presumption was that they had someone who would be taking care of cooking so neither one would have to worry about it."
"I guess that makes sense. I just wasn''t expecting it since none of what''s expected here during this time has been exined to me."
"Tsk! I don''t think it should be hard to take things as theye up since it isn''t unreasonable?" She replied with a question.
"You''re not wrong. It''s just that I''d have preferred to have understood some of this ahead of time so I could be better prepared."
"There''s a lot of things we all prefer in life Sammy-boy but that doesn''t mean we are guaranteed to get them." Although Lena''s voice was level when she said this, he didn''t miss the way that she rolled her eyes. "Now, are we going to keep bantering over this or will you prepare me something to eat?" The neutral look was back on her face and Samuel could no longer read anything from the girl sitting in front of him.
"Is there anything in particr that you like to eat?" He asked.
"I''m not particrly picky as long as the vor is good and nothing is burnt. I''ll trust your discernment as to what you think would be good and we can discuss afterwards if there''s anything I don''t like or would prefer." Samuel somehow didn''t feel like that was true, but he was going to try taking her word for it and hope he didn''t end up regretting that decision.
"Alright then. Give me a few minutes and I well see what I cane up with." He told her as he got ready to leave in hopes of minding the kitchen and getting breakfast over with.
"I''ll be counting on you Chickadee so don''t take too long." Samuel was already starting to feel once again that it was going to be a very long week for him.
Chapter 9 - Breakfast
Clive who had been standing quietly to the side in the dinning room while Samuel and Lena had their exchanged offered to show Samuel to the kitchen and make sure that they understood that it was under Lena''s request that he was in the kitchen making the food himself rather than asking them to do it.
"I do apologize young Sir. The Princess can be a bit of a handful at times, but it isn''t a direct result of the fact that she doesn''t like you but rather because she doesn''t like being forced to rely on anyone else."
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"It''s okay, I understand that this situation isn''t exactly probably what she herself was hoping. Plus, it''s only my second day here. I also haven''t gotten the chance to ask her how she feels about this situation but based on her reaction I can only assume she isn''t thrilled with it."
"You will want to speak with her or her father on that matter as I will not speak out of turn in order to avoid disrespect." Clive replied, opening the door to the kitchen so that Samuel could enter.
The kitchen like everything else in the house felt like it was twice asrge as necessary despite the number of people that lived within the mansion. There were ingredients, cookware, and utensils that Samuel had never seen before and had no clue what their purpose was. Also like every other room in the house, the color scheme was setup in a way that appeasing to the eyes with a gray main design that wasbined with red and wood tones.
Everyone of the staff immediately became on high alert the moment that two of them entered. He wasn''t sure if this due to the fact this was their space and they didn''t like strangersing into or if they were concerned there was a problem, Clive was quick to smooth it over.
"You may all be at ease, there''s nothing to worry about. This is young Sir, Samuel here and by request of the Princess as he is to be her suitor in the future, she has asked from him to specially prepare her breakfast this morning. I assume that this will not be a problem?" There was some murmuring and exchanging of uncertain looks before a man stepped forward. He appeared to be rather young still but by appearance and the way that everyone quieted down the moment that he stepped forward; one could assume that he was perhaps the head chief.
"If it''s an order from the Princess, I have no problem with that at all as long as I can be assured nothing will be out of ce or damaged."
"If there is a system to the way everything is setup here, I will do my best to follow it." Samuel chose to reply for himself rather than relying on Clive.
"Right then. The name''s Ryan, I''m the head chief here and I will offer you some help with getting to understand how everything is organized in the kitchen considering you''re new here." He held out his hand which Samuel gave a firm shake to. "I am not sure what the Princess intends for your stay here, but we can work on getting you used to everything over time if she intends for you to make her meals each morning, for now I will just show you wheremonly used ingredients are.
"Thank you." Samuel replied, gratefully that he wasn''t going to have go through everything himself to find what he was looking for. He supposed Ryan also did this for a selfish reason as this was his space and he probably didn''t need someoneing along and messing anything up that he wouldter have to fix or worry about getting yelled at for.
"Everyone else can be dismissed for this morning. I will be responsible for everything this morning so there''s no need for anyone else to be hanging around. Also, thank you Clive. You can inform the Princess that her food will be on the way shortly."
"Thank you, and young Sir, good luck." Clive replied as he too made his way out of the kitchen leaving Samuel and Ryan alone.
"I''m not sure how familiar you are with working in a morerge-scale kitchen, but once you get used to the basic organization of it, it bes pretty easy to find things you need that you haven''t used before. Do you have any ideas in mind of what the Princess might want for breakfast?" Ryan asked as he led Samuel towards the back of the kitchen where the pantry, fridge, and freezer was located.
"Not really, she just told me to make whatever I think would be fitting for breakfast. Do you have any input?" Samuel had ideas of what he would want to make, but he didn''t feel very confident about where to start.
"I have worked here for quite a few years already, but I have never known the Princess to be picky when ites to food as long as there is plenty of vor. Desserts are not allowed during breakfasts hours, but I would rmend keeping it in mind for the future that she is partial to certain sweets. Bribery would be a bad word to use in this situation, but it maye in useful in the future to leverage things if your favor." Ryan offered.
"Thank you, I will keep that in mind." Samuel genuinely appreciated the advice.
"Tell me what you have in mind and I will direct you to where you need to find it." Ryan told him as he stood with his arms crossed while waiting for other to make his decision.
Samuel decided on fried potatoes, sausage biscuits with cheese and egg fried sandwiches with bacon. He used cheddar for the sausage biscuits and pepper jack with the eggs. He wasn''t entirely certain that the food was going to be Lena''s taste, but Ryan had shown him to where the spices along with other ingredients were located before left him and he tried his best to make sure that everything was spiced to what he hoped would be Lena''s satisfaction.
Samuel picked the tes that were used to serve breakfast on and tried his best to make sure the presentation was good as well. He may not have been the best cook, but he had tried to learn as much as his mother had been willing to teach him about cooking.
When he brought it out to Lena, he could tell by her face that she was thinking "Took you long enough to finish." But she didn''t say anything as she waited for him to bring the food over. Once the te waLs set in front of her, rather than tucking into it right away she looked at it for a short while as though trying to assess by look what it was and if it would taste good.
"It doesn''t look bad, although these foods aren''t ones I am very familiar with." She finally spoke, motioning to the sausage biscuits and egg sandwich.
"This is something my mother wouldmonly make for our breakfast. It isn''t particrly fancy, but I always enjoyed it." Lena only made a ''hmm'' sound as she picked up the te, preparing to try what he had made her. Samuel had made his own food as well, but he wanted to wait until he was certain that she liked the food before sitting down to enjoy his own meal.
Lena tried the Sandwich first, and although she didn''t say anything, he could see the way her eyes light up after she started to taste the vor, he hoped that meant she liked it. Even though the food was a touch on the messy side, Lena somehow managed to keep a graceful air about herself as she ate silently. She took a second bite of the sandwich before moving on to the biscuit.
"I have never thought of sausage and cheese as a goodbination." She murmured as he looked the biscuit over. Being a drop biscuit, it was also messier looking than what she was used to.
"It generally isn''t, but in this situation, it works well because it''s like having a cheese and sausage sandwich, but rather than being between two slices of bread, it is baked in with the bread." Samuel exined, but by the look on the Lena''s face, he could only guess she was unaware of what a sausage and cheese sandwich was.
"The food is eptable enough." Lena finally gave him an answer on the quality of food which meant he could sit down and enjoy his own breakfast. "I won''tin too much although this isn''t what I am used to eating. I won''t object if you keep making such stuff along with more familiar dishes you will see being eaten here. If you''re going to be my husband, then you''re going to need to know how to cook dishes of a high quality and level that present an air of sophistication." The answer sufficient for Samuel for now, he had hoped for something a little nicer, but he could work on that especially if he got a chance to make her dessert over the next week.
Chapter 10 - Be More Careful
After breakfast Samuel found himself left on his own. After eating and telling him he hadn''t done a half bad job and could do it again tomorrow, Lena left him on his own because she had work to do. As did pretty much everyone else.
He thought that he could use the time to explore and get used to the mansion of the house and surrounding area, but wasn''t sure where was off-limits to him or not. He determined however that the safest bet would be to start outside the house.
being summer, it was already getting rather warm despite how early it still was in the day. The way the outside of the house was setup though, it helped to deflect a certain amount of the heat so it didn''t feel to miserable right outside.
Looking around, Samuel realized that there also wasn''t a lot of people visible outside other as he descended the steps from the house. He had hoped he would see Zane somewhere so he could talk to him. Seeing as he was boss of the Red Scorpions, it was likely that he also had important business to attend to. Samuel didn''t mind beingzy asionally but this felt different because he was invading a space that wasn''t his own but at the same time it was expected that he wouldn''t be taking care of anything because of his potential position.
If this was what as going to be expected of him if he and Lena married, this was not something that he was certain he would be able to handle. Day one and it already felt like he was on a roller coaster with his feelings.
As Samuel was making his way around towards the back of the mansion where he assumed there was much of thend to see, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was a text message from Roger. Seeing it he sighed as he began to reply to his friend''s question as to how it was going and what the girl was like. He had remembered to update his parents the previous night, but he had forgotten that he also promised to let Roger know how it.
Roger had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but other decided to keep it to texting only rather than calling his friend as he wasn''t ready to have to exin who his friends were if Zane, Lena, or someone else came upon him on call.
Samuel''s attention was taken away from his phone however because the sight that met him once he had made his way around the back of the mansion was not what he had expected. From what he could see, it seemed that the Red Scorpions had set themselves up to be self-sufficient for everything they might need food wise.
Behind the mansion was a slope that let anyone standing on it see quite far. Everything wasn''t clear from where he stood, but he could make out what seemed to be horses, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, and what appeared to be an area that might hold fowl. There was an area that was setup to appeared to be an orchard and perhaps much further to the right of that a vegetable garden and greenhouse. Seeing how everything was so efficiently setup with the size ofnd that was owned, he found himself feeling a bit ashamed.
Samuel had been expecting something very different when he had been told he was going to be staying with Lena. Based upon what he had heard in school, read in books, and seen in movies, apletely different picture had been painted in his mind as to what he had expected to encounter when he came here. However, only the mansion and the hierarchical setup were the only things that matched his expectations.
He had to remind himself however that this was more modern timespared to what was usually depicted in movies and books so even if the Red Scorpions were involved in illegal activities, the use of the money and setup woulde across as more legitimate and normalizedpared to the past.
Samuel had forgotten about Roger until he felt his phone buzzing in his hand signaling that the other was trying to call. He rejected the call and sent him a quick message that something hade up, but he would be getting back to himter. He wanted to take this time to further explore what he saw.
He had considered the idea of having a farm at one point in time, but this wasn''t at all what he was expecting and far to borate for what he felt he could handle. Whoever had put the work and effort into however had made sure that everything had been done with great care and detail. Seeing the animals up close, Samuel felt some kind of way about when he considered that this was where the source of the meat he was eating that morning and the night before hade from. He had a soft spot for animals and seeing what he would be eating didn''t work well for him.
Back around this area, he saw a few people who he assumed had been hired as farm hands or staff, but aside from a nod of their head or a nce at him while they were working, they didn''t seem interested in talking to him. Perhaps this would be something he would be allowed to do over time. Samuel understood that there were hired staff to do the job, but if he was going to be stuck in such a ce depending on whether or not he was going to be allowed to pursue a job or how the rules worked around marrying into the family, this would give him something to do to keep the boredom away.
His biggest interest was in the horse out of all the animals. There were more than he expected based upon the appearance from further away of the size of the enclosure, but now being closer he saw that its span reached much farther back than he thought which gave more than enough space for the majestic animals in front of him. They all seemed well fed and as though they were bred to be gentle yet powerful with speed.
Samuel had the opportunity on a few asions year ago to do horse riding and it was something that he had greatly enjoyed. He had to be careful of course so as not get hurt or thrown off, but he enjoyed the feeling of wind around him as the horse would run while he was riding. He had wished to do it more often but in his small town, the couple who had setup the horse-riding school ended up selling the horses andnd when the husband fell sick and eventually passed away. After that he hadn''t found another opportunity for it.
"You know, if you''re going to go wandering off, you need to make sure that someone knows where to find you and call you call little chickadee. Otherwise, I am going to end up being the one in trouble if something happens to you." Samuel turned around when he heard Lena''s annoyed voicee from behind him.
"Oh sorry. No one was around so I thought this would fine." Samuel replied. He didn''t think he was going to get used to how someone so small could have such an intimidating aura any time soon.
"Not everyone here knows you yet, and while it is unlikely that anyone would hurt you, you need to be more careful." She replied with a huff.
"There''s nothing to worry about, I am not a child after all." He replied brushing her off. This caused her eyes to narrow. She didn''t like that he wasn''t taking her serious.
"Sammy-boy." She tried again, motioning for him to pay attention to her again. He barely had a chance to turn and look at her before he felt his feet swept out from under him and in the next second a foreign weight on top of him.
He winced slightly at the pain in the back of his legs, he hadn''t realized that Lena was wearing steel-toed boots.
"What are you doing." He protested, attempting to get up, only to realize that the other much smaller figure had his hands pinned above his headand her legs pinning his. He red up at Lena but all she did was give him a wicked smile in return.
"Since you didn''t seem to be taking me seriously, I thought I should show you why you need to be careful." She replied as though her actions made perfect sense. "And you see Sammy-boy, if you cannot even handle me, you most certainly can''t take care of yourself against anyone else here." She exined to him as she moved her face closer to his.
"Fine, get off me. You''ve made your point already." He told her, trying to move his hands only to find that her grip really was that much stronger than his.
"No, I don''t think I shall, I am quiet enjoying this position." She replied as she shifted her weight on him. "And I think I want to enjoy it a little longer."
Chapter 11 - Uncomfortable Situation
Lena brushed her nose lightly across Samuel''s cheek down to the side of his neck.
"Guys always think that they''re so much stronger until they meet a girl who can actually overpower them." Shemented as she leaned her head down to press her nose against the crook his neck. "You smell really nice again today."
"Lena, you can get o-off me now." Samuel told her, his words failing him when he felt her tongue brush against his neck.
"I may be your potential fianc¨¦ but if you want me to listen to you, that''s not going to work." She told him enjoying the soft vani mixed with something else scent that wasing from him. Mostly likely from the body wash or lotion that he used. Samuel tried to pull at his hands again as Lena moved from the crook of his neck down to his cor bone, not paying much attention to as she continued her exploration.
"How else should I get you to listen? I said I''d be more careful and I understand your point." Samuel asked feeling another shiver go down his back which mixed with the building frustration at the current predicament. This was apletely new situation to him for more than one reason and he hadn''t yet decided if he liked the feeling of her cold nose against his hot skin or not. One thing was certain though which was that he was feeling very ufortable with the fact this was urring outside where he was certain many of the farm hands were watching exactly what was going on but deciding that since she was the boss''s daughter, they weren''t going to be lifting a hand to help. This was definitely more than what he had signed up for. Perhaps if he was fortunate no one would ever bring this yo in the future.
"You should''ve listened to me the first time. If you did I wouldn''t have gotten annoyed and been able resist teasing you in such a situation." Lena murmured, she was enjoying this probably a little too much, but it wasn''t often that she found herself in a situation where she could overpower a man like this. She was also enjoying the very innocent reactions that this boy under her was disying. He held potential to be someone fun for her to mess with her depending on how well he handled the rest of the week. Also, there was evidently room from him to turn into something more with the frustration she could tell was bubbling below surface. His shirt was in the way and her hands couldn''t be freed, but that wouldn''t stop her from brushing her nose further down his shirt. She was curious to know if the rest of his busy smelled as good as his neck did.
"Okay, Okay! You''re starting to take this a little bit too far little queen!" Samuel was trying his best to keep hisposure as closed his eyes, but a tiny bit of panic started to slip in when he realized that she really had no intention of letting him up anytime soon and that her face was moving to the bottom of his shirt and was exploring the route to reach under it.
"Little in reference to me is not a word that I will allow. Considering your current position you might want to tread more carefully if you actually intend for me to let you up." Even though he couldn''t see her face, he could hear the annoyance in her tone as she corrected him. Her face closer to the bottom of shirt as she spoke.
"I apologize for that mistake, but I really don''t know what else to do to get you to let me go." Samuel apologized, taking in a slow deep breath. This really wasn''t an idea situation for him. Just as Lena was going to reply again, a new voice cut in that caused Samuel to freeze and make his face be even hotter than he thought was possible.
"My, my. Father told you to go and collect your boy, but I don''t think this was quite what he expected." The voice belonged to that of a well-dressed young man. "If you make father wait any longer, he''s going to end up getting worried." Lena didn''t remove herself despite the presence of the stranger who was watching them.
"Why don''t you then Leo be the good boy and let father know that we will be there shortly." Lena replied, a low growl at the edge of her voice as she did little to move from her current position. Samuel''s mind was a little fried so it took him a few seconds to realize that the other person she was talking to her happened to be her younger brother, the one that Zane said would be returning to. What a great first-time introduction this had turned out to be he couldn''t help thinking bitterly.
"Now, you know I couldn''t get away with doing that, if I had to report to father, you know he would eithere find you himself or want to know what''s keeping you, and if I had to tell him, we both know how he''d react." Leo replied, moving closer, he carefully grabbed his older sister, somehow managing to get her with ease to let go of the other boy''s hand. Lena huffed in response to this but didn''t seem to argue about what the other was done. "Besides, I have been gone so long, do I not warrant a hug from you?" the younger brother inquired once the other was standing and turned to face him. The neutral look with a hint of annoyance and disappointment had returned to Lena''s face as she looked up at her younger brother. Samuel was appreciative for the momentary distraction so that he couldpose himself though he hadn''t decided to try and stand up yet since the princess was still standing so close to him.
"Fine, I suppose it has been a year and a half." Lena sighed as she moved to give her younger brother a hug who seemed overly happy with the disy of affection.
"Indeed, and you were terrible about making time to talk with me. There''s so much that we need to catch up on now that I am back. You especially need to tell me about this fianc¨¦ of yours." The two had stopped hugging before Leo had finished speaking so he had now turned his attention back to the other who was stillying on the ground though his face was now far less red than it had been earlier. "I think you may have ended up scaring the poor boy." Hemented as he moved over to offer his hand to help Samuel stand up.
"It isn''t my fault he didn''t heed me when I told he should be more careful about wandering around out here without letting anyone know where he''s going considering he''s new to this ce." Lena replied with a shrug of her shoulders as she looked at the two. She didn''t feel the need to help the other considering she felt that the current situation was all his fault.
"Thank you." Samuel managed as he took the other''s hand. He felt by the way the back of his legs hurt when he stood up that Lena might have actually bruised the back of his legs with her boots.
"No problem, this one here is a bit of a spitfire." Leomented with a bright smile, even though the other had tried to hide it, he didn''t miss the red mark that was on the older boy''s cor bone. "Now we really should be going back. Father will me soon if we don''t and there are introductions and lunch to be had." Hemented as he motioned for Lena to follow them. Heading back, Samuel was torn between feeling happy that there was someone between him and the small queen and feeling modestly mortified that was how the first meeting between him and the younger brother happened to ur. Lena was still brooding still over the fact that her exploration had ended prematurely.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 12 - Manners Arent Too Much
Leo made the walk back to the far house far more bearable for Samuel then he was certain it would''ve been with just him and Lena.
With her younger brother there, she seemed much more passive and focused on what he was saying rather than paying attention to other boy.
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From what Samuel could gather by what Leo was saying, it seemed like he had been away in the UK for some time before he came back. He could only guess that the younger boy must''ve been fairly smart for being a year younger than the princess yet already starting within the family business.
"I''m just d that being back here I won''t have to worry about driving myself anywhere. My senses are all backwards after being over there for so long I''m not sure I''d remember which way is the right one to drive on." Leo sighed as they got closer to the house.
"I think you''d remember pretty quick once you were actually on the road and another car wasing towards." Lenamented as she made her way up the stairs first.
"Touche, but do you really think father wouldn''t ban me from driving if I ruined one of the family''s dear vehicles?"
"Not for life, just until you could pay it back." She shrugged waiting outside the door.
"Isn''t that basically the same difference?" Leo retorted.
"How much exactly does one of the vehicles here cost?" Samuel thought it might have been a bad question to ask but he was really curious. Lena looked at him for a few seconds before a smirked appeared on her face.
"Let''s say it would cost you probably most of your lifetime to pay it off." He didn''t like that response and would''ve thought she was joking if it wasn''t for the serious the siblings were having.
"That might be a bit of an exaggeration depending on the job his career choice." Leo had hardly finished speaking before Lena scoffed.
"He wants to be some mathematician." Samuel felt rather offended by the way she had said it. She might not have liked his career choice, but it was something he was interested in pursuing.
He got ready to protest her attitude when he saw the heavy look that she was giving him while waiting outside the door.
"What''s wrong now?" Leo asked looking between the two of them as he got ready to open the door. Lena stopped him prematurely however.
"You can go in if you want, but Chickadee here should be the one opening the door for me. It''s polite manners after all." Leo could feel the slight amount of tension that was building between the two as Lena kept staring at Samuel who didn''t seem very keen to get the door.
"Under normal circumstances I would because I do have manners but I don''t think you''re earlier behavior was warranted thus I won''t." Samuel replied. His partners of course had taught him such manners but he didn''t think they applied to the girl standing before him.
"It''s not my fault you decided not to listen to me when I told you that you should be more careful wandering around on your own. All I did was prove my point that you can''t take care of yourself." Lena retorted; her temper was beginning to rise over how impudent the other boy was being. "You''re also just proving to me what a liability you would be at this point if I decided to marry you. I don''t have time to be protecting a juvenile peacock while trying to maintain business. So why don''t you be good and just get the door like you''re told. It''s not like you even have much say to not do as I ask while you''re here considering your position." Leo could even tell that those words seemed to have hit a sore spot with Samuel who stiffened upon hearing.
Samuel knew that Lena wasn''t wrong in what she was saying, but that didn''t mean it hurt any less when she snapped those words at him. Especially considering they were engaged.
"It''s not like I would be in this position either if I had the choice." He replied, though his voice wasn''t as high as he had hoped it to be. Leo wanted to intervene as he watched the two argue but being younger and not having as much authority as his sister did, he wasn''t quite sure what it was that he should do to dispel the tension.
"Then if you understand that, open the door for me so that we can move onto more important things." Lena crossed her arms as she said this, keeping her stare focused on the other as she waited to see what he was going to do. Samuel didn''t budge at first as he continued to stare at the small princess seeming to not want to give into her brash attitude and manners. Right when Leo was deciding that he was going to open the door and coax Lena intoing in behind him and allowing Samuel toe in on his own, Samuel seemed to mentally decide to give on this situation and moved past the two to open the door with a swift tug and straight.
"After you then little queen." He said as he stood with the door wide open while waiting for her to walk in. He didn''t miss the wry the smile on her face that matched the fire that glowed in her eyes most likely due to annoyance at being called that.
"See that wasn''t too hard now was it Sammy-boy. I don''t ask for much except for some proper manners." Lena told him as she patted his back non too gentle as she walked past him to enter the mansion where her father had been waiting rather impatiently for their return. Leo offered him an apologetic smile as Samuel held the door open for him as well.
"My sister certainly has quite the attitude, but I am sure that the more you two spend time together, you''ll get used to it and everything will work out." He tried to assure the other boy who didn''t seem that convinced.
"I will believe you if I can get past this week." Samuel replied, making sure that his voice was low enough so that only the other boy was able to hear what he said. Leo chuckled at his words.
"A week is a short span of timepared to how many years you two will be spending together, with kids at that. I think maybe you do need to get yourself in better shape before long if you''re going to survive." Samuel cringed inwardly at what the other said. He knew that kids would probably be an expectation in the future, especially as Lena was the first born and all, but he wasn''t quite ready to think that far ahead in his life considering he had hardly been there a day and the new life he was expected to live was already proving to be quite the challenge for him. He didn''t want to think about how he was going to manage smaller versions of Lena before he even got to understanding how to handle the princess herself.
Chapter 13 - Lunch And Death Traps
Lunch was a more intimate affair than Samuel had expected it to be. He, Lena, Leo, and Zane were the only ones who were seated for lunch. Rather than the huge table that he had sat at for that morning''s breakfast and dinner the night before, Zane had set up lunch to be eaten in what appeared to be a sunroom located in the eastern wing of the building. Due to the time of day, the sun was shining brightly through the windows creating plenty of natural light for the afternoon meal but not enough to make it hard for anyone to see.
Zane seemed intently focused on reading the book in his hand even after the door had opened, Leo enter first this time. It was until the younger son spoke that he lifted his head to pay attention.
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"I apologize for the dy father. Sam was out exploring the property trying to get familiar with everything and Lena was with him." Leo exined. Samuel was thankful for the fact that he chose to omit the fact that Lena wasn''t exploring with him as much as she was attacking him. He was also not sure how he felt about the younger sibling choosing to shorten his name to ''Sam'' without asking if it would bother him.
"He didn''t think he needed to let anyone know where he was going or what he was up to despite the fact that he''s new around here." Lena added as she moved past Leo to take her ce to the right side of her father. "Not even here for a full day yet and he''s already getting into trouble." Her husband-to-be didn''t appreciate herments, but he held back from saying anything as Zane looked between the three of them. Leo gave Samuel a small nudge to his lower back to get him to move further into the sunroom before stepping around him to take his seat on the left side of his father.
"It takes a lot of time to adjust to all of this, especially for someone who is not ustomed with this style of living." Zane told the princess as he turned his attention to Samuel who was still standing not too far inside the door, not yet having taken his seat at the table. "Come now, don''t be shy about sitting yourself. While you''re here and until you two get married, your seat will always be on the right side of Lena''s when we eat."
"Thank you, Sir. I will keep that in mind from now on." He replied as he looked at spot next to Lena, a bit weary to sit down next to the girl who had not so long ago been trying to ravage him. Although the indifferent, annoyed expression had returned to her face making it hard for him to know what she was thinking, her aura told him that she was still annoyed at him and moving further away from epting him as her future husband.
Nheless, Samuel moved to take his seat at the table so that the family could start eating. The meal seat out on the table consisted of an assortment of rather fancy looking sandwiches with an assortment of meats, cheeses, and vegetables. Cantaloupe was also set out at each spot in blows, which he assumed as for a light afternoon ''dessert''. Once again, everything that he was eaten was of a much higher quality than what he had been used to eating at home. As much as he enjoyed it, he also missed his mother''s cooking and how it felt to have a simple meal to eat.
Samuel took his time eating while everyone else who was more ustomed to the food was tucking in. The conversation during the meal was at least interesting and focused on Leo''s time on Europe which he found to fascinating to listen to and easy to understand as it mainly focused on school and what he learned over there that was different from living in America. Samuel had always hoped to one day be able to travel, he wasn''t sure what Lena''s ns were or if she''d be interested in it, but if he had his way- there would at least be one kind of vacation/traveling trip each year. It was something that his family had always wanted to do, but due to their financial situation and not wanting to risk anything happening to their eldest son less they are forced to pay back the Red Scorpions or worse yet, they decided that they would keep their travel to only a few hours from where they lived and on trips that there was a low chance of anything going wrong.
"Father, I did learn how to drive there, but the roads are different from here. I spent so much time over there that everything is backwards here. I don''t think that I could handle getting on the road with ending up in a crash because I''m driving on the wrong side." Leoined as he tried to reason with his father as to why he should still be allowed to have Clive be his personal driver despite having learned to drive himself. "Lena rarely goes out anyways and besides that, you let her have that death trap that she always prefers to drive herself around in rather than asking Clive to take her anywhere anyways." Samuel turned his head towards Lena when he heard her younger brother use the words ''death trap''.
"It''s not a deathtrap if you know how to use it right, you''re just clumsy and could never pick it up as quickly as I did." Lena retorted, appearing rather defensive of the vehicle that her brother wasining about. "The feeling of the wind is nice, and it is a lot quicker and easier to get around on than driving a car anyways. Plus, I have a clean record of driving thus far."
"Do you ride a motorcycle?" Samuel questioned, speaking up for the first time during the meal with something akin to interest in his voice. Lena turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Are there any other vehicles that people usually refer to as a death trap by?" She replied.
"I don''t think so, but beyond cars, motorcycles and such aren''t something I am very familiar with. Could I see it some time?" He asked, he was trying to keep his inquisitive nature in check as he was didn''t want toe across as too excited over something that she might think was simple such as being around a motorcycle.
Samuel had always been interested in driving one, but his parents refused to allow it as they felt it might be too dangerous for him to drive one on the road around other cars who might not be as careful as he would be.
Lena smirked in response to his reply as she finished the bite of sandwich in her mouth. "Maybe if you''re good, you''ll get the chance to see it before you leave, and if I am feeling generous, we can go for a ride."
"You''d actually let me?" He questioned back, a hint of disbelief in his voice as Lena just shrugged her shoulders.
"it''s made to fit two people, but I haven''t taken anyone else to ride along in years so I can''t promise it would be smooth." She replied, picking up another sandwich on the table as her attention returned to the food in front of her. Zane didn''t say anything as he watched the two interact, but he had a bit of smirk on his face as well as though there was something that found amusing that Samuel didn''t quite understand while Leo was the one who spoke up.
"I love my sister, but I wouldn''t be so eager to ept her offer if I were you. I have ridden wither her a few times and let''s just say she likes to speed." Samuel seemed unphased about what he said and instead returned his warning with a question.
"But isn''t speed what''s supposed to be the fun part of driving on a motorcycle?" He asked. In his mind that was the part that had always interested him the most. He wanted to know what it would feel like to speed that fast and feel the wind moving around him. He had heard people talk about her exhrating it felt and he wanted to experience once for himself.
"I think the speeding you''re thinking about and how Lena drives are two different things. If you do decide to ept and something happens, just remember that I did try to warn you before you agreed to selling your life." Leo''s response was a bit on the dramatic side. He let out a hiss as the princess kicked his shin under the table.
"Don''t be so rude as to insult your older sibling when they''re sitting right here next to you." She warned, fixing him with a heavy re as he retuned the look with a sheepish smile. The conversation continued like this for some time as Samuel half listened to what was being discussed while his mind was preupied on what it would feel like Lena was being honest with him and he did get the chance to ride her motorcycle with her. He wasn''t sure that he trusted her to be careful with him considering the way her behavior kept shift from blowing hot to cold from one hour to the next, but it wasn''t enough for a concern for him that he thought about rejecting her offer for a chance to ride.
The conversation and his thoughts were disrupted as Zane spoke up once most of the food had been finished and more conversation was going on than eating.
"Lena, why don''t you take Samuel with you for your afternoon lessons? It will give you two a chance to spend more time together and he can get to know some of the things that he will be expected to learn if he does not already have experience with them once you two get married."
Chapter 14 - Taking The Role Of The Woman
Samuel wasn''t sure what exactly he had been expecting when Zane suggested he attend Lena''s sses with her, he just knew that he wasn''t expecting it to be ballroom dancing. Lena smirked at him, seeing the look of surprise on his face as they entered the room. Although not asrge as the dinning room or the sunroom that they had left was, this room was stillrge enough in size to ensure that there was plenty of space to move and allow for more than two or three people to be practicing dancing at once.
"As my father likes to point out, you may not be ustomed to this style of living but even as the sessor of syndicate such as the Red Scorpions, there are many things I am still expected to learn. I am expected to be able to know how to handle a gun yet have proper etiquette at the same time." Lena told him as she slide out of her Jacket and changed her boots into what appeared to be dance shoes. At the far end of the room an older looking man was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed as he kept his focus in their direction.
"Knowing Ballroom dancing has to be part of that?" Samuel asked as Lena motioned for him to follow her further into the room.
"Of course. Not only am I female but considering the level of sess my family had over the years, we are rather well off which puts us at a pretty high ce in the standards of society. On the legally professional side, I am going to expected to attend many social events which require all the proper conditioning." She replied while he followed behind her slowly while processing what she said.
Once again, he was feeling as though he was going to getting ready to step into a world of things that he had not anticipated being a part of. He was about ready to ask her another question when their conversation was cut off by the older man speaking up.
"Princess, impable as always I see. Are we ready to pick up where we left offst week? You were really starting to get the steps down." He offered Lena small smile while the other just grimaced at him in return. The man had a bit of ent at the back of his voice that Samuel couldn''t quite ce.
"It''s not like I have much of a choice in this matter now do I Santi? There are a lot of other things that I would rather be doing now, but yet here I found myself being stuck for another week." Was the reply she gave. The manughed in response to what she had said.
"I thought that you had told mest week that you were enjoying this far more than what you had to learnst month."
"Enjoying it more does not equate that I enjoy it morepared to other things that I am being trained to do. I would much rather find myself at the shooting range than learning how to spin around the room for no other reason than to the societal expectations of others." The princess replied with a huff.
"Right you are, but this is part of the expectations you must fulfil if you want to be able continue doing all those other things you enjoy so much. By this time next year, I will be out of your hair. Now before we start, I am curious to know who thispanion you have brought with you today? Is he perhaps a dance partner that was requested by your father toe along so you would have someone else aside from me to practice with?" Samuel immediately snapped his head over to Lena who''s attention was now fixed on him. The ufortable feeling he had felt around her before was returning as he saw the look in her eyes on the trace of a smirk on the corner of her lips.
"Perhaps that is why my father asked me to bring him along today." Lena replied with a shrug. "He''s the one that is contestant for being my possible future husband."
"I see. Well it is a pleasure to meet you young Sir and I thank you for taking the time to join us today. Do you intend to join in today''s practice?" Samuel got ready to reply and say that he was just here to watch but before he had the chance, Lena cut him off to answer in his ce.
"I think he will be joining us today. Afterall, this is stuff I am certain that my father would expect him to start learning once the appropriate steps have been taken in preparation for the wedding. You won''t mind joining me today, right?"
"I don''t have the proper shoes I think and I would much rather watch you first to understand-"
"Sammy-Boy, I am asking it as a question out of politeness. But since you seem to be struggling to read between the lines, then I am telling you that you will be joining me during today''s practice." Lena cut him off as she moved to stand next to him and grabbing his hand. He could tell by the way she was gripping it that it would be better for him to not protest again. "As for the shoes, you can wear the spare pair that Santi always brings with him. Your feet look to be about the same size." Santi didn''t wait for her to finish speaking before going over to where he had set down all of his stuff to the side of the room. He went through his back until he found the box that held the spare set of shoes that she was talking about.
"These should do for now, if you are aroundter this week when Ie back, I will bring my measuring tape with me and get you fitted for a proper custom-made pair of shoes." Santi assured Samuel as he kneeled in order to help the other swap his shoes. Samuel bit his tongue to stop himself from protesting any further despite the ufortable position he found himself in.
Lena seemed to approve of the shoes as she gave a slight nod of her head after seeing how he was able to walk in them. They were slightly too big for him, but not enough that it would cause him problems while they danced.
Samuel could feel that this situation was not going to end very well for him, he barely knew anything about dancing a waltz except for the general positioning of the dancers. Based upon Lena''s attitude, he was certain that she would be quick to snip and criticize him if he couldn''t keep up with her.
"Follow my lead." Was all she told him after she moved them so that they were positioned to be more in the middle of the room. Santi had stepped away and to the side so that he could observe while making sure to not be in the way, he also made sure to put on some music in order to set the tempo for their movements.
Samuel thought that he was getting into the right position as he got ready to ce his arm around Lena''s waist but he stopped with a hiss when she suddenly stopped on his foot.
"That''s not the right position." All Samuel could do was look at her confused.
"I thought that was where my arm was supposed to go." Was all he could reply back as the princess stared at him with a hard look.
"I told you I am leading which means I am in the role of the man. You''re taking the woman''s role since youck experience to lead the dance." She replied as she hooked her arm around his waist and forced his hand on her shoulder. "Keep it there and link your other hand with mine." She instructed not seeming to care about the fact that Samuel''s face was heating up.
"But, I am not the woman though. Even if I don''t know, I should still be allowed to lead the song as the man." He argued causing Lena to sigh as she gave him a wry smile.
"Little Chickadee, you still have a lot to learn. As of right now, what I say goes. If I say I am leading the dance, then that means I am leading the dance and you follow along like the good little bird you are, unless you want to deal with the consequences of challenging my position." He didn''t miss the way the little queen''s eyes narrowed after she had said thest part almost as though she was daring him to challenge her.
"Fine, but once I learn how to do the steps correctly, I am taking the role back." Samuel conceded with a bit of irritation.
"See, that isn''t so hard now is it." He didn''t appreciate the sarcastic way that the other praised him but refrained from saying anything that would prevent them from starting the dance.
Chapter 15 - Alternative
Once Samuel had managed to get away from Lena after she forced him to keep learning the waltz with, he managed to retreat to his room where he could take time to rest his sore feet. He wasn''t sure how long he stuck in that miniature ballroom with her, but it had been long enough that his feet had gotten a fair amount of abuse. Lena seemed to think that the best way for him to learn the steps at a quicker pace would be for her to step on his feet each time he messed up or tried to shift from being in the role of the woman to leading the dance.
He couldn''t deny the fact that she was a good dancer, but her attitude and temper made it less impressive to him as the thought of having to dance with her in the future made him wary.
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Samuel shifted on the bed in such a way that it allowed for him to keep his feet resting at a slight elevation with the help of his pillows while he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to text his parents.
He knew that they were probably starting to worry about him again as he hadn''t had a chance to text them since he had woken up in the morning. He found himself fumbling as he tried topose a believable text for his parents. He hated lying to them about his situation, but he had only been there for a day and while him and Lena were not getting a long well and he was having a hard time believing that everything would work out between them, he didn''t want to crush that hope for his parents yet.
So instead of focusing the text on his rtionship with the little queen on how that was going, he focused on talking about the house and the surrounding property and how impressive that was. He hoped that if he talked about it in such a positive light, they might believe that everything was going well so far and that would by him some extra time to try and figure out how he was supposed to navigate the rtionship between him and Lena.
Then one positive thing that he tired to remind himself of was that there was a possibility soon that he might be able to ride and motorcycle. That would be one thing that he could mark off his bucket list of items that he wanted to do. How was he supposed to know though if Lena felt that he had been behaving well enough for him to be allowed near her motorcycle.
Samuel had hardly been in his room texting his parents for ten minutes when he heard a knock on the door that made him tense slightly.
"Mind if Ie in?" He immediately rxed however when he recognized the voice on the other end of the door to belong to Leo and the princess as he was concerned.
"Sure." Samuel replied as he shifted fromying back to sitting up, he winced slightly as he moved his feet from how sore they were. Hopefully tomorrow wouldn''t be another day filled with dance lessons.
"I just came to see how you feel after those dancing lessons?" Leo told the other as he came into the room. Samuel didn''t get a chance to reply as Leo began tough at the look on his face "Lena has never been one for delicacy."
"Has she always been like this growing up?" The older boy asked as Leo closed the door behind him and made his way over to the bed.
"Always is a strong word to use. I would say that she has been like this for quite a while now, but I do remember that when were much younger that she used to be a much brighter more cheerful girl. Much less intimidating as well." Leo mused as he sat down at the bottom of the bed. "Finding her difficult to handle already?"
"I don''t know. I haven''t been here that long yet, but I would sooner rather thanter like to find the right way to interact with her in order to determine if we can make this work or not." Samuel replied with a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. "Plus, I don''t think my feet will survive much more torture if I am going to be expected to continue attending those dance sses with her and she maintains that the best way to correct my form is continually step on my feet until I get the dance steps right."
"Lena will be Lena. I think even if you two do manage to work things out and the marriage goes through, that that part of her personality is something that won''t be changing even over time. Instead, you will just either have to practice on your own more or figure out a way to learn things at a quicker pace." Leo replied with augh and shrug.
"I appreciate your honesty, but that wasn''t quite the answer I was hoping to hear. But since you are her brother, you do know her far better than I do to be making these kinds of assertions." Leo didn''t reply after the other finished speaking, instead he just stared at him with a rather thoughtful look on his face. Samuel didn''t mind this at first as he was sure that the other had a lot on his mind but as the seconds dragged on he began to be rather ufortable by it and was about to ask what was wrong when Leo finally spoke.
"Well you do know, as the younger sibling, I am the more gentle and patient one out of the two of us. "Leomented as a small smile ghosted onto his face. "You don''t know that if you can''t work it out with Lena, I am sure that I could speak with father and he could sort something out so that the marriage could be between us. At this point, I don''t even think Lena would care one way or another."
"What?" Samuel asked after a few seconds of pausing as his mind tried its best to process what he just heard the other boy say. Leo tilted his head slightly as he shifted further up on the bed but not by too much as he didn''t want to make the other boy ufortable.
"I thought I just exined myself clearly." Leo replied to let the other know that he wasn''t mistaken in what he heard. "Of course, I don''t know anything about your sexual orientation or interests. Personally, I am more interested in personality and intellect versus gender. I just met you, but so far, I have found you to have an adorable, charming personality."
"I don''t mean to be rude considering your standing within this family and all, but I don''t think I swing that way." Samuel replied, trying to keep the flustered feeling out of his voice as he replied. Leo just nodded his head slightly.
"I thought that you would say that, but from what I understand seeing as you haven''t been in a rtionship yet due to this arranged marriage, I think that perhaps you''re haven''t had time to develop your preferences and perhaps I could help with that." When Leo suddenly put his hand on the top of Samuel''s knee, other reflectively pulled away, his eyes wide and his breathing short and shallow and he looked at the other as though he didn''t know what to expect from him.
"You don''t have to be so nervous. I already told you that I am not like my sister, so you don''t have to worry about me being mean to you or pushing you into anything that you don''t like. I am just allowing you to explore an alternative option in case things don''t work out with my sister and your family cannot afford to pay back the money that they owe." Leo assured the other as moved further onto bed, moving in such a way that he was almost leaning over the other as the smile remained on his face and Samuel looked very much like a deer in headlight as he was trying to figure out what to do without upsetting the younger brother and risk making the current situation worse for him.
Chapter 16 - Maybe A Good Idea
Just as Samuel was going to get ready to protest the ufortable situation that he found himself in with Leo, his phone started ringing. The other, who after moving closer to him had been doing nothing but continuing to stare at him thoughtfully as though he was waiting for the older boy to say or do something first gave softugh when he heard the ringtone.
"I suppose you should be answering that." He told the other as he moved to get ready to stand up. Samuel took a second to take a quick breath in before he replied.
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"Yeah, it is probably my family calling to check and see how I am doing." Although Leo seemed as intent as his older sister to make him ufortable, Samuel couldn''t deny that he didn''t feel as ufortable around the other when it to worry about what his next move would be.
"Parents tend to be like that. Especially when their kids are away from them for the first time. I guess I will see youter at dinner then. I have some things that I should get on myself now that I am back." Leo offered a small wave before leaving the room and shutting the door behind again.
Once he was certain that the other wouldn''t decide to suddenlye back because of something else he wanted to say, Samuel out the breath that he had been holding in before picking up his phone to see who was really calling. The caller ID read back Roger and while he normally would''ve ignored the call and texted his friend instead, he decided that he could use the distraction of all the questions he was certain that his friend would want to be asking him since they hadn''t had a chance to talk properly in thest day and a half.
"Dude! I have been waiting for your call all day!" Roger shouted at his friend the moment that the other answered the call.
"I know, I know. I''m sorry, things have just been really busy since I got here and there''s just a lot to adjust to." Samuel replied, apologizing to his friend as he shifted on the bed so he was rub his still sore feet while listening to his friend rant at him.
"That''s not a good enough excuse, you know I have always called you when I was doing anything fun and exciting that your parents were too worried to allow you to and do it yourself. The least you could''ve done was send me some pictures or something." He heard the other boy huff on the end of the phone after he had finished speaking, clearly out of breath from speaking so quickly.
"Pictures? Pictures of what exactly would I be sending you?"
"Pictures of that girl you''re supposed to marrying of course! I want to know what kind of girl that my friend is going to be marrying!" Samuel rolled his eyes when he said this. He knew that it was more like hispetitive friend wanted to know if this girl was something he couldpete with in terms of finding someone better.
"I haven''t taken any pictures. I don''t even know if I would be allowed to without asking her and that is something that I am not ready to do." Samuel replied, he mumbled thest part, but his friend''s sharp ears picked it up.
"Why wouldn''t you ask her to let you take some pictures with her? You guys are going to be getting married soon. It''s something all couples do." Roger tried to reason with his friend.
"Yeah, but you forget that I have only been here for a day so far, and this isn''t the traditional type of rtionship were both parties have decided independently to be together. We are still getting used to being around each other and I can assure you she isn''t the kind of quite squishy person that be willing to stand next to me with a huge smile on her face just because my friend happens to what to see a picture of her."
"You make her sound like a little demoness." Rogerughed on the end of the phone, but after Samuel didn''t join in after a few seconds and chose to remain far to quite for the other''s liking, he realized that perhaps it wasn''t that much of a joke. "You''re not that serious are you? I know she''s the daughter of the head of a huge gang, but I didn''t think that meant she would be so bad."
"She''s in line to take over after him, what were you expecting you? I will admit that I hadn''t quite prepared myself for her personality before we met and find myself at a loss as well, but it''s only been day." He was aware that he had been saying that a lot, that he and Lena had only known each other for a day, like he was trying to convince himself that was the only reason they had been off to a rocky start, but his attempt to convince himself was not working as effectively as he had hoped it would.
"Have you told your parents about this?" Samuel could tell by the background noises through the receiver from his friend''s phone and the way he sounded out of breath that he was probably out running again. Unlike him, Roger was getting the chance to head into college once the summer was over and he had even gotten a full ride sports schrship which was probably what he was running to stay in shape for.
"Of course not. I am wanting to give this thing a chance before I say anything to them. You know if I say anything now that might make them worry that my father would drive up here himself to pick me up, call the whole wedding off and try to find a way to pay back all the money even though we hardly have enough to get by each month.
"What happens if the wedding gets called off from there end?" Roger asked. This was a question that Samuel had been wondering himself but didn''t feel like asking Zane. He didn''t want to give the other the impression that he might try to dissuade his daughter from the marriage to avoid the debt if that was a possibility.
"I don''t know. I am not going to ask though. I assume that he''s taken that into consideration. He does have a younger son also."
"You don''t mean you think he might make you marry him instead if his daughter isn''t interested?" He could hear the cringe in his friend''s voice as he spoke. Roger had never openly spoken about having a problem about having gay marriage or rtionships, it just wasn''t something that he was interested in.
"Maybe. I have yet to determine exactly how this family works and I am going to be having to eat dinner with them again soon." Samuel sighed as heid back on his pillows. If he could, he would skip eating in order to avoid any more awkward situations, but he was sure that if he didn''te down to eat at dinner time, the little queen would be the one sent up to fetch him and he didn''t want to deal with her again.
"You got six more days, right? I am sure that you can figure out something by then. You just need to do a better job of keeping me updated so if anything happens, I can be here to make an excuse for you toe home."
"No offense, but I don''t think you''d be able to do much to help. Even if I did get toe back for some reason, it needs to be something legitimate as I''d be driven back by one of the staff on hand here and if it turns out to be a lie, it won''t look that good." Samuel paused for a second as a thought went through his mind. "Although there''s something that I wonder if she would interested in. Do you know if that paintball range that we always went to when we were younger is still open?"
"It should be. My uncle took my little cousin and some of his friends there just a few weeks ago. Why?"
"I will give you a call backter after I find something out. I may need your help in reserving a few hours for uster this week."
"I can do that, but I want to know what for." Roger insisted.
"I will tell you once I know if it''ll be given a greenlight or not, otherwise there''s no point in getting anything together." Samuel retorted.
"Fine, but you better let me know right away."
"I will and ask some of those friends of yours if they''ll be freeter this week with it being summer."
"You always ask so much of me without giving me even a sliver in return." Roger replied, mock hurtcing his voice.
"Oh, don''t be that way. You won''t beiningter if everything works out." The other replied. "Now, I am going to hang up because I don''t have long for dinner and I would like some time for myself." Samuel didn''t even wait for his friend to reply before he hung up. He knew that if he did the other would most likely string him into talking longer to get him to spit out what he was nning. He just hoped that the idea he had in his mind would be something that the princess would be interested in.
Chapter 17 - Awkward
When dinner time came around, Samuel had to force himself toe down and out of his room to join everyone else. Not only were his feet still sore, but he still felt ufortable about the idea of facing both the siblings.
He had tried to think about what Leo said in order to tell if the other had just been giving him a hard time or not, but he still couldn''te to the conclusion if it was a joke or something serious.
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Lena was the whole reason that his feet were still so sore. If it hadn''t been for her rough way of handling the situation where he was learning the waltz, he might''ve actually been able to enjoy himself.
Samuel had nothing against the rest of the family. As of yet though he kept reminding himself. Zane was the only person he had seen much of aside from his two children. The rest of the family appeared to be scarce except for when it came time for dinner. He supposed that was probably not abnormal considering howrge the territory the family controlled was. They most likely had a lot of their own work to do in order to make sure that everything stayed in order.
Once he was met with the pleasant smell of food and saw the spread that was set on the table, he became slightly less ufortable as his stomach reminded him how hungry he was after all the dancing he had done and with it having been quite a few hours since lunch.
This time when he went to sit down, he remembered what Zane had told him and made sure to sit on the right side of Lena who only offered him a bored nce when he took his seat. Leo offered him a smile once he was sitting down which he did his best to return but the other didn''t say anything before turning his attention to the food.
Samuel again couldn''t get over how good the food tasted. Despite how rich it was, he couldn''t stop himself from eating more than he had the night before. He tried his best to keep up with the conversation that was going on at the table, but simr to how it was at lunch, it was focused around asking Leo what it was like being in Ennd, his studies, and what he else he managed to aplish while he was there. Lena was the only who didn''t seem that engaged most likely because she had heard it all earlier herself from him.
"What type of hobbies do you enjoy?" Samuel felt a little bit nervous asking the question, but he knew that he was going to have to get used to speaking with her like this at some point in time
"Hm?" She asked ncing at him with a raised eyebrow as she took another bite of the food on her te.
"You mentioned earlier that dancing wasn''t one of the top things that you enjoyed doing, so I was just wondering what you enjoyed doing more." He exined, trying to make the question seem as natural as possible while she fixed him with bored intense gaze.
"I have a preference for things more in the field of learning self-defense when ites to skills I am expected to learn. Hand-to-hand, shooting, stealth or areas that require intellect to handle. Outside of that, I prefer activities that are more thrilling though I rarely have time to engage in anything outside of the family business." Was the reply he got. He had to admit it was a more intense then he was expected. He had hoped that there might''ve been something in there he could rte with her own, but her response did mean that she perhaps wouldn''t shot down his idea. "Were you looking for a different answer?" She asked when she noticed the way that he was still looking at her instead of returning to eating.
"Not at all. I wasn''t sure what to expect honestly, I was just kind of curious to know." Was the reply he gave before turning back to his meal. The little queen wasn''t quite convinced by his response however. Zane was the only other person who was half paying attention to the conversation that was going on between the two, everyone else was too focused on what Leo was telling them about.
"What about yourself then, little chickadee? I can''t imagine that you would be into such heavy hobbies as me." Lena was smirking slightly as she asked this question while waiting to see what his reply would.
"That''s not entirely true. While I was never in a situation where I needed to know those type of skills and because of the risk, my family would never let me me touch a real gun but I often yed paintball when I was younger with my friends and that can be a bit intense at times. Especially when you''re able to reserve the right space to do it in. Otherwise most of my hobbies were boring. I did learn a bit of cooking from my mom and I had always wanted to learn the piano but it was much harder than I expected it to be. Everything else was things my friends enjoyed doing like bowling and stuff."
"Paintball." Lena repeated the word but he couldn''t tell by the way she said it if she was musing over it or expected him to tell her more about it. It didn''t seem yet like it was something that would fall outside of her field of interests.
"Have you ever yed it before?" Samuel inquired after she had gone back to eating again. He didn''t quite want the conversation to end yet as he wanted to collect more information before he asked her about going with some of his friends to try it out. He knew though that he was probably also going to have to ask Zane''s permission since it was quite a bit of a drive from here to the paintball field that he and his friends used to go to.
"Never. I know what it is, but there has never been a reason for me to do such a thing." She shrugged back as she stayed focused on her food.
"It isn''t something that you really need a reason to go do. It''s just supposed to be for fun." He tried to reason, but the look that she gave him when he mentioned fun made him think that ''fun'' was a word that wasn''t much a part of her dictionary.
"What''s fun about a game where you don''t actually eliminate your targets and there''s no real bullets involved? Certainly you take away tactical skills, work on aim and stealth, but those are all skills I get from using a real gun." Samuel found himself to be at a bit of a loss for words as he response. It really did seem like she didn''t do the whole having fun thing all that much. Everything she did was probably towards a specific end goal and maybe she didn''t have much of an opportunity to do anything just for fun and rxation.
"I used to enjoy the adrenalin rush from it." He replied back a low voice, felling slightly defeated that he conversation hadn''t ended up going in the direction he was hoping it would.
"If you like an adrenalin rush, I can take you with metter this week when I will be at the shooting range. I can tell you will get far more of a rush of that situation than you ever could from handling a gun that isn''t real." He wasn''t sure how to respond to this offer. He felt like it meant she was opening up to the idea of being around him more, but at the same time he didn''t want to get caught up in a simr situation to the one that he had been with the dance practice. Real guns were a totally different thing and he didn''t want to worry about getting identally shot or a concussion because he messed up and she felt she needed to be rough to correct his mistakes.
"Would I just be watching you?" He rified. Lena gave a slight nod of her head, waiting to reply until her mouth was empty.
"Unless you wanted to get your parents permission and then my father approved of it and we had some else apany us, you wouldn''t be allowed to handle the guns." The smirk returned to her face before she continued speaking "Besides, you''re still a little chickadee, there''s a lot of other things that you need to get through before you should even considering thinking you''re ready to handle guns." Samuel did his best to not frown at herment. He knew that she was most likely making a reference to what had happened earlier in the day. He decided that that was probably a good cue to drop the conversation and focus on eating before they began bickering about what had happened. Lena didn''t seem interested in pursuing the matter, but the amusement in her eyes over his response didn''t disappear for the rest of the meal.
Dinner went on for longer than it had the previous night as this time dessert had been served, most likely as a sort of celebration response to Leo''s return. Samuel could only assume by the look of it that was it was some type of n. Thinking back to what he had been told by Ryan about Lena''s love for sweets, he didn''t miss the way her eyes light up at the sight of the sweets nor how she was the only who took two servings and didn''t even seem bothered by the fact. Maybe he really would need to bake her some sweets to help her warm up to him. It might make her think he was more of a valuable asset to her if he could make her something like that any time she wanted.
Due to dinner runningter, he had hoped it would mean that he could escape to his room for the night before Lena stopped like she had done the night before, but he found that he had no such luck.
"Is Sammy-boy really trying to runaway without giving his fianc¨¦ a kiss good night." She asked, standing in front of him with her arms crossed.
"Not running away, my feet are sore and I would like to get back to being able to rest them." He replied. She was blocking the way to his room so he didn''t really have much of a choice but to deal with what she wanted before he could disappear for the night.
"If you were better at learning to dance quicker, you wouldn''t be having that problem." She replied "Now, are you going to be good tonight ande over here or am I going to have to force you like I didst night?" He really wanted to say neither and that he was just going to bed, but knew that she wouldn''t ept such an answer from him.
"Why not worry about this stuff after marriage?" Lena took a step towards him as she replied.
"Because as I exined to you before, I want to make sure you''re fit for the role before we get that far and you''re already one day down. Kissing and all that other affectionate stuff is part of that process."
"Fine. I get it." Samuel replied as he pursued his lips. He got the message that he would just be better off doing what she wanted than arguing with him.
He walked over to her but took a few seconds to stare at her awkwardly as he wasn''t certain what to do. The height difference made it ufortable for him, but he guessed he was going to have to let his guard down enough to lean down to kiss her.
Bracing himself for it, he began to lean over to give her a kiss on the cheek, but when he was only half way towards her face, he felt two cold hands ced on both sides of his face pull him down quicker than he was ready for. Before he had time to register what had happened, Lena had already pressed her lips against his. The kiss was firm and quick but still caused him to be flustered.
"Such a good boy. See that wasn''t so hard. With a more work you might be able to sharpen your skills yet." Lena replied with a smirk as she kept her hold on his face for a few seconds longer than necessary before removing her hands and leaving him once again flustered outside as she went to her own for the night.
Chapter 18 - May I Borrow..
The next morning Samuel woke up early than he had the previous morning the expectation that he was going to have to be ready to make breakfast for Lena and with it only being the second day, he didn''t want to make her wait again.
However, much to his surprise once he had taken a shower and made himself presentable, he found himself eating breakfast alone as Lena had early morning matters to take care of and didn''t have time for breakfast. Samuel felt some kind of way which he wasn''t certain if it was offense or hurt over the fact that she hadn''t let him know the might before that he didn''t have to worry about breakfast for. Then again though, it was possible that the little queen herself hadn''t even know until this morning that she would have to opt out of breakfast.
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Clive was the one who had let him know and presented him with his meal in the dinning room, but when he tried to ask what she was doing, he simply smiled and told him that he wasn''t yet able to speak about family business matters with him until after the engagement was determined. Samuel frowned at this response, but his down mood was quickly fixed when he began to eat. Breakfast was far lighter than the dinner the night before had been with it only consisting of a number of different breakfast rolls, savory and sweet and a side of eggs. Before that morning, Samuel never knew that eggs could taste so good. He was going to have to ask Ryan what he did to add such depth of vor to the food.
He figured that even if he didn''t have to make Lena breakfast on this particr morning, there were still five other days after this one that she might expect him to wait on her. Plus, he had an idea to visit Ryan for something else that might be an important part of his n to ask the princess to do something with him. That was if she would end up having enough free time to leave the Red Scorpion''s estate? Grounds? he wasn''t sure exactly what to call it but he knew he was probably going to have to also talk to her father about it before he brought it up to her.
He wasn''t sure yet how the other might react to the request or if he would even trust him to go off with his daughter for a day without someone tailing them. Samuel kind of understood the need for an escort, Lena was someone very important to the family especially as it was intended for her to take over when her father retired. On the other hand though, he hoped that the older man would approve of them being allowed to go on their own with the agreement of some time of constant contact. He hoped that maybe the little queen would warm up to him a little more if it was just the two of them without anyone from her family/organization around and instead it was a few of his good friends who he was certain would have no problem with her tagging along once they saw what she was like.
After eating, Samuel took a while to rest in one of the guest rooms as he considered his n after texting his family and Roger to let them know how things were going. He couldn''t deny that he missed his family and felt that no matter how much time spent away from them that that wasn''t going to change. He had briefly considered asking if they would be willing to move closer to him if Lena went through with agreeing to marry him, but he dismissed this thought rtively quickly when he realized that it wouldn''t be a very fair request even though he doubted Zane would have a problem helping support them once they became family. It was more that he knew his parents would probably not feelfortable being so close to such an organization when considering the risks that it would include. After all, they still had two younger children that they needed to consider and a ce such as this despite how nice it was wouldn''t be the safest space for them.
He instead just told himself that he would figure things out one way or another and visit them as often as he could if they got married. Although, in the back of his mind when he saw how busy the family around him was, he doubted that once he was in the middle of everything that he would get much of a chance to visit anyone who didn''t live near by.
Pushing his thoughts aside he continued to scan through his phone until he found what he was looking for. It was a recipe that he was fairly certain that Lena would enjoy and with Ryan''s cooking expertise, he was certain that the other would be able to help him make it. He needed to have a backup to sway Lena''s mind if she refused his request. Service through food was something he was really to offer inparison to some of the other things that he was certain she might request if he offered to do something in exchange that she wanted.
"Well, I certainly didn''t expect to find you here this early in the morning." Samuel was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of Zane''s voice. The business attire that the man was wearing somehow made him more intimidating inparison to the casual clothes that he had been wearing the night before. "Are you adjusting well to everything here so far? I know that it is probably quite different to anything you have been exposed to before." Samuel did his best to return the kind smile that the other had offered.
"Yes I am, thank you sir. It is different, but I wouldn''t necessarily say that everything about the adjustment isn''t bad." He wanted to be honest without being rude, but by the way the other chuckled if he knew what he had meant when he said that. Zane chose to sit down in the chair opposite from where Samuel was sitting. This meant that the younger of the two wouldn''t be able to expect to leave any time soon and as the older was expecting them to have a chat.
"I would expect that by the way you speak, you mean that it hasn''t been the easier to get used to being around Lena. My daughter is certainly a force to be reckoned with." Zane mused as he opened a door of a stand that was ced near a chair, a marble vase with bright flower arrangement was perched on top of it. He pulled out a pipe and gave the other a small smile. "I hope you don''t mind me smoking so early in the morning. The older I get the more soothing I find it to be." Samuel gave a response that let the other know he wasn''t bothered by it. Lighting the pipe and taking a deep breath, he blew the smoke out before he spoke again. "What do you think about the possibility of making the rtionship work?" Samuel had certainly not been expecting such a straight forward question from the other.
"Honestly Sir, I cannot say. I have only known her for a little over a day. Even with a week, I don''t think I will fully have an answer to that question, but I will go along with whatever Lena''s decision is."
"Good answer, but you don''t need to keep up with the sir, Zane is fine. After all we might be bing family soon. If I am being honest, I hope you''re able to convince my daughter to say yes. It might sound extremely selfish to say this, but I think it would best for you two to end up getting married."
"Is she that much against it?" the younger inquired as Zane took another puff off the pipe.
"There are reason for it, but yes. If she had her way, I am certain that she would chose to never get married after taking over." Theugh he let out sounded more bitter and humorless than amused. "But, I gave her a condition for taking over that she couldn''t refuse. She has to at least give you a chance before she says no right off the bat." Samuel processed what the other said before he aske his next question.
"Is that where this one week trial came from all of the sudden?"
"Very sharp. That''s exactly what it is about. She agreed to a week to see how things would turn out."
"What if she doesn''t agree?" This was the question Samuel wanted to know the answer to, but at the same time he was concerned about the reply he would get.
"I haven''t considered what the end result of that option would be yet." Zane answered honestly, this didn''t help the other at all. "I''ve been betting on the fact that after this week should change her mind or at least agree to scheduling the date for the wedding and everything will move forward from there."
"So everything is still at the wait and see stage." Zane nced over at the other, he could tell by the way he spoke that he wasn''t pleased to hear this or rather worried.
"I''m not an unfair person if that is what you''re thinking. I have my reasons for doin certain things, but they aren''t always born out of unfair or selfish motives. If they were, I could''ve easily forced your parents to pay me back and demand that their first born married my daughter along with at if that was what I really wanted. My wife didn''t exactly approve of my terms, but she didn''t dissuade me from my decision either."
"My parents have never talked about being resentful over the situation. I don''t know if that is just because they wanted me to note into this situation with a negative perspective or what the reason is." Samuel admitted as Zane continued to smoke the pipe thoughtful.
"It isn''t easy to give up a child, but the situation that they were in would''ve been far worse if they hadn''t epted my offer. I am sure though they have their own mixed feelings about it. While I asked about you myself, except for name, I never told my daughter anything as I didn''t want her to formed any opinions about you before she met you."
"Should I have expected that her reaction would''ve been worse to me if she knew what I was like beforehand?"
"That''s a good question. She probably would''ve threw out a number of excuses why it wasn''t worth her time meeting because based on one of many reasons she''d have said she already knew it wasn''t going to work." Zane put out the pipe and carefully wiped it off and make sure it was clean before he returned it to the draw. "I wouldn''t say that the situation is bleak however, just difficult to navigate. I am sure that if everything works, she''ll exin some things to you." As he seemed like he was getting ready to leave, Samuel thought this would be the best time to ask his question.
"Actually, there was something that I wanted to ask you. Would it be alright if I borrowed Lena for a few hours tomorrow or the next day, if she and you both agree of course?" Zane didn''t say anything in response to the question, but by the raised eyebrow he was given, he took it to mean that the older man was waiting for him to exin why exactly he wanted to borrow his daughter.
"I was hoping that she might agree to go and do paintballing with me and few friends. It''s a little ways away from here, and I''m not sure if she''ll actually agree, but I think she might find it fun. Especially if we can go on our own."
"You mean, you want me to entrust my daughter to you entirely without anyone tailing you." It was a statement, not a question from Zane and he crossed his arms when he spoke which made him that much more intimidating to Samuel.
"If you''re okay with that." rather than responding right away, the other chose to fix him with a strict stare. He wasn''t sure if this was because Zane was considering his request or if he was waiting to hear something else from the other.
"If you can get her to agree, I''ll say yes. But in return, you need to stay in touch with me, let me know what friends you''ll be with and tell me the location." He finally replied after what seemed like forever. Samuel released the breath he had been holding back once it seemed like the other wasn''t upset with him.
"I can provide that information once I talk to Lena and if she agrees." the younger of the two replied.
"Good. Then you just have to make sure nothing happens. Because if its does, I will hold you responsible." With that, the other stood up and left.
Chapter 19 - Meetings Are Hell
Following his talk with Zane, Samuel decided to stay in the guest room a while longer while texting his parents.
He decided to not tell that he would be in area in following days with his potential bride to be. He was certain that if he did, they would want him to stop by for a quick visit and he wasn''t ready yet to introduce Lena to them. He was certain they would end up with a bad impression of her if he did.
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He did promise to call themter however as he had been too tired and overwhelmed the previous night to talk on the phone with them.
With it still being early and having no idea where Lena was, he visit with Ryan and see if he could ask for his help before lunch came around. Maybe after that the little queen would be around and if not, he''d find something else to do.
Lena was trying very hard to not drum her fingers on the table out of impatience. Her neutral poker face was minutes away from breaking. She hated boring and stuffy meetings like the one she was one. Too many people in one room; arguing, chattering,ughing, wasting her time over frivolous things that could be discussed via phone or email.
The problem was however that due to etiquette and keeping up good rtionships, she''d been stuck in the meeting room for over an hour and she hadn''t even had a chance to get breakfast before her father sprung this sudden meeting on her.
The other annoying aspect was that the meeting was held at one of the locations where the legal side of business took ce and that happened to be over an hour drive away.
Appearance-wise it looked like any other corporate building that one could see in a city. nd gray three-story building that was matched by a equally nd off color white walls on the inside. The only exception was the dark red walls of the office where such meetings took. Lena got say over that part of the remodeling as it was technically her office. The heavy walnut wood long table that could at least twenty people and the chairs were also her choice.
They had the money and power to choose a bigger setup than the current building they were but her father always exined that it looked less suspicious to start something that Looks small and expand over what would be considered a normal amount of time for ''legal'' business to expand.
She couldn''t deny that it was good experience and wasn''t a bad ''birthday gift'' from her father. Most children weren''t fortunate enough to receive such a gift from their parents upon turning 18. Lena wasn''t upset at her father over the matter, quite the opposite as this had meant he had trusted her enough to already informally take over one corner of everything she would eventually be inheriting the moment she got married and he retired.
She bite the inside of her cheek as she listened to two older men argue over the same point for the fifth time. She sometimes wondered however if her father did such things to attempt to show her how much harder taking everything over would be than she expected or perhaps an attempt to put her in situations where she had to learn to hold her temper rather thanshing out.
"Get on to the next point." her tone was level and calm but had enough of an edge to it to let those in the room know that she was getting sick of sitting there in the meeting and had other things to do.
Thinking about taking over reminded her of the problem she had left back at the house. She gripped the inside hem of the dress suit she was wearing until her knuckles were white as she maintained her calm exterior as more unnecessary questions about the expansion were being asked. The business was hardly taking off and yet some of the men were already thinking way further into the future than they ought to be before they finished the tasks they had to take care of at hand. Plus with the way Lena was feeling, some might keep their job long enough into the future to know how well the business would seed if they didn''t get their acts together and stop wasting her time.
She still needed to sort out what was she was going to do with Sammy-boy, her potential husband that she had left back at home. She couldn''t deny that there were parts of him that were quite interesting to her and that with how na?ve and uncertain he was that there was high potential for her to mold him into the person that she wanted him to be. However, she wasn''t certain that those traits outweighed his deficits such as the fact that he was bloody useless when it came to defending and handling himself.
She had no intention of marrying someone who would just end up being a burden that she would have to watch out for. She an heiress to a major mafia gang, not the baby sitter for some child whom her father had decided before either was born would be her future husband. If turned out that it wasn''t possible for him to shape up and meet her expectations, she was just going to have to drop him and her father would have to ept that it wasn''t going to work out between them. He couldn''t go back on his promise that he would drop the issue if she really did give it her best shot to make the situation work between her and the little chickadee. She could honestly say that thus far she had been trying to give him a chance and not reject him outright.
She could tell that by the way the conversation was going that the meeting would be drawing to a close soon so it was time for her to stop letting her mind wander and focus on what was going on in front of her so that she could leave sooner rather thanter.
Once the meeting was over, Lena leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes with a slight sigh. She still had to keep her professional demeanor in ce until everyone had left the office but she couldn''t deny that she was thrilled the meeting was over.
"Excuse me miss, I had a few questions with you regarding some of the n we went over. In particr the changes that you wanted to make." Lena opened her eyes to look at the other but didn''t bother standing despite the fact that the other was evidentially older than her.
"Is there a problem Mark or something you need rified?" She inquired, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice as the man standing in front of her cleared his throat and adjusted his sses.
"Just a few small things. I happened to notice that when going over this that some of the projects and projections have changed and don''t match up with the ones your father had put in ce."
"Of course they don''t. That''s because as we went over before, I am the one taking over now." Lena replied as though it was most obvious answer in the world.
"I understand that, but I thought that we would still be keeping up with the n that your father put in ce. It''s most reliable and the best option with the current circumstances."
"Mark." Although her voice was calm, there was a storm brewing her eyes and the levelness of her tone indicating her frustration was so thick it could''ve been cut with a knife. "While I appreciate your concerns. I am not following my father''s n because him and I already discussed that the one I have proposed would be more effective and better suited for our goals. I would appreciate in the future if you wouldn''t challenge my decision just because of my role and gender." Mark looked like he had more to say, but could tell by the little queen''s tone that he would be better off keeping his mouth shut. She continued speaking as she stood up.
"While it is true that at this point in time my father is still ultimately in charge of all business dealings until I take over. He specifically gave meplete control of thispany to achieve my goals with. As employees here, you''re loyal to both me and my father but only answer to me anymore with questions, concerns or otherwise. If this is something that might turn into a problem, I''m certain that there can be help for you to find a job elsewhere that would be more suited for you." After she was finished speaking, she didn''t even wait for a reply or the rest of the members to leave the office before she began to walk out ahead. She was starting to get a headache and really just wanted to be home where she could finally eat some food.
Chapter 20 - I Do What I Say I Am Going To Do
Samuel was in the kitchen with Ryan working on the desert he wanted to surprise the little queen with when the ringing of the kitchen suddenly interrupted them.
"Don''t worry about." Ryan told the other as he moved to wash his hands. "I''ve got the call, you just focus continue putting that together." Samuel just nodded his head as he tried to regain his focus so he didn''t mess anything up. He never knew before now that making sweets could turn out to be such a delicate process.
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The call was a quick one as Ryan only replied with an ''Right, I understand.'' after picking up the phone and listening for only a moment or two.
"Well it seems like we''re going to have to cut this cooking lesson short. The Princess is back and would like her lunch sooner rather thanter. She''s also requesting for your presence in the dining room." Ryan told the younger boy as he came over to both see how the other was doing and take over the job from him.
"Will that be alright, she doesn''t want me to take care of cooking for her today?" Samuel asked feeling a little nervous. It felt like the situation was perhaps not a positive one that she was requesting to see his presence after being away to do some job or other.
"Don''t worry so much. I''m sure she''ll be fine with you once you tell that you made her a treat fortter." Ryan waved him off as he motioned for him to leave the kitchen. "I''ll finish up here and make her lunch."
"Thanks." Samuel replied as he left the kitchen. Despite Ryan''s attempt he didn''t feel any less anxious over why the Princess was requesting his presence.
Upon entering the dinning room, he could tell by the look on her face that she wasn''t in a good mood. He also noticed that she must not have changed her clothes after her meeting as she was still dressed in a rather fancy looking dress suit and pants. Her eyes were half closed, but by the way her hand was resting against the side of her face, Samuel could tell that her mind was focused on something she must''ve deemed important.
"You asked to see me?" Samuel asked, his voice came out smaller than he had meant it to as he waited on the opposite side of the table for Lena to acknowledge him.
"Sit, I asked for you because my father said there was something you wanted to talk with me about." Lena mentioned to the chair that was set right near here at the table, a little closer than he would''ve liked for it to be, but he took the seat nheless as he didn''t want to risk making her bad mood worse. "What did you want?" The fingers on the hand that wasn''t supporting her face were tapping on the table as she nced at him expectantly with her eyes still half closed.
"I was wondering if you would maybe have some free time tomorrow or the next to go and do something with me?"
"Why?" Samuel had hardly finished spoken before Lena had already asked this question, it caught him a bit off guard.
"I was hoping if it was just the two of us, maybe we could take some time to get to know each other better since half a week has already gone by." He replied, offering her smile in hopes that she would be more inclined to agree if he was being more polite than usual.
"Just us? What do you expect us to do that we couldn''t do here?" his smile faltered a little bit when she asked this question. He was hoping that she would say yes without him having to tell her what he wanted to do.
"Paintball. So technically there would be a few of my friends with us as well once we got to the field, but your father agreed that no one needed to follow along if I stayed in touch and he knew where we were going to be."
"Paintball?" The little queen narrowed her eyes when she repeated the word while looking at him. "I thought I told youst night that I wasn''t interested in such a thing. Real guns are better."
"I do remember that, but I was hoping maybe you would change your mind. I even made somethin I thought you would like?" Thest part of Samuel''s sentence appeared to have caught Lena''s attention because her eyes were more open as she spoke.
"What did you make?" She demanded. The conversation came to a pause for a few seconds as one of the house servants came into the dinning room to give Lena lunch. She offered them a quick ''thanks'' before they left.
"It''s a sweet that I thought you would like. I thought it would be a fair trade if you agreed to this one thing I am asking." Samuel replied, not missing the way that the Princess''s eyes light up when he said this.
"I want to see it first." She told him as she began to eat her lunch. The talk of food was making her more hungry and she didn''t want to wait any longer to eat incase food started to get cold.
"Is this a trick where you get me to show you and you end up taking it without agreeing to my request?" Samuel asked feeling doubtful over her demanding. He hissed when without warning, Lena flicked his forehead and non-too lightly at that.
"Who do you take me for? Of course not, I just want to see what is at stake here before I agree before seeing what I will be getting in returned." Lena huffed obviously offended over his question. Samuel rubbed his forehead as he frowned at the other. He still wasn''t able to get over how quickly she shifted between blowing hot and cold towards him.
"They''re chilling right now, but I can show you a picture I took. I didn''t make it entirely on my own, Ryan had to help as I haven''t had much experience with baking at this level." Samuel exined as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"Fine." Lena replied, feeling a little impatient to see what he was attempting to bribe her with. Even though he didn''t use the word ''bribe'' himself, she knew that was exactly what he was trying to do.
Samuel didn''t make her wait long as he pulled the picture up on her phone. It was a butterscotch pudding torte, the Princess didn''t have to look at the picture long before she knew what it was. She was certain that Samuel was unaware that she loved butterscotch, yet he somehow made this which did create a really tempting offer for her. She was quiet for longer than he wasfortable, and was thinking that she was going to say no once she actually responded.
"Fine, I''ll agree to this. We can go tomorrow. But, if this turns out to be a bad time, I am going to expect more than just sweets in return for my time." Lena''s response made Samuel feel a set of mixed feelings. He was happy she agreed to him, but was now worried that if she didn''t have a good time, what else was she going to ask for in return for the time that she gave to him?
"I can''t make any promises, but I think you''ll find it more fun than you giving it credit for." Samuel replied as he returned his phone to his pocket.
"You know that I am going to hold you to that." She assured him as he finished eating her lunch. "I have other things to do now, so go find some way to entertain yourself until dinner." Lena waved him off as she began to stand up.
"You''re not going to change your mind tomorrow?" Samuel rified as he too stood up. He took a step back though when Lena turned to him with an annoyed look.
"If I say I am going to do something, I do it unless there is a good reason not to." She replied. "As long as you''re good Sammy-boy, I won''t change my mind. " She told him once more before she walked away after pulling her phone out of her pocket with a tsk.
"
Chapter 21 - True To Her Word
The promise from the night before was what had Samueltched onto Lena''s waist as she sped down the vacant words on her motorcycle. Considering her smaller height, it was a rather awkward position for Samuel who had to lean down in such a way that he was able to wrap his arms around the princess''s waist without inhibiting her ability to drive the motor cycle. He had really been looking forward to being on a motorcycle, but this wasn''t quite what he had in mind, especially since he was also having to shout over the wind anytime he had to give her directions to where they were heading.
The prior night Samuel hardly saw Lena or anyone else after lunch. Granted, he had spent a good deal of the day in his room discussing the details of his n with Roger who was making sure that everything was set up and taken care of for him. He would''ve done it himself, but he didn''t have enough money to pay to both rent the building for a few hours along with renting the equipment for Lena. Not being a good judge of size, he made sure that his friend knew to only rent the equipment, but that they would get there in order to make sure that it would fit her properly. Roger had no problem for paying with everything as he was just impatient to meet the girl his friend was engaged to and didn''t mind spending some money if that was the only obstacle between them meeting.
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He wanted to make sure that he had everything as well put together as possible in order to make sure that Lena wouldn''t be inclined towards never trying paintball again if her first experience was bad. After today, he would only have four days left to make a good enough impression on her to agree with bing formally engaged to him. That would of course create another set of concerns, questions, and problems that Samuel wasn''t ready to think about yet so he shoved them to the back of his mind again.
When it came to dinner, the only person to join him in therge dinning hall was Leo and Lena''s aunt. Again, no one said why the table was so empty, so he could only assume that it had something to do with work again. Samuel didn''t have anything toin about however as both were amicable during the meal and provided enough light conversation that the situation didn''t feel ufortable for him.
The only odd part for him was when it came to retiring to his room for the night where he nned on calling his parents for a while before sleeping. He had checked the corridor and waited a moment or two before entering his room as he had expected Lena to be waiting for him as she had been the other two nights. That night it didn''t seem to be the case however as she didn''t knocking on his door to bother him that night.
The following morning, everything seemed to be back to how it was on his first morning there, Lena waiting on him to make her breakfast and demanding that he not be slow about it if he didn''t want her changing her mind. He didn''t of course, and Samuel actually tried to make something that would taste even better than what he had made for her the first morning. He was actually excited about the situation so his mood was rather bright that morning.
She had him sit and each breakfast with her because she wanted to know what time they had to leave by in order to reach their destination. Even though the little queen had agreed to his request, she still had work to do around it.
Which was why as soon as she had finished, she had to leave to tie up some lose ends with something her father asked in order to make sure she would be ready on time.
He didn''t know that she was going to be taking him on her motorcycle until it was about time for them to leave and she told him to follow her somewhere different from where the cars all seemed to be parked.
Of course Samuel was in awe of it as soon as he saw it. He wasn''t very good when it came to know make and type of motorcycle, but he did love the paint job which Lena hadmented she did herself one week when she was bored and didn''t have a lot of work to do.
the body was silver, but on each side there was a red scorpion. noticeable but not toorge in size. The tips of the motorcycles handles were also red. The shade was more of a dark rather than light one. Samuel had noticed the princess seemed to prefer darker shades of red.
The only dilemma aside from the difference in height was the fact that there was only one helmet. He saw this as a problem but she just blew him off and threw it at him, almost hitting him in the process as he wasn''t prepared to catch it.
Her only exnation was that she had been riding long enough that she was would be plenty protected by everything else she was wearing and he would need it more because of hisck of experience.
"Turn right up ahead and go for half a mile more before taking another right!" He did his best to shout the directions so that she would be able to hear them.
Looking back at the situation, he was d that for once he hadn''t argued with her about the matter, the helmet did make him feel much safer and Lena actually seemed to be enjoying herself quite well without. Perhaps also because Samuel was acting more nervous about fast she was speeding than he had assured her he would be.
He was still greatly enjoying the experience, but he could see why Leo would call her driving dangerous and im that a motorcycle was a death trap.
Samuel probably should''ve been more scared in the situation than he was, but the fact that the roads were empty helped ease the anxiety over the concern that they would end up getting into a crash because she couldn''t break fast enough while someone else was on the road.
The drive took over two hours, which he was sure would''ve been much longer had the little queen not been speeding so much. He supposed though that part of the reason she had been speeding was because she wanted to keep her word about wanting to be on time. Making people wait was something that she didn''t seem to enjoy all that much.
Once the motorcycle hade to a stop with Lena parking it in one of the vacant spots, Samuel decided to give himself a few seconds to regain his bnce and not feel disoriented after such a long drive. Lena on the other hand had already gotten off and was taking her time to survey the ce that they would be ying at.
"Where are these friends of yours supposed to be?" she broke the silence with the question as she continued to look around.
"They should be already waiting inside for us." Samuel replied as he made sure he wasn''t missing anything after getting off the motorcycle.
"Then show me where we are supposed to enter so that we can get this over with." She told him, looking back at him impatiently.
"Alright, but I am still going to say I don''t think you''ll regret the time you spend here today."
"We''ll see." Was her only reply as she started following after him.
Chapter 22 - Paintball
Once they had entered "Unfriendly Fire" (which Samuel had never really liked the name of despite it being a great ce), he realized he probably should''ve told Lena how many of his friends were going to be joining them.
Upon seeing the group of eight or so people with Roger standing in front to wave them over, he could see the little queen be tense. He hadn''t taken into consideration the fact that she might not be all thatfortable around too many strangers.
"You didn''t tell me there was going to be this many people!" she hissed under her breathe as they started walking over towards them. It was obvious that her decent mood had been ruined by herck of knowledge of this detail.
"I promise they''re decent people." He whispered back, offering Roger a smile as he stepped in front of the princess so he''d be the first one that they greeted.
Roger who was the only to actually know the real situation between Samuel and the girl was happy to finally met her, but by her appearance and the way she held herself, she could see why his friend said she was taking a bit to get used to.
"Nice that you could make it, I was starting to think you might bete." Roger told his friend as he gave his friend a hug before he turned his attention to the girl standing near him. Her arms were now crossed over her chest, he assumed that this was probably her way of saying that she expected him to respect her personal space. "And you must be the Princess, nice to meet you." Roger held his hand out to be shook and Lena just stared at it for a few seconds before reaching her hand out to shake the other''s hand. He was surprised as she shook his hand much firmer than he had expected that she would considering her size.
"Likewise, I prefer princess, but you can also call me Lena." She replied, looking behind to stare at the other guys who were looking between her and the other two men. "Are we waiting for anyone else?"
"This should be everyone."Roger was the one who replied to this question. He also gave a quick introduction as to who everyone was and introduced Lena as well who didn''t bother with shaking anyone else''s hand. It was evident that everyone was intrigued to know more about her, but the way she was holding herself made here across as unapproachable.
"Best to get everything started then! We only have ten minutes before our time is supposed to start anyways and we still need to get you fitted for your equipment."
"What equipment?" Lena asked ncing over at Samuel as though she was annoyed that once again something was not exined to her.
"Protective gear. You need a vest and stuff to make sure you don''t get hurt." Roger exined as he started to head over to the counter to ask for the assistant to help since everyone was there and ready.
"Am I going to have to deal with more people touching me?" She asked, her voice was low and level, but Samuel could tell that there was a level of venom behind.
"Not really, I can help you fit the vest on if necessary, but they are just going to ask you about what size you need, we have to sign waivers as well to agree that if anyone gets hurt we were aware prior to ying of the risks and we cannot sue over it and stuff." Samuel replied, smiling again as he tried to not upset the little queen more than she already was.
"Sounds like more trouble than it is worth." She shrugged, turning to watch Roger as the guy who was standing behind the front desk wasing over to help them get situated with everything. Samuel could already tell by the looks he was getting that the moment Lena was distracted and getting her equipment sorted out and rules exined to her that he was going to be bombarded with a number of questions he wasn''t ready to ask yet.
Roger actually had his back on this however and took all the guys to the side and basically told them not to be rude and ask too many questions and that they''d get a chance to find out more at a different point in time. Samuel made a note in the back of his mind that he owed his friend a favor after this, though he wasn''t certain that it would be one he would want to fulfil.
It took about twenty minutes to get everyone kitted out and for Lena to get sorted andfortable with the rules and how teams and everything worked. He was surprised to see that the little queen actually seemed to be in a better mood after she had talked to the attendant and learned more about the game, maybe she realized that this could be more fun than she had originally anticipated.
His one thing thankful thing was that he and her had been put on the same team which meant that he didn''t have to worry about any form of retaliation from as he would''ve if they were on different teams. This was only a small grace because Roger was ying on the team opposite of him and he was quite a good yer having had more time to y than Samuel had over the years. He was also probably the roughest out of all of them as well, he followed the rules, but didn''t lose any opportunity to make each chance to hit a target count.
"Should we do bets?" Roger asked as they entered the oversize room where the game would take ce. He made sure to ask his friend so that no one but him would hear the question.
"Next time, I don''t even know if she''s going to have fun or how well she''ll do. We can take bets next time if she''s interested in ying again after this." Samuel replied back, making sure to keep his voice down.
The room that they were going to be ying in was a dark gray in color- the wall, ceiling, floor, and the objects that were setup to provide strategic hiding ces as well as barriers against being hit. The room was also rather dim in order to make it easier for both teams to blend in corners and such to make it harder to pick targets out, which is why the gear was also dark in color as well as the paintball guns.
A timer was ced on the wall which was set for an hour, a buzz would to signal the start of the match, but before that happened, the two teams were separated and given a chance to pick where their starting point would be to increase the level of suspense and thrill in not knowing where the enemy team would strike from.
The attendant went over the rules once again and made sure everyone understood, but he set the buzzer to go in thirty seconds and set the lights one tone darker and synched when the room would light up again to be after the match was supposed to be over.
As the countdown as going on, near the end Lena moved closer to Samuel before speaking.
"I don''t quite understand this game nor do I know how well everyone else ys, but you probably have your best chance of winning by sticking next to me." Samuel looked at her rather surprised by the im, but he didn''t have a chance to reply before the start of the match buzzer went off and everyone started to move. It made him more intrigued though to see what the end result would be by the time the matches were over.
Chapter 23 - Paintball Demon
If Samuel knew he would be unleashing a demon by asking Lena toe and y paintball, he might''ve reconsidered inviting her. At the same time however, he couldn''t deny that for once he enjoyed being on the side of the winning team and seeing Roger struggle to score points.
"I told you, you need to be more quiet! If we end up getting found, it''s going to be your fault for not knowing how to be more stealthy!" The princess hissed at Samuel as she bumped him with the butt of her paintball gun.
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"I''m trying my best here! Unlike you, I don''t have the train to know how to sneak around without being heard!" He fired back trying to keep his voice as he stayed close to Lena. He had been doing his best to watch the way she picked up her feet without making any noise to try and mimic what she did, but she moved so elegantly and quickly that his mind couldn''t process the way she moved before he himself had to move quickly to follow her.
She had definitely undergone enough training from Samuel''s perspective that she might as well have been a trained assassin. They weren''t using real guns yet she was treating the game like it was life or death and it was her job to make sure that Samuel stayed safe got hit as little as possible.
"Just one more thing that I am going to have to end up teaching you! If I wasn''t skilled any of this we''d be losing right now." She tsked as she took cover behind one of the objects that served as a cover against enemy fire.
They were in thest thirty minutes of the final game and Roger had made it his goal to get at least one shoot on the little queen which thus far had been impossible.
Most of his team had tried to dissuade him from this goal as they had deemed it impossible by the time the first two games had finished and instead opted for trying to avoid getting hit and causing there to be a bigger gap in their points by the time thest round ended.
After the end of the second game, they had changed the rules to make the gamest longer. The rule change was that each yer could take three hits before they were considered ''out''. Without this rule, matches wouldst a far amount of less time.
The uracy and sped at which Lena was able to nail the yers on the opposing speed was rather faster as she had learned pretty quickly how the game worked. The only real suprise for her was that the paintball gun was easier to fire than a normal gun.
Roger had originally thought he was going to be able to use Samuel as their weakness since he had yed with this friend so much that he could easily predict what his movements would be. Lena had picked up on this quicker than he had anticipated however and made the other boy change his strategy and stick closer to her to avoid making their team lose points.
He couldn''t deny that the little queen''s reflexes were on a little different evenpared to his own which usually were the best out of all his friends. It was almost like she was trained to be a stealthy devil who knew her enemy''s weaknesses and the best way to defeat them.
The rest of both their teams had moved to the other part of the field to where they could y on a more level field with each other which just left the other three to fight it out until the end of the match. Roger would''ve preferred to have a second person with him who could serve as a lookout to let him know if he was in danger of being hit, but he knew at this point besides giving him a sense of security, another person would be pretty much useless in helping him to score a point.
His team was going to lose the game anyways so with the little bit of time that was left before the buzzer went off, he wanted to save his pride by at least getting one hit on the girl who seemed impossible to hit.
The moment that he heard the two voices of his targets, he tried to slow down his breath so that he could listen better and try to hear exactly where they were located. He knew that they were close, but how close was the question.
With how dark the room was, he couldn''t see for any shadows either so all he could really do was move slowly and hope that he would see them before they noticed him if he could stay quiet enough and in the shadows without being noticed.
Luck wasn''t on his side however, because the moment that he turned the corner, he, Lena, and Samuel face to face with one another. He tried to recover quicker from the surprise than the other two as he only had one chance left before he would out and the game would be over so he if he wanted to get a hit in, it had to be done now.
Lena was just that much faster than him however and she quickly knocked Samuel down and out of the way to avoid him getting hit and she moved at the same time Roger aimed his gun to take a hit at her. His gun went off, but it missed it''s mark barely by an inch and the princess took this chance to get thest hit in that she needed.
They both were breathing hard due to the adrenaline, but neither one of them was in a bad mood over what happened. Lena didn''t bother trying to help him up as she left and made Samuele with her so that they could let the employees know that the match was over and they were done ying.
Roger was beyond frustrated that he couldn''t make the hit that he had wanted to, but he at the same time he was thrilled to have found an opponent in Lena who actually was a challenge for him to go afterpared to the rest of his friends who weren''t as good as him.
After they had washed up and changed out of the gear and returned everything without any damaging having urred. Roger was the one to approach Lena and hold out his hand for her to shake.
"I can''t deny that I hate that I lost to a girl, but you''re a decent opponent." Samuel didn''t think that she was going to shake his hand at first because of the disinterested look that was on her face. Lena hadn''t bothered to speak to anyone except for him since their match had ended. Much to his surprise however, she did shake his hand though it was a brief one.
"You''re not yourself. You have potential but you''re too rash and not stealthy enough that you give yourself away too enough. In realbat, the end result would''ve been far worse for you than just a few bruises." Samuel internally winced at thisment, but Roger didn''t seem to pick up on how serious she was and insteadughed it off.
"You''re probably right about that. Hope I never find myself in that situation. Could I possible though look forward to getting the chance of challenging you again in the future?" She gave a nomittal shrug in response to his question.
"We''ll see. I haven''t decided yet if this is something I want to keep doing or would find fun to do again."
"Fair enough, but I''ll keep asking until you change your mind."
They parted ways not long after that. Samuel had of course made sure all along to keep Lena''s father updated about everything that was going on so that he wouldn''t be worried or upset by the time they got back. It was still early enough that they would be back before dinner if the princess sped as much as she had on their way over.
"Did you have fun?" Samuel ventured asking the question as she handed him the helmet to put on and made sure that her motorcycle was ready for them to go. She stared at him thoughtfully for a few seconds, before turning to get on the motorcycle so that he could follow suit and get on behind her.
"Perhaps." was the only reply that she gave him before they took off and headed back in the direction of to her home.
Chapter 24 - Cute
The ride back was a quiet one. Lena seemed to know better which direction she was heading in going back than she had heading to the paintball range.
She was still speeding just as much as she had been on the to the range as she was now heading away from it. This time however, it didn''t make Samuel as nervous and in fact with the way the wind had picked up while they were inside, he found himself enjoying the ride more.
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He had let the princess know that he had told her father they would be heading back now, but what he hadn''t included was that he had sent him a photo of her during the match.
He was pretty sure that not even Lena knew he had taken the photo of her and wanted to keep it that way.
The picture had captured her expression the first time she had tagged someone with a paintball. It wasn''t that big of a deal but the expression on her face said otherwise.
It was hard to see her whole face behind the protective gear that she was wearing and from the angle that Samuel took it from. But, if one looked closely, they would be able to see the mixture of surprise and delight that was shining in her eyes of the aplishment.
He had liked the photo and had assumed that Lena''s father might like a photo to see what she was up to since he wasn''t able to join them or rather had respectfully agreed to give them space for the time being.
Samuel had asked him not tell to her that he had sent the photo as he was certain the little queen would get upset.
The only text back that he got was a ''thank you'' which he hopped meant that he wouldn''t bring up anything to Lena.
Looking over Lena''s head, he enjoyed the view of how everything was blurring by so fast. He appreciated the speed. He had thought about asking her if she would teach him how to ride, but wasn''t sure how that would go over.
"Don''t forget you owe me lunch when we get back Sammy-boy!" Lena''s unexpected raised voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"Don''t we have to wait until after dinner for me to give it to you because of the time?" He asked back. He had to raise his voice quite a bit to be heard over the wind.
"I''m princess so of course we don''t have to wait until then. Plus, it''s the deal we agreed." She argued before revving the motorcycle as though she was getting ready to go even faster. This small action made Samuel grip her waist tighter. He was getting morefortable, but he didn''t want to get so rxed that the grip he had on her waist was so loose he ended up getting thrown off the vehicle.
Perhaps her desire to speed faster had something to do with the fact that she had a feeling the other was right and if she wasn''t home by a certain time, she would have to wait until after dinner to collect on the dessert she wanted.
It was a wonder that she wasn''t pulled over by a police officer with how fast she was going, but Samuel also realized that with her family''s position, she probably didn''t have to worry about anything like that happening.
As it turned out, it waster then Lena had expected by the time that she got them back to the estate and indeed, she was going to have to wait for dessert as her father shouldn''t be pleased for her to eat something before dinner, it wouldn''t be good for her to do.
Samuel couldn''t believe it when she actually gave him a re and med him that she had to wait because of what he said.
"I didn''t actually do anything though?" he tried to reason but it didn''t improve her mood. She knew Ryan wouldn''t even let her into the kitchen like he used to if she asked. A child could get away with far more than any adult could.
"If you hadn''t said anything, we would''ve gotten here earlier." She replied with a huff. Her arms we crossed over her chest as she sat in one of the arm chairs in the lounge room. Her right leg was dangling over one arm as she leaned far back in it.
Usually Samuel would find her attitude to be intimidating, but in her current position, she very much looked like a child who was pouting over something they couldn''t have. also with the slightly oversized clothes that she was wearing.
He wasn''t sure if she enjoyed clothes that were slightlyrger than she was or if there was a reason behind why she wore them, but they only added to making her look like more of a child.
He didn''t realize he must''ve voiced some of his thoughts out loud until the little queen fixed him with a very dark re.
"I''m sorry, but it''s true. With your small height and all.." He trailed of when he realized that she had moved to a sitting-up position.
"Sammy-boy. You took me with you to y some game with fake guns and opponents that weren''t even at half my level for over half day. I have not tried your dessert yet so I can''t say if it''s a disappointment. But, do you really want me to ask you to pay me back with something else while we''re waiting for dinner. I can think of quite a few things that would make me happy."
Samuel didn''t really want to think about what she meant by that so he just shook his head.
"I didn''t mean it in a bad way, just thought it made you look kind of cute like that and less intimidating than normal."
The princess didn''t seem that thrilled with his answer, and her re in fact darkened over the use of the word ''cute''. However before she could do anything, a servant came in tote them know that it was time to eat dinner and that they shouldn''t bete.
Lena thanked her and was the first one of the two to stand up. Samuel wasn''t sure if it was better to stand up before or after her with her current.
"You better hope that dessert is worth waiting for after all this." He nodded his head mutely.
He knew that it was supposed to be a threat or a warning of what to expect if she wasn''t pleased but he couldn''t take her so seriously after he had gotten the image of how she had been sitting in the chair stuck in his head.
He still wasn''t sure if he was ready to be engaged. As more time went by though, he could see more of the positive points that Lena had about her. Such as the fact that she could be cute if she wanted to be.
Chapter 25 - Dessert Made It Worth It
The dinner table was full thatpared to the previous one. Much of the talk that took ce was very much the same as it had been the first two nights - something or other about family, vague work conversation, or asking Samuel what his ns were for the future or what he thought about something or other.
This night though, Lena was particrly quiet while she ate. It concerned Samuel at first, but he was the only who seemed bothered by her quiet behavior. Her main focus seemed to be on eating the food that was in front of her and paying attention to how much everyone else had eaten. Was this because she was waiting for dessert? If so, Samuel hoped that she wouldn''t end up feeling disappointed when the time to eat it came around.
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If he had cooked it on his own, he fairly sure it wouldn''t have turned out the way that he wanted it to. It was only with Ryan''s expert experience as a chef that the dessert turned out at all. The little queen didn''t have to know though that it took over two tries to get the dessert mixed and set properly. Ryan had been willing to help him, but he made him do most of the work himself while he stood over his shoulder and gave him advice where he needed it.
He imed that Lena would be happier knowing all the effort he had put into trying to make it taste as good as possible for her than she would if she knew he hardly had a hand in making it and let Ryan do all the work for him just to take credit for itter.
Samuel''s other relief was at the fact that Zane hadn''t asked about the picture while they were eating. He had asked if she enjoyed her day off, but much to the other''s dismay, she had given her father a nonmittal answer to this question. The only positive thing that she had said was that it was more interesting than she had thought it was going to be, though no one was enough of a challenge for her.
"So, Sam, what did you think about riding with Lena though?" Leo had been the one to ask this question. He seemed intent to hear the answer by the way that he leaned forward at the dinner table, a ghost of a smile on his lips most likely because he was expecting the other boy to tell him how scary it was riding with her. Instead, Samuel just shrugged his shoulders as he replied.
"The first time it took me a bit by surprise, but she''s a good driver honestly. I can see where some might be scared by how fast she goes, but I rather enjoyed it. I could even get used to driving like that every now and again." It was an honestly reply. He liked the feeling of the thrill and the wind against his body even if his face couldn''t feel it because of the helmet that he wore.
"The both of you must be crazy." Was all Leo had to say as he shook his head at the reply. "I tried countless times to get used to the way she rides. Even when I told her to slow down though, she''d only go faster. I swear she was trying to kill me."
"If I really wanted to kill you, there are much easier ways to go about it then that. I just figured you''d get less scared if you knew that I wasn''t going as fast as I possible could while riding with you. Instead, you just continued to be a baby about." The little queen retorted. "Which is why I refuse to let you ride with me anymore. If you don''t trust me, I can''t have you riding with me because it''s too much of a risk."
"Of course I trust my dear older sister." Leo confirmed. "But that doesn''t mean I''m not going to find certain things scary even if I do trust." Lena just rolled her eyes as it as she continued to eat.
"Maybe you''d change your mind if you tried riding with her again now. You might not find it to be as scary as you used to think." Samuel''s suggestion was met with a nervousugh.
"I think not after this conversation. If I tried, she''d purposely ride fast just to scare me." he looked over at the little queen to see if this was true. She didn''t say anything however so he could only assume the younger brother was right.
"Guess it''s a privilege I''ll just get to enjoy." He mused. This thought was short lived however when Lena nudged him in the side a little roughly.
"Don''t get ahead of yourself. I said you could ride with me only if you''re well behaved and deserve it." Samuel huffed in response to this and shot her a displeased look.
"Maybe I should say that to you when ites to dessert." The look that passed over Lena''s face followed by the smirk let him know that he made a joke out of something he probably out not have.
"Sammy-boy, I would be careful what you tease about." She didn''t say anymore than that, but it was enough to let him know that he might want to make watching that joke in the future or even following through on it if he desired to not get on her bad side.
Part of the reason for her reaction he figured was due to the fact that she was still waiting on dessert to be served that night. Such a threat while she was feeling impatient most likely only added fuel to the fire. Especially since it was directed at taking away the one thing that she had been waiting all evening for.
When dessert was finally served, Samuel was surprised to see only the little queen and himself had been served the dessert that he made. Was this a specific request by her or something Ryan had done on purpose? He wasn''t sure either way. His primary concern was watching her facial expression to see if she liked the food or not.
Part of this was because he wanted her to admit that it was a fair agreement that they had so that he wouldn''t have to owe her anything else. The other part was that he actually honestly did want to make something that she would enjoy eating. If they were going to be getting married and he would in charge of food most of the time, he had to at least know how to cook well enough that she wasn''t going toin.
Lena didn''t dig into the dessert right away however. She actually stared at it intently for a moment or two before poking it with her spoon. Not hard enough to break it''s form, but just enough to see how well it had set. It jiggled but surprisingly the dessert''s form held. This was a more a interest in aesthetics for her than something that would impact the taste. Plus, she was quite well aware of the fact that Samuel was watching her and waiting intently for her verdict as to whether the dessert was good enough or not. Thus, she decided she''d hold out for a little while longer just to make him ufortable and perhaps question how well he did in terms of making the dessert.
Lena took a small bite first. She wanted to not only savor the dessert, but also make sure that what she was getting ready to eat did actually taste as good as it looked. She stared at it while she gave her mouth a chance to go through the differentyers of vor beforeing a conclusion on how good the quality was.
Even after she had determined it was far better than she had expected, she didn''t tell Samuel this and instead continued to eat slowly yet steadily without breathing one word to him as to what she thought about. He didn''t seem to like this, but she didn''t care. The goal was to make him ufortable.
"Does it taste alright?" Samuel finally asked once it became apparent to him that the princess wasn''t going to give him an answer to his question of her own free will. Aside from her father, there was no one else sitting at the table who was really interested in finding out one way or another as to how she felt about the dessert.
She didn''t reply right away however as she was still too focused on eating the rest of the dessert in front of her. She decided she would wait until she had finished all of it to relieve him of the torture of waiting for the verdict.
"You shouldn''t so impatient Sammy-boy. Your nervousness is going to end up making your own dessert taste bad." She chided him as she pushed away the te that was in front of her.
"I wouldn''t sitting her so nervous if you just let me know what you think about the dessert." He replied back, anxiety evident in his voice. He really did seem to worry about what the consequences might be if she didn''t like the dessert. That was a good thing in her book.
"The way you''re going about it isn''t going to make anyone give you the answer that you''re looking for. But if I had to tell you what I thought about it. Hmm.." She trailed off as she stared back down at her te. The intention to make him more nervous did work as he waited with baited breath to hear what her response was going to be. "My finally verdict is that despite my initial doubts, the dessert made it worth it." Samuel couldn''t actually believe what he had heard as he stared at Lena uncertain as to how he should react to her response.
Chapter 26 - I Dont Know
As was usual for Lena, she had some work that she needed to go over after Dinner. More than usual in fact because she had taken the first part of the day off and didn''t do anything after she had gotten home.
Small price to pay for trying something different. Though if it hadn''t been for the dessert, she''d have probably been in a foul mood over the whole thing. She didn''t mind take days easy, but she also didn''t like having to go through stacks of papers and reports that helped her to stay on top of everything that was going on around her. Being one of the top gangs in the area came at a heavy price of long days, too much work to do, and the asional problem that went under the radar because someone or other forget to say something or failed to do their report right.
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Running a hand through her hair as she exited her office she already felt like she needed another day off. Two hours was all she had been in there for, but the work felt like it was taking years no hours off her life. Tomorrow would be no better because she had to get up early.
As she went the stairs to go to her room where she would probably have more work that she needed to do before she got to sleep, she was surprised to see that Samuel was already standing outside her room. Perhaps he was waiting for her?
"Well, are you already learning, Sammy-boy?" She asked, not hiding the smirk that appeared on her face as she came up the stairs. He seemed surprised to hear he voicee from behind him which probably meant that he hadn''t been waiting for her but rather had expected that she was already in her room.
"Oh, I thought you had already retired for the night." He told her, stepping to the side so that he wasn''t standing directly in front of her.
"Disappointed are you?" Lena asked once she had reached the top of the stairs. Standing in front of him, she looked up at him as she waited to see what he had to say for himself.
"No, actually I was hoping that I would get a chance to talk to you before you disappeared for the night, that is if I won''t be taking away too much of your time." Lena shrugged in response to what he said as she moved to open her bedroom door.
"I don''t exactly have free time, but seeing as we''re trying to figure out this engagement thing, my time for right now is flexible for you at least until this week is over. Since it is before nine, you cane in if you want. My father won''t get upset at us." She told as she entered the room, obviously expecting him to follow unless he wanted the conversation to end there.
It took him a moment to process what she had said before following after her into the room. He didn''t close the door however as it made him feel a little morefortable that he wasn''t stepping into somewhere he couldn''t easily leave if he got ufortable.
Not caring that Samuel was there or not, she flopped down on the massive bed that was positioned on the far side of the room. Her room was setup in a simr fashion to his own room. The only difference was that her wall had been painted a deep red shade of red and the floor was a dark shade that looked to be ck. It made the room look much darker than it actually was and gave it a rather ominous feeling. Even most of her furniture in the room was some shade of red or close there to.
"Are you going to just keep standing? You can take a seat wherever you like if you actually have something that you wanted to talk to me about." Lena told him as she rolled over the bed so that she wasying on her stomach. She used her hands to prop her chin as she stayed at him intently while waiting to see what he was going to chose to do.
"I do want to talk, I''m just not used to invading someone else''s space." Samuel replied as he stepped further into the room and took a seat in arm chair that was on the opposite side of the room from where she was sitting.
"Well you should get used to it, because of with this engagement thing, once we''re actually married or whatever, we''ll be sharing a room most likely." Lena said it as though it was an obvious thing that shouldn''t have been surprising at all, but to Samuel he didn''t share the same thing.
"So does this mean you intend to continue going through with the engagement." He asked, resting his hands on his knees as he tried not to seem too tense about the matter. It was what he had been there to talk with her about after all.
"I don''t have a reason yet to reconsider." She responded after a few seconds of silence. "I''m not anymore thrilled about this situation than I was before but considering that following this week if we do agree to go forward with the marriage that there''ll be a six month period at least between the wedding and engagement, there''ll be more time to determine if this will work out or not.
"You have put a lot more thought in to this matter than I thought you had. I always thought I was the only one stressing about it and taking it seriously." Samuel''sment caught her off guard, but in a way that caused her to feel annoyed.
"You really think so little of me that I would be nonchnt about something that involves another person?" The little queen inquired, her eyes narrowing as she red at him.
"I don''t know. I guess I just thought it wasn''t that big of a deal to you because you''re not the person who''s in the precarious situation. If you decided to reject me, you wouldn''t lose anything. In fact, you would get the exact freedom you mentioned you wanted me. But me, I don''t know what that would mean more so for my family than me if you broke this agreement off with me." Samuel replied, looking down at hisp as he spoke.
"If we''re really going to get married, you should give me a little bit more credit and actually realize that I do take other people aside from myself into consideration in these type of situations. I couldn''t take this ce over if I didn''t" She told him as she sat up. Her response might''vee across as more sharp than she had meant for it to, but her feelings were hurt by his reply so she didn''t guard her reaction as much.
"I thought it was the exact opposite, you''d have to keep more of your feelings away in order to be a better leader in this type of position." he exined. He was so focused on looking at hisp rather than trying to make eye contact with her that he didn''t realize that she was standing right in front of him until she was straddling his hips had pushed him back in the chair, pinning his hand to the arms of the chair.
"Sammy-boy, we obviously haven''t been spending enough time together for you to understand how I actually work. You''ll understand this if you talk with my father. But here, everyone here is like family. We watch out for each other, even those who aren''t rted to use by blood." Even though Lena was talking calmly and not moving to do anything to him, Samuel still felt as his breath became shallow. He didn''t feel like he was ever going to get used to being in such a ufortable situation the little princess. Even more so because she was so much stronger than he was. "I think we need to spend more time together so you can get more familiar with the type of person I actually am." She murmured as she leaned down, her eyes half closed as she focused on her goal. The position that she was in made it easier for her to steal his lips and that was exactly what she did.
Chapter 27 - This Is Why..
Samuel felt that by this point in that being kissed shouldn''t havee as such a surprise to him because Lena had done it every day since he came here. However, this time the kiss felt different. It was as controlling as the other kisses she had forced onto him, but at the same time when their lips connected, it felt to him like the princess wasn''t as being as rough about it as she usually was.
Even if she was though, it wasn''t like he could do much to stop or resist her with her practically being in hisp and having his hands pinned down. All he could do was deal with it and try to figure out how he felt about her kissing him. His thoughts and focus were cut however by the sound of a voice behind him.
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"Someone''s going to get in trouble." The sing-songy tone he realized came from Leo and that reminded him that he hadn''t closed the door behind him. Samuel''s face immediately heated up once he realized anyone else aside from her younger brother could''ve walked past the door and seen what was going on.
He felt even more ufortable once he felt a shift in Lena''s bodynguage and aura. She had stopped kissing him when she heard the other''s voice, but Samuel couldn''t see the look in her eyes as they were closed while she rested her forehead against him. It seemed to him like she was trying to keep her temper in check.
"And someone is going to end up a dead person if they don''t naff off." Lena warned back. She didn''t bother shifting position to look at him. Samuel felt that if Lena had her eyes open and looks could kill that Leo would''ve been t out on the floor already, and by the nervousugh he heard behind him meant that the younger brother knew the same thing.
"Come now, you know I am just joking. But, you should really be more careful about what you do when your door is wide open like this." Leo replied, Samuel could hear that he took a step or two back as he spoke as his voice became more distant.
"Close the door then. It''s not even nine yet so there''s nothing wrong with this situation and if you''re smart, you''ll be good and not say anything." Lena growled. She hated being bothered in situations like these. Some privacy would be nice.
"Fine fine. Just don''t me if you get yelled atter." Samuel was surprised that Leo really did close the door before he walked away. He had expected the other would''ve left it alone after the way that his sister had reacted towards.
After Leo left, the silence was maintained between the two. Samuel didn''t want to be the one to break it and Lena didn''t seem interested in moving from her position with her head slightly bowed and their foreheads touching. The grip on his hand hadn''t lessened either, yet unlike thest time she had him pinned down, it didn''t hurt.
"You see that is why I leave the door close whenever Ie in here." Lena finally broke the silence. Her voice still had an annoyed edge to it.
"I''m sorry. I didn''t know that it would be a problem." Samuel replied not sure how else he should respond to herment. Lena opened her eyes to look at the other.
"What''re you going to do about being sorry though?" Lena asked as she kept her gaze fixed on him. In this position, he could see that her eyes were a deeper shade of red than usual. Was it because of the annoyance in rtion to the situation, or was it something else?
"I''m not sure what you mean?" Samuel replied as he shifted his hands slightly even though he couldn''t really move them. It was a nervous habit he had whenever he felt ufortable.
"I mean, you can''t take back the situation that just happened, so what''re you going to do to let me know that you''re sorry and it won''t happen again?" Lena replied, shifting so that not only their foreheads, but noses were touching as well now. It was turning into arger invasion of space than Samuel feltfortable with. He was really not used to being in this type of situation. "Well Chickadee?" She asked when he didn''t reply, her voice slightly lower than it had been before.
"I''ll make sure to close the door next time Ie in?" He offered uncertainly.
"Next time? You think that with our current situation that you think I believe that you would be sofortable withing back into my room on your own. You''re stiff and your face is hot. You''re evidentially ufortable even though I haven''t done anything to you." He couldn''t say anything to argue with her because she wasn''t wrong, he would think twice before consideringing to her room again so freely after this situation. She leaned back slightly to get a better look at his whole face. His cheeks were bright red again and his breathing had raised slightly because of the ufortable nervousness that he was feeling. "Is it fear?" Lena asked as they stared at each other for a few minutes longer.
Not trusting his voice, Samuel shook his head in response to the question. His problem wasn''t that he was scared of her. At least not at this point in time. Lena didn''t say anything in response to this and instead just continued to stare at him while waiting to see if he was going to talk.
"I''m just not used to this type of situation." He finally admitted to her. "I''m not scared of you, or at least not right now in this type of situation. I just don''t know how to feel or what to do." Saying it out loud made him feel silly, but at the same time he got the feeling that Lena wasn''t going to let him up until she knew what was going through his head.
"Shouldn''t you be happy for the opportunities like this then little Chickadee? The more you''re exposed to these type of situations, the less nervous you will be." She told as she leaned forward to kiss him again. Samuel didn''t have a chance to argue with her about this matter before she had pressed her lips against his again.
He felt like his mind was on the verge of shutting down from everything that had happened in thest few minutes when Lena pulled away from him. Opening her eyes, she stared at him again for a few seconds before she got off from on top of him and let him go.
"You better get ready to go to bed Sammy-boy. Too muchter and one of us could get into trouble. I have work I need to do anyways." She told him as she kept her back to him as she made her way over to the work desk that was positioned in back right corner of the room.
Samuel wanted to say something before he left, but his face was so red and his mind was frazzled that he chose instead to just leave her room without saying anything. He made sure to close the door the way out.
He knew he was going to need a few minutes to collect his mind before he texted or called his parents to let them know how things were going.
Chapter 28 - Time Off
Even though Samuel had on problem sleeping that night, the following morning he still felt rather out of sorts because of what had happened in Lena''s room the night before.
While it was the same thing she had been doing to him every since he came to stay with her and her family,st night it also felt different because she wasn''t being as rough and intimidating as he had before.
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He also felt confused about the fact that even knowing he wasn''t going to befortable walking into her room so casually next time, she didn''t try to bully him into staying or say warning about how if he didn''t want to get into more trouble he should just be good ande back.
Maybe it was because the fatigue of paintball earlier on in the day had caught up to her? that seemed like a weak reason considering she always seemed to do doing something or other which made him doubt that she struggled with stamina in rtion to activities that required a lot of movement or work.
He again avoided talking to his parents about that aspect of their rtionship when he called themter that night, but he did tell them about how they went to y paintball and how good Lena was at the game. He was really hoping that the more positively he talked about her before they met, the easier it would be to get them to warm up to her once they met.
His father was more guarded than his mother was, but Samuel figured that had something to do with the fact that he had been the one who in person had primarily dealt with Zane so he was sure his father believed that whoever his daughter was, probably wasn''t that great of a person or perhaps it was just because of their line of work was something his father never had wanted him to be involved with.
Whatever it was, he hoped that it was something that could be worked out so he didn''t have to worry about the engagement would be canceled. He only had three more days to get through before Lena would give him her final answer as to whether she was going to agree or not to go through with the wedding.
Samuel''s goal of keeping her to mind positive towards the idea was what got him to leave his room that morning rather than continuing to hide inside his room to sort his feelings out. It would''ve been at the cost of eating and the risk that Lena, his brother, or father might seek him out to find out what was going on, but he wasn''t confident with the fact that he would be able to interact normally with Lena and thest thing he wanted was for him to seem weird around her family and someone to ask questions.
Closing the door behind himself, he stopped when he saw a note pinned to his door out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look at it, the first thing that caught his attention was that it was from Lena, or at least she had signed her name at the bottom of it.
''Little Chickadee, I already know you''re going to skip breakfast. I am too busy for you to worry about food. I expect though that around noon, you''ll be waiting for me in sunroom with that dessert you made.''
ps. ''don''t forget we have dance practiceter and I expect that you will be good and not try to skip out. If you do, I will find you.''
- Lena
He grimaced when he read thest part of the note. He had forgotten that she was expecting him to continue attending dance practice with her. Unlike her, he was sore from ying paintball. Less from being hit by the paintballs themselves and more from the rough way that Lena would shove him down or to the side any time there was a risk her or her would be hit by someone on the other team.
His only hope was that this time there would at least be proper dance shoes for him to wear as the instructor had measured his feet and assured him that he would have something to wear when he came back.
Taking the note off the door he slipped it into his pocket. He would need to set a timer on his phone as he was certain he would end up forgetting what she was requesting him to do and that was thest thing he wanted to do right now.
Walking down the stairs towards the dining area, he vaguely wondered if he was going to get in trouble for eating dessert with her around noon if she had not yet eaten anything else. Would that make him deny her request or argue with her about it? Absolutely not. Perhaps her father had the ability to be intimidating when he wanted to be. For Samuel though, Lena still took the top of the list as the most intimidating figure in the family despite her small size.
He hadn''t interacted with much of the other family yet, but he kind of figured that based upon how everything went at the dinner table, they at least seemed decent enough since the family appeared to get along well.
Eventually he wanted to ask Lena about how the dynamics worked though since he was aware that Zane''s younger brother, wife, and children lived with them. He had always been under the impression that in gangs/mafias (he still wasn''t quite sure what to ssify them as) such as the Red Scorpions there was usually some type of in family fighting over who was going to take over and such.
Thus Samuel wanted to know if there was anything he needed to worry about before marrying into the family or if there would be any type of risk to his family from within once they were married.
"Saaaaaam." He decided that today would be a good day to spend outside, but he had hardly made it outside and down the stairs before he heard Leo yell/shout his name. The troublesome younger brother was another person he had been hoping to avoid seeing this morning after he was the one who had spotted him and Lena in their room "She wasn''t being mean to you against night was she?" He asked as he jogged over from where he appeared to shifting fire wood into what he assumed as a storage space.
"She wasn''t mean to me at all. I went into her roomst night because there was something I wanted to talk to her about." Samuel replied shifting a little away from the younger brother when he realized that he intended to hug him.
"But she attacked youst night instead." His spection caused Samuel''s face to heat up more than he would''ve liked. He personally wouldn''t have chosen to use the word ''attack'' for the situation that happenedst night.
"She didn''t attack me at all!" Samuel defended, his voice came out quicker and like more of a snap than he had wanted for it to, but all Leo did in response was grin at him. Even though he was not intimidating like his sister, the two siblings were alike in a lot of other ways it seemed.
"Don''t worry, I''m not saying it like there''s anything wrong with the situation, you two are engaged after all. I was just making an observation of the event. Whatever you two chose to do with your time and in those type of situations is up to you. I just find it interesting." Leo exined. Samuel was about to ask what he meant by interesting when he felt a hand grab his arm and pull him back. "Speak of the she-devil and she appears." He mocked a look of surprise as his older sister returned it with a steady re.
"Lena? I thought you were supposed to busy today?" Samuel asked, surprised to see her there. ncing at him, her re lessened slightly, but she still looked at annoyed.
"I was, but someone told me I was supposed to take the day off so that we could spend more ''quality time'' together." She replied. By the way she said ''quality time'' it sounded to him that she was not thrilled about the idea.
"You''re being forced to take a day off now after you just had one? Sounds to me like this rtionship is getting more serious." Leo mused. Even though he was being cheeky about the situation, the look on his face told him at least a little he was delighted for his older sister.
"You watch what you say or what and see what happens when it''s your turn to be set up for engagement." The little queen retorted in annoyance.
"Oh, I am not particrly concerned about that yet, I still have plenty of time to enjoy the single life before I am required to figure out who I want to be engaged to. That is as long as you go through with this set up with Sam there." Leo replied smugly. He made a point that Lena wouldn''t really argue with, so instead so lead Samuel without saying anything back towards the inside of the house.
He got the feeling that she was going to demand dessert to deal with her sour mood. Was being forced to take an extra day off really that big of a deal to her?
Chapter 29 - Miserable Day Off Person
Samuel was happy that he had been right that Lena was dragging him back inside because she wanted to eat dessert. She also had Ryan prepare them sandwiches so that she wouldn''t get have to listen to anyints about eat dessert before having anything else.
He noticed that her mood seem to improve as they were eating the dessert while sitting in the sunroom. They had it to themselves and he wondered if that was also part of the reason she seemed a bit more rxed. Still though, she seemed rather upset for someone who was getting some time off.
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"Honestly, you''re the most miserable person their day off I have ever seen before." Samuel finallymented when he couldn''t stand the tense silence anymore. ncing up from her dessert, she red at him which made him more tense. He had said it in hopes that it would help her to rx, not make her more annoyed.
"That''s because taking a day off from a normal job is different from taking a day off or rather being told to take in a position like this." She exined in between taking bites.
"Is it a bad thing or something? I mean you seem like you''ve been really busy since I got here. Don''t you need time to breathe?" Samuel asked, curious but not wanting to say anything that might upset her. She rolled her eyes as she shifted to a morefortable sitting position in the chair.
"Technically, it wouldn''t be, but it is a bit different in a situation like this for me it feels a bit different. Make no mistake, my father isn''t a bad or unfair person. However, the same cannot be said about those who work around and with us in this group. Being a female, it''s not as easy to seed because of the way people look at a woman in a situation of power like this." She exined, her face taking on a more sour expression as she continued talking.
"It''s not been made widely public knowledge yet that I will be the one to take over rather than my younger brother, but the people who do now have their doubts about my abilities." Finishing her dessert, she ced her spoon on the bowl and pushed it further back on the table as she tucked her right leg up onto the chair next to her.
Samuel had questions he wanted to ask her, but he waited to say anything as it seemed like she wasn''t quite done speaking yet.
"The reason my father is telling me to take the day off is exactly because he thinks we should spend more time together and something about me seeing like I had fun we were off together yesterday. But for me, anytime I am told to step back even for reasons like this, I feel like it''s akin to my losing my authority and the belief that my younger brother should take over is bing more real."
"So the reason youe across so temperamental all the time is because you have so much going on." Samuel noted as though to him her whole behavior suddenly made sense. The look she shot him told him however that she was not amused at his assessment.
"My mood and that have nothing to do with each other. Even if I wasn''t take charge, being too soft isn''t eptable in this type of world. You wouldn''t understand because you''re only stepping into it. I prefer to not take the risk and maintain control and power in all situations to avoid anyone think that I am too soft."
"I can say that I understand what you''re talking about even though I don''t have a deep understanding of what you''re dealing with, but does that mean you have to be miserable today?" The princess didn''t like this question as it made her feel like he hadn''t'' been really understanding or listening to what she said. "I don''t mind it like, you''re overreacting or don''t let it bother you, but won''t your father watch out for what you''re wanting to do?" She knew that he was right in this, but it didn''t make her feel much better.
"What do you suggest that we do instead then? I told you before that I don''t really do fun. And speaking of fun, having the day off doesn''t mean that dance practice has been canceled or any of those other little pieces." Samuel was a little disappointed to hear this, he had hoped his feet would be spared today if she had the day off.
"Do you have board games or anything here?" He suggested causing her to raise an eyebrow at him.
"Are you suggesting that we should entertain ourselves with some children games?" She inquired, her tone held a slightly condescending edge to it over the suggestion.
"Not all of them are children''s games. There are some that are quite fun to y that requiring clever thinking and effort." Samuel defending. Did her family never y board games? Thinking about it, it was a touch hard to imagine a family from a mafia group all crowded around a table ying a harmless game with their kids such as ''hungry, hungry hippo'' or ''candynd''. Something like ''operation'' however might''ve been used, a seemingly harmless way to teach children where some of the vital points are located in the human body with scarring them.
"You''re thinking of somethingpletely absurd again, aren''t you Sammy-boy?" Lena asked, feeling slightly amused as she watched the expressions that passed over his face while he seemed to be deeply in thought about something.
"I don''t know. I just realized maybe board games weren''t something your family enjoyed or so." Samuel replied, not wanting to say what he was thinking in such a way that she would feel offended if he was far off.
"Hmm. We have board games somewhere, but we would have to ask Clive or someone else where they were put. They got put away years ago and even back when we were younger, they were kept hidden from my brother and I as board games were only for special family asions." Lena mused. Looking at Samuel from across the table, she tilted her head slightly, "Is that really what you want to spend this time off doing?" Feeling slightly self-conscious about being asked that question, he shrugged his shoulders while averting his gaze slightly.
"I just thought it might be fun. It''s something my family and I do often when we''re all together and have the time. Mostly though, I suggested it because I don''t really know what else there is to do around here."
"I see, so basically nothing around here to do that you find to be particrly entertaining." Lenamented. "I forget that there are what are considered ''normal'' people in this world who appreciate fun and games and don''t always have to be focused on much more serious things in life."
"The way you say makes it sound like it''s bad thing to be like that." Samuelmented with a frown.
"I''m just stating a fact. It''s neither good or bad." She replied. "But fine, if you want me to endure such torture, I can ask Clive where the board games are keptter." The way Lena sighed made it seem like she was preparing to subject herself to some form of torture. "Before that though, we''re going to do something I want to do and then dance practice before we get to board games."
"Something you want to do?" Samuel repeated, feeling somewhat surprised that the little queen had wanted to do something together that he hadn''t suggested.
"Yes, but we have to change clothes and met outside. You''ll want to wear something lose and morefortable." Lenamented. "Don''t take too long changing or I''ll end up getting impatient." She told him as she stood up from the table and picked up the dishes. Samuel followed closely behind her, he was curious what this thing she wanted to do was.
Chapter 30 - Bareback
*Note, link to ******* ount now included in synopsis*
Lena took Samuel out to where the horses were. Stopping one of the workers who was hauling hay, she asked him some questions that Samuel couldn''t quite hear partly because he voice was lower and partly because he was distracted watching the horses.
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"Come on, I didn''t just bring you here to watch them." Lena told him from behind, she bumped him behind the knees with her own legs which caused him to stumble and almost fall.
"Alright, alright." He replied, catching himself before he fell. He couldn''t help but wonder if she did that just to be mean or if she had tried to get his attention before and he was too distracted to notice.
"Have you ever rode without a saddle before?" Lena asked as they entered the stable. The inside looked farrger than the outside had. It looked like stable was well taken care of considering the walls were white but there were no signs of stains or marks that would indicate muck, mud, or otherwise. Hay was stacked high in the loft above and on what appeared to be t bricks, most likely to keep it from getting damp should any moisture leak in rain. In the front right corner, there were countless steel drums withbels indicating different types of feed. There was also metal shelves that were stacked with mineral blocks, and an assort of other supplements along with grooming tools and what looked to be dips most likely to deal with any parasites or flies.
"No, my parents worried it would be too dangerous for me to ride without a saddle." Samuel replied as he continued to look around. It couldn''t imagine how much money and time it took to create such a well taken care of stable. From what he could see of the stalls were some horses were still penned up, they looked they were mucked at least once a day if not more.
"Well congrattions, you''re getting ready to learn a new skill then." She told as she threw him a bridle that he barely caught. "Since it''s your first time, you''ll keep that one just for safety though none of these horses have been known for bucking a rider off, they''re not used to you yet." The princess exined as she moved further into the stable where a metal shoe rack was located.
Swapping out of her shoes, she changed into ck riding boots that matched the ck jeans she had changed into. Once she put her shoes up, she came back over with a pair and set them down next to Samuel who was still standing in the same ce as he waited to see what he was supposed to do.
"Put those on and put your shoes, then I''m sure you know how to put a bridle so we''ll take care of that next." He did what she asked without so much as a word while she went over to the stales where a golden looking horse was sticking it''s head over the stall and watching what was going on. She rubbed it''s ears and it seemed content with this action as it lowered it''s head. "Her name''s Goldy Lox." She told Samuel as he came over to the stall.
"Is she your horse?" He asked causing her to scoff as she opened the gate of the stall so that they could enter.
"No, my brother named her. Though he was only eight at the time and prefers to pretend that he doesn''t remember calling her that." She continued to pet the horse as she stood still and patiently waited to see what was going to happen. "You can put the bridle on if you nickering and hold it up, she should lower her head for you."
Doing exactly what Lena said, Goldy Lox did lower her head for him to bridle on. He spoke soothing words to her as he fitted it over her her head.
"What horse is yours then?" he asked once it was secured and he had made sure that it wasn''t too tight or lose.
"His name''s Abyss and his further back, take her out front and I''ll meet you out there." Lena said as she closed up the stall once Goldy Lox was out before turning to head further back into the stable. Exactly how far back did it go and how many horses did they keep in here?
If it wasn''t for the fact that she had told him to head out first, Samuel would''ve stayed there waiting for her just to try and see how far back the stable went until he lost sight of her, but not wanting to upset her out cause problems, he lead Goldy Lox outside and stood off to the side. She was indeed a beautiful horse and seemed happy to be out in the sunlight.
Despite the fact that the warmer weather was moving in, it was actually a rather nice day with the sun being out and a gentle breeze keeping the air cool enough but not too humid. He couldn''t deny that it was an idle day for riding.
It took a few minutes before Samuel heard the sound of cking hoovesing from the stable and the little queen emerged riding a sleek pure ck horse. He could see why it would''ve been named abyss, everything about him including his eyes were dark. The way he moved was with controlled power and grace, he didn''t exactly seemed thrilled that Lena was riding him, but at the same time he didn''t show any sign that he was going to throw her off.
"Hand me the reigns and go get the mounting stool, you''re going to need it to get on top of her." Lena was already reaching for them before he handed them off to her. "He''s a good horse, but if I have to get off him now, he''s not going to let me get back on so easily." She told Samuel as he handed her the reigns to the bridle. "So you''re going to have to get yourself on her, she shouldn''t be hard to mount though as long as you don''t get scared yourself or panic."
"You make it sound easy." Samuel replied, a hint of nervousness in his voice as he went to get the stool from where she had pointed.
"It is easy as long as you remain calm and stay in control. It''s not like I have never been thrown off a horse before. I''ve just learned what not to do from it." She told him as he ran her hand down Abyss main to keep him calm as he snorted and stomped his front right foot, he was beginning to get impatient about the fact that they hadn''t started riding yet.
"Well unlike you, I haven''t rode more than a handful of times and that was almost ten years ago. Never without a saddle or whip." Lena scoffed after he said the word ''whip''
"You''re never going to find or use a whip here. They''ve never been used on these horses before and there''s no reason to. Whips are only for pertinent humans who don''t know better when to listen and only in very serious cases even then." Samuel felt slightly surprised to hear her say such a thing, she didn''te across as the kind of person who would extend kindness to animals.
Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself as he carefully moved to mount Goldy Lox, although she looked back at him in such a way that told him she felt he was being clumsy and indelicate about getting on her, she made didn''t react or move. This helped him feel slightly morefortable, but he couldn''t deny that it was still intimidating to have no saddle beneath him to help him keep a grip as he managed to get one leg over her and shift his weight so that the other followed as he mounted although rather awkwardly on her back.
"Take the reigns and shift your position, riding like that is just asking for her to throw you off." The princess told him as she handed back over the reigns. He felt a little offended that she spoke to him in such a critical way over something he didn''t have much experience with.
"Is this better?" Samuel asked as he shifted his position to one that felt morefortable and sturdy to him. She gave him a nod of approval before turning her attention to back to Abyss.
"It should be good enough since you have the bridle, just watch how you''re holding it when she takes off. You''ll be following me so make sure you keep up if you don''t want to get lost." Samuel wanted to ask her where they were heading, but he didn''t have a chance as she made what sounded like a ''click click'' sound with her mouth and Abyss took off. He was far faster than he had expected and was surprised that Lena didn''t at all seem concerned or phased despite the fact that she was using neither a saddle or bridle to direct him and only had his mane told onto for bnce.
Not wanting to get too far behind and seeing that Goldy Lox seemed impatient to follow, he did his best to repeat the noise that Lena had made, even though he probably didn''t do that great of a job, the horse seemed to understand well enough and took of quickly after her partner.
It was certainly a different feel without a saddle and much harder to maintain his bnce and stay still in once ce between the friction and how fast she was riding. It was evident she was trying to catch up with the other while being mindful of the rider on her back who was probably holding the reigns of her bridle a little too tightly.
Even with how fast they were going, it took a moment or two for them to catch up with Lena and even then, it appeared that it was only because she had slowed down when she realized that they were taking too long to catch up.
"She''s holding back because she can tell you''re not confident enough." Lena exined as she got Abyss to slow down to a trot so that she could ride next to Samuel "Plus, you don''t need to grip that so tightly, she''s going to feel the tension." leaning over she readjusted his handles on the reigns to show him how much ck he should give and how to hold it so that it wasn''t ufortable for her.
"I''m not sure if I can handle her going any faster than she was." Samuel admitted but all Lena did was roll her eyes at him.
"Of course you can, you just need to believe that you can stay mounted on her and trust that she won''t drop you. It''s not fun to ride if the horse isn''t allowed to go as fast as they want." She told. Samuel sighed in response.
"If I end up dying because I get thrown off while we''re going too fast, it''s going to be your fault." He replied causing the princess to tsk and clip him around the ear.
"If you die because of that, it''ll be your own fault and serve as evidence that you weren''t fit to be my fianc¨¦. No loss there." He couldn''t stop the sound of surprise that escaped his mouth at her rather cold response, he lost his chance to reply back however as her and Abyss had already taken off again. If he wanted to say something, it meant that he was going to have to try his best to catch up.
Chapter 31 - Harsh
For the most part Samuel enjoyed riding with Lena despite the fact that Abyss ran so quickly and Goldy Lox had a hard time keeping up.
The princess didn''t say much to him while they were riding. She only looked back asionally to make sure that he was still behind her. From his perspective though, it seemed like she was enjoying riding so much that he was a secondary thought.
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Samuel had to admit when he was thinking of horse riding, he wasn''t expecting something so quick paced. He was hoping for something at a lighter speed so that he could get a chance to take in the scenery and figure out exactly how far thend that they owned ran for.
It was hard to tell how long they had been riding because it was hard to check one''s phone when riding bareback without the risk of identally dropping said phone. The only way Samuel was able to guess was by how far the sun had moved in the sky and the rise in the temperature told him it was probably getting closer to noon.
He couldn''t deny that it was fun still though, like riding the motorcycle with the princess, this had a touch of a thrill to it and a sense of freedom because of the feeling of the sun and wind on him. It was almost soothing in a sense.
The fun quickly ended for him however when they reached a slope, it was stepper than he had expected. The way Lena had gotten Abyss to go down it without much of a break in speed made Samuel think that Goldy Lox wouldn''t have much of a problem either. He was wrong however, or perhaps it was his own nervous that got that better than him when she started the descending it.
For a split second he panicked when it felt as though he was being thrown to far forward as she galloped in a downward vertical direction, her speed didn''t break much as she tried to go down the slope as quickly as possible. The panic made Samuel tug the bridal a little more sharply than he meant to but that was all it took to startle her and cause her to shift her position all too quickly. She managed to not lose her footing, Samuel however was tossed off her back and over her head.
Thankfully by the time that this had happened, she was mostly down the slope, thus the tumble he took wasn''t too far but the way hended still ended up hurting his back though he managed to avoid hitting his head. The tumble also rattled him enough to give him a strong case of vertigo that stopped him from moving out of the ufortable position that hended in.
"I told you not to panic if you didn''t want to end up getting tossed like this." His vision was still swimming, but he could tell that Lena was standing above him. He couldn''t tell however if the look on her face was something of concern or annoyance over the fact that she had to stop because he didn''t listen to her.
"I wasn''t used to going down a slope like that, especially not at that type of speed." He replied, wincing as he tried to sit up. He could nothing was broken but that he probably had sprained a muscle in his back and maybe sprained his left ankle from the mild ache he felt in it.
"You watched me. That should''ve been enough to make you trust that you would''ve been fine. Even for an unexperienced rider Goldy is good at navigating even the most difficult terrain. She wouldn''t have dropped you if you hadn''t scared her and messed with her focus." Lena scolded him, but held her hand out to help him up if he needed it.
He was appreciative of this, but didn''t appreciate being scolded while he was in pain and already felt annoyed with himself for making such a silly mistake.
"I guess since you''ve tried to kill yourself now, we should be heading back, it''s gettingter anyways and I don''t want to bete for dance practice." Lena told him once he was standing up and had regained his bnce. There didn''t seem to be any reason to worry about him having hurt his head, the rest of his body was just a little worse for wear.
"Does that mean we are going to have to go back up the slope that we just came down?" he asked, if that ended up being the case, he would rather just keep riding for a while longer before having to deal with it again.
"No, there''s a different way to go back, it just takes a while longer than this, though it is safer." She replied. Samuel only realized once he was standing up that without a bridal, Abyss was standing by Goldy Lox waiting patiently for him and the princess to sort out whatever was going on before they could get back to riding.
"You''re going to have to get back on her without the help of the stool this time." She told him as she came back over to the two horses. Looking at the golden horse in front of him who seemed far taller than she did earlier now that he hurt his back, Samuel wondered how he was supposed to get back on her without a step up to get his leg over since she didn''t have a saddle.
"Um, how exactly am I supposed to aplish that?" He asked, feeling a bit embarrassed that he didn''t know as much about horse riding as he thought he did. Lena rolled her eyes at him for asking this question.
"Were you really not taught that manymands to give horses back when you learned to ride or did you just forget them all?" Her tone was as sharp as always, if there had been any concern for him before, it waspletely gone now.
"Watch what I do with Abyss and see if you can copy it with her." Lena told him. Approach the horse who seemed to be eyeing her like now that she was ready to get back on him, he wasn''t going to be having any of that. Rubbing his muzzle she tried to calm him down so that he would focus on her rather than the fact that he was close to freedom where he could bolt away if he liked. After a few seconds she made some type of clicking sound with her mouth. It took a few seconds but much to Samuel''s surprise, Abyss lowered himself that he was almostying down, but still slightly propped up.
In this position, the little queen had no problem getting on his back, she made another noise and shifted back into a standing position.
"You should be able to do it no problem, if you can''t you''ll probably have to walk back." If he hadn''t seen the slight mischievous look in her eyes when she said this, he would''ve thought she was being serious about leaving him behind. He wouldn''t exactly put it past her considering she had said earlier it wouldn''t be much of a lose if he ended up dying while riding because he made a foolish mistake.
Sighing he tried to ignore the ache in his back as he approached Goldy Lox who still seemed agitated after what had happened. It had been so many years since he rode that he forget horses could be easily startled by unexpected events. He tried to do what Lena did with Abyss and rub her muzzle and mane to try and get her to calm down, he even moved the bridal a bit to what he hoped was morefortable position for her.
It took longer to calm her down than it had Abyss and he could tell that Lena was getting annoyed the longer he took, she wanted to get back after all before she waste for dance practice. It wasn''t a matter of worrying about getting yelled at for beingte or anything, she had as much flexibility as she wanted about showing up. For her it was an issue with the fact that no matter what the asion was, she hated to bete.
At first, Goldy didn''t seem to understand what Samuel was asking for her to do when he tried to mimic the sound that he was certain the princess had made when she got Abyss toy down. The horse instead just looked at him confused as she appeared to try and discern what he was wanting.
"You''re doing it wrong." was all Lena said as he struggled to try and figure out how to copy the sound that she made. Words were one thing, but it was a lot harder to copy a noise someone else made than most people thought.
"Can''t you help me then since you''re so impatient to get back?" Samuel asked beginning to feel exasperated from the ache in his back and being also ready to head back to the estate where he knew it was going to be much cooler inside.
"If I show you, it''ll only be this once so you better make sure to remember it or practice it on you own." Lena told him as she got Abyss to move back over to Goldy. Lena motioned for Samuel to hand her the reigns of the bride.
"Listen carefully." She told him as she repeated the noise that she had made that had gotten Abyss toy down. She had to repeat it a second time before the horseplied, most likely because she had been confused from trying to understand what Samuel had wanted her to do.
"Are you sure that they don''t listen to me because they''re not used to my voice?" He asked as got onto Goldy''s back and positioned himself carefully to both support his back and hopefully not get knocked off again.
"Animals aren''t stupid, yes they can be biased against a person if they don''t treat them and might chose to not listen to them because of that. When ites tomands however, they''re trained to obey regardless of who gives them. If they don''t, it''s because the person directing them is messing up the order." She retorted, handing the reigns back to him.
"We don''t have time to waste talking about this though. We need to already be heading back before I end up beingte. Don''t think just because you banged yourself up a bit that means you won''t be attending dance practice with me. The best way to work out a sprained muscle is to keep it active otherwise it''ll get stiff and hurt me."
Samuel felt his moral drop after hearing this, but couldn''t tell her that as she had already taken off expecting him to follow her. She was harsher than he had expected and pretty sure that more activity wasn''t the answer to helping a sprained muscle recover. It wasn''t like she was going to listen to him though if he tried to exin this to her.
Chapter 32 - Invasion Of Privacy
By the time they had gotten back to the estate, they had somehow managed to make it before they would bete for dance practice. Samuel wasn''t sure if she had been wrong when she had said it would take them longer to get back the route they went or if the horses were just that much faster heading back.
Either way, Samuel was happy to be back, his back was hurting worse and he had begun to get rather hot towards the end of the trip back. It was a reminder to him that even though the mornings were stillfortable, the horrible summer was indeed on it''s way in.
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As the princess had forewarned him however, he did not get a break from dance practice as much as he had wanted one. She didn''t even care of him to change his outfit before dragging him to get ready for the dance practice. The only good was that Santi had followed through with his promise and brought him a pair of dance shoes that were custom-made for him.
It was a bit of a trail to put them on with how bad his back was, but they felt more sturdy andfortable than the ones he had been asked to wearst time. At the back of his mind though he felt awkward wearing them because they didn''t match the casual riding wear he had on. The only part that made it less ufortable was that Lena was dressed simr to him and didn''t seem to care about the mismatch between the shoes and the rest of the outfit on herself.
Samuel wasn''t sure if it was because of the shoes or Lena was actually being considerate of the fact that he had hurt himself earlier, but the second dance practice wasn''t as rough as the first one. Verbally, she still criticized him for mistakes that he had and forced him to redo certain steps multiple times until she was pleased with his progress but the physical abuse was far less to his feet.
Still, he was happy when it was all done and over. He felt hot and gross along with being in pain and was looking forward to taking a hot shower to take care of some of that problem. He would''ve taken a bath if it was earlier in the day and he thought he would have more time, but he didn''t want to risk taking too long.
The shower helped even though it wasn''t his first choice. The hot water soothed his back and he appreciated the soothing vani and bourbon smell of the body wash and shampoo he used. At some point in time, he was going to have to ask if his family told Lena''s family such things before he was supposed to spend the week with them or if getting all of the right scents and brands were part of the process of getting ready for his stay.
Samuel felt like he was going to have a heart attack when he stopped out of the bathroom after his shower and saw that Lena was sitting cross legged on the middle of his bed looking as though she was quitefortable in his room.
She had changed out of her riding outfit and was now wearing a white shirt with ''the queen'' printed across the front of it in purple fancy font and a pair of dark blue sweats. The white shirt also caused her hair red hair to stand out more. Unlike with the darker clothes she usually wore, the white made showed off more of the ruby shades in it. It was probably the most normal outfit that he had seen her dressed in since he got there, but that was beside the point right now.
"What the hell are you doing in my room? I just got out of the shower and could''ve been naked for all you know!" He couldn''t hide the frustration and agitated surprise that came out in his response and he hardly stopped himself from yelling at the other.
The little queen only met his response with a wicked smirk that matched the amused look in her eyes.
"Ohe now Sammy boy, we both know that you''re too much of a self conscious child to actually step one foot into your room without having gotten redressed first." She had made a very true point, however..
"That isn''t the point right now." Samuel retorted as he ran a hand through his still damp hair as he tried to calm his heart rate down.
"Isn''t it though? That was the excuse you just gave me for why I shouldn''t havee into your room unannounced." He swore that the smirk on her face was getting closer to the mischievous grin the Chesire cat wore on it''s face when it was feeling particrly amused or pleased about something.
"It was my reason, but my point for saying that was you that it''s an invasion of privacy to enter someone else''s room unannounced like this. Just because you think that you know I wouldn''t step out into my room naked, doesn''t mean that gives you the right to enter my room just based on that assumption." Samuel tried his best to exin calmly. A small part at the back of his mind told him however that it was probably pointless to exin such things to her.
"Privacy isn''t something that is going to be existing between us for much longer Sammy boy. At some point in time once we are officially engaged and before we are married, we''ll probably be sharing the same room anyways." She had again made a good point, but Samuel didn''t want to her about that right now.
"I didn''te here to talk about that though. Clive got some help and brought out the board games. I figured if I didn''te fetch you, you might end up staying in here." Lena told him as she got off his head and started to head towards the door.
It took a few seconds for it to sink for Samuel that she had mentioned Clive needed help getting board games, was it because he didn''t know where they were located or did they have more than he thought. Shaking off his agitation he followed after the princess to see which it was.
Clive had set up everything in the sunroom for them, Samuel was starting to get the feeling that it was one of Lena''s favorite rooms to be in since it was the room she had so far chosen most often when the choice was.
Seeing the table stacked high with an assortment of board and simr games, Samuel had his answer as to why Clive needed help. He couldn''t think of a time when he had seen so many board games in one ce before. The range of games didn''t disappoint either he noticed as he came over to look at them. Lena had taken a seat on the sofa and had tucked her legs up next to her as she also surveyed the board games. It had been years since she hadst seen them so even she had forgotten some of them.
"It''s your choice to pick what we y. Just try not to pick something for the first game." She told him as she turned her attention to him as she waited for him to decide. The fact that she had said ''first game'' hadn''t passed him by.
"How about Jenga then?" He as he spotted the game off to the side on the floor where some of the games that weren''t t had been ced. He thought that perhaps it might be less boring to her.
"Fine with me." She replied with a shrug. Without getting up, she helped him clear stuff of the table and put on the floor to the side where in a somewhat less precarious stack so that it wouldn''t end up falling over and creating a mess. The game seemed pretty straight forward to her so she didn''t think it could be too hard to manage as long as she was carefully where she pulled the blocks out from.
Chapter 33 - Competative
Jenga turned out to be an interesting choice. Samuel had a slight edge over Lena in terms of strategy as he had yed the game far more recently than she had and remembered how best to remove the blocks to kept it standing.
It was bing more clear to Samuel as they did things together that the Princess was more than littlepetitive. However, she was also persistent, patient, and determined not to visibly show her frustration when she lost or made a bad move.
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As there were only two yers, the games were rather short as neither took long to consider what move they wanted to do next. Thus in the span on thirty minutes, they had already yed six games. The only one Lena thus far had been thest one.
It was enough for her however as it let her know she was starting to get the hang of how to win the game. She had to admit that Samuel made a good choice in picking this game. If he had chosen a more monotonous turn based game for the first one, she would''ve probably not been interested in ying another once they had finished with.
This somehow was slightly more addictive to her despite being turn based as well. It wasn''t like there was anything special about Jenga that made it more enjoyable than other games. The only real thing that it had going for it was the slight thrill that came from not knowing when the tower of blocks was going to tumble and whose fault it would end up being.
If the princess''s wasn''t so good at hiding her expressions, Samuel might''ve been able to see that she had been slightly startled during the first game when the tower had tumbled on her. Not because it was her fault, but because it was unexpected. The sudden quick fall of the blocks and the ''thud'' sound when they had made whennding on the table and scattering wasn''t something she had been expecting.
After that though, she figured out when she would need to brace herself for the sudden unexpected sound by the way the blocks would sway when she began to pull one out. Even when she knew this however, it wasn''t like she could stop pull the block out and grab another one instead. Rules made it so that even if she knew the block was going to cause the tower to tumble, she still had to pull it out anyways.
What was more amusing to her than the game however was how invested Samuel would get in each match. Even though he did try his best to hide his thrill each time he ended up winning due to Lena''sck of experience, it was still evident by the way that his eyes light up and his boy stiffened ever so slightly that he got excited over winning the game.
She wasn''t sure however if his muted excitement was for her sake and not wanting to offend or annoy her because of how often she was losing, or if it was something that he did while around his family as well. Perhaps a developed consideration for his younger siblings who she could imagine would pout if he seemed too excited over beating them. Younger siblings could be quite tedious at times. Lena knew this all too well.
Pulling a block out from the right side of a lower part of the tower, she was careful to do it slowly as not to upset the rest of the bricks and make the entire tower fall. It was a bit risky she knew, but part of it was in hopes of setting up Samuel to lose by making the rest of the tower unstable and the other part was because she was distracted watching his concentrated expressions. Most likely he was trying to assess what the next best move would be after she had pulled that block out. It wasn''t going to be easy for him if he wanted to win.
Lena took notice of the fact that Samuel unlike her preferred to sit normally and at most lean over the table ever so slightly so that he could focuses more closely on what was going on, but not so much that he would be in the way or risk messing anything up. His arms would be folded against his stomach and he would lean forward in such a way that they would be trapped there between his stomach and legs as he leaned further forward to try and determine what his best move would be.
Lena somehow felt rather smug when he ended up grabbing one of the blocks that she had hoped he would. By the time that Samuel realized he had made the wrong decision, he was already in the process of pulling the block out so all he could do was brace himself for the tumble that followed.
"How are you so good at figuring things like this out so quickly?" He asked Lena as he picked up a few of the blocks that had scattered off the table and onto the floor by his feet.
"What do you mean?" She asked as she began to set the tower back up. Since they had already yed seven games, she was certain he was going to be about ready to change to something else.
"I mean, you''ve hardly been ying the game and yet you''re already learning how best to pull out the blocks to increase the likeliness that the other yer will be the one to end up causing the tower to fall." He exined as he put thest few blocks on the top of the lower.
"Is someone getting frustrated because your victory streak was cut too short for your liking?" She teased as she put the box over the block to get ready to put it away. She didn''t wait for his response before continuing to talk as she was certain what he was going to say anyways.
"I say it probably has something to do with the fact that most of my life I have spent learning to how to be more patient and observant before I move unlike you. Patience and observation can give you apletely different view to what is going on around you." She managed to slid the box off the table and keep all the blocks ce before flipping it over so nothing fell out while she closed the box.
"So you''re saying I begin to lose so quickly because I don''t spend as much time as you do watching and considering what my next best move would be before I do it?" He rified not really seeing how such a theory could be applied to something as simply as a game.
"Something along those lines though I am pretty sure you probably don''t exactly understand what I mean." She shrugged her shoulders as she spoke.
"Well it is your turn to pick what game we are supposed to be ying next now." Samuel told her as he changed the subject and moved the box so that it was sitting on the floor next to him.
"I''m allowed to chose anything that I want without you objecting?" She asked while beginning to look over the piles of games that were nearby. She didn''t quite have any idea of what she wanted to y, but she was certain that there would have to be something else within the number of board and other games that she would enjoy.
"I won''t object to anything as long as you''re being reasonable about it." Samuel affirmed as he texted his parents while waiting to see what she was going to decide should be there next game.
The two had been so engrossed in what they were doing that they hadn''t noticed Zane standing near the doorway watching them.
His original intent hadn''t been toe and spy on them, but it had ended up that way because he hadn''t been expecting them to be in there. It was well into the afternoon and since it was such a bright day, he thought it would be a good idea to finish up reading through some reports and other work he had to do before dinner.
He had changed him mind however once he began to open the door and saw that Lena and Samuel were inside. It now made sense to him why his daughter had been so quiet after he had given her the day off. He had been expecting her to give him more hell about the matter, but it now made sense why she had been so quiet even though she had left him in a less than thrilled mood after being told that she needed to spend more quality-time with her fianc¨¦.
Watching them y and seeming likely they were actually getting along very well made it hard for him to want to remove himself from the situation. It gave him a touch of hope that perhaps the two would work out after all if he gave it enough time.
The only reason why he ended up leaving the two alone was due to the fact that he really couldn''t put off the work he needed to do after giving the princess the day off and two he was certain that her mood would change if she realized that he had been spying on them while they had been ying. She could be oddly prickly about such moments even when it was just her father who noticed them.
There was alwayster he could follow up on the matter after all. He would need to soon anyways since the end of the week was getting nearer by the hour and a decision would have to be made as to what as going to happen.
Chapter 34 - Horror Trivia
When Samuel had said that Lena could pick anything she wanted, he hadn''t expected that she would pick sh Cards. He didn''t have anything against the game, he had just expected that she would chose something that was more active based since she came across as someone who didn''t like to be sedentary for too long.
In a way it made him happy though because it was something that they had inmon- an enjoyment of horror movies.
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"Do you enjoy Halloween?" Samuel asked as he helped Lena to set up the game. She took care of shuffling one stack of cards and he did the other.
"If you''re asking about trick or treating, dressing up, decorations aside from the movies, then the answer is yes when I was younger." Lena replied as she finished cutting and shuffling the cards. "As you get older though, you can''t exactly get away with dressing up on Halloween and decorating the entire mansion using a reasonable excuse that doesn''t make you lose face ande across as too childish." "It sounds like this type of lifestyle doesn''t allow for fun to be a part of it." Samuelmented frowning slightly. He couldn''t really rte to that.
The year prior at his high school, almost everyone had dressed up and threw a party to have fun and take a break from the stress of school. He couldn''t imagine someone not being able to do that out of concern of people''s opinions.
"I did tell you that fun isn''t really a part of my vocabry. It''s part of the tradeoff to living in this type of lifestyle, no fault of family per say considering we''ve been in line of work and lifestyle for generations before either my father or I were born." She shrugged it off as if it wasn''t a big deal while she dealt the cards out, double checking to make sure that she had counted out the right number.
"So you''ve neve been to a haunted house then?" He asked, his interesting now being peaked.
"When I was younger, I am sure that I probably did. Unless of course it was something that little Leo didn''t like. But that would''ve been over ten years ago." She exined.
"What if we do that this year?" Samuel blurted out without really thinking about it. Lena froze for a second when he asked this question before a small smirk appeared on her face as she her eyes reflected amusement when she focused on him.
"You do realize that October is quite a few months away from now?" She inquired.
"I-I do realize that." He confirmed as he picked up his cards to distract himself from her stare.
"So you''re that confident that we''ll still be together by that time and that I''ll agree to do something that would ssified as fun right after this conversation that we had?" She couldn''t hid the amusement in her voice.
"I mean, we don''t have to still be together per say to do that, do we? We could go as friends." He countered. His intent wasn''t toe across as confident that their rtionship would have moved forward by then. Just that there was someone he was starting to warm up to who he could do something he enjoyed with.
"Sammy-boy you do realize that there''s a reason as to why I guess you could say that I have a very small circle of friends. Mixing in with a normal group of people only puts others at risk. Not for me as much as you." She hadn''t had to exin this type of thing to anyone before and thus was struggling to find the right way to do it without causing him to worry.
"But we did it with paintball the other day just fine." Samuel pointed out. He couldn''t see how that was any different than the request that he was making now.
"And that was because it was safe due to the limited number of people and the area. In most ces where haunted houses are, there are going to be muchrger crowds of people and it''s not like I''m going to be the only one trying to blend in that wouldn''t get noticed." She tried again. "I wouldn''t be the target in those situations, they would be looking to pick out anyone that seemed like they were close to me or my family that could prove to be an easy target. If you''re my fianc¨¦ and we live together-it drops the risk factor. However, as a friend who lives elsewhere, you and your family would be at a higher risk because we don''t share the same space."
"So you''re saying that the only possibly way for this to work out is if we''re still engaged by the time October rolls around? I couldn''t convince you otherwise?" The princess wasn''t sure at this point if she should be annoyed or further amused by his persistence to try and convince her to do what he wanted.
"It''s not a matter of convincing, it''s a matter of safety." She replied, shaking her head slightly. "But if you want to frame it that way, then you could say that the answer to that would be yes."
"That takes away the level of fun though, because I wouldn''t be able to invite any friends to go with us then." Samuel frowned at this thought. Not that he had many friends who enjoyed haunted houses and Halloween as much as he did, but Roger was always up for having that type of fun.
"Don''t overthink about it too much right now. Let''s just focus on the game at hand and we can deal with that when October actuallyes around." Lena offered. She was interested to see where the conversation would end up going. However, their time to y the game was running short and she wanted get into it before dinner time came around.
She hadn''t even thought about how she was going to exin the room situation if her father asked. Unless she could get Clive and some others to put everything away before then.
"Fine, but we have to revisit this conversation after this week." Samuel conceded as he shifted his focus to the game and going over the instructions that were on the box to make sure that he remembered how the game went.
"I don''t make any promises, but we''ll see what happens." Lena replied with a smirk. She would be surprised that if by then, he actually remembered to bring it up again. Most people she knew didn''t have a memory to keep things like that in mind by the end of a long time frame. For now though, she was focused more on seeing how good Samuel actually would be at the game.
Chapter 35 - Come With Me
Lena hadn''t been lying about her love for horror movies once they got into the game. Samuel at times hardly had the chance to finish asking her the trivia question before she was already telling him the answer. All but twice she had been right.
Unlike him, she was surprisingly good at remember small, obscure details that he couldn''t remember in movies. Questions about side characters, phrases, inconsistencies and such she knew almost too well. His strong points were just remember main characters, themes, years, asionally where the inspiration came from. Both were equally good at old horror movies but the princess was slightly better at remembering less known and foreign ones.
??
To know so much, he could only assume that she must''ve spent arge amount of her time watching them when she was younger. Maybe it contributed to part of the reason why she was so cold?
It was a rather short game unfortunately because there were only two of them which made the back and forth questions and cards go by rather quickly Samuel felt that it would''ve been more enjoyable to invite Leo to have yed with them, but he got the feeling that Lena didn''t want to be disturbed by other people during this time so he chose not to say anything.
The third match was almost over, Lena would''ve won most likely by the way the game was turning out when there were three timed out knocks on the door. Samuel turned to look at it, expecting that someone was getting ready to enter.
"It was one of the servants letting us know that it was time for dinner. Usually when the door is closed and this room is upied they usually just knock two or three times depending on what they are rying." Lena exined as she put her cards down.
"Oh, so that was the signal for dinner?" He rified as he helped to start putting everything together. He was slightly disappointed that they weren''t going to finish the game.
"Yep, and if we don''t get everything sorted out soon, they''ll end up knocking again." She replied, putting the cards back in the box and closing it up. Putting it back with the rest of the other games, she stood up. More than the other, she wanted to be heading back out to the dinner table before someone came and knocked on the door again. She could requestter for someone to put everything back.
Being a touch impatient, she motioned Samuel out ahead of her as she closed the door behind herself. He didn''t exactly understand what she was being impatient about, but let her lead the way as they headed towards the dining area. He still wasn''t that good at remembering where everything was located in the mansion.
He had only been here for four days, but the fact that each night all the dishes that were ced on the table werepletely different from the previous night hadn''t stopped amazing him. He was certain that there was probably a certain amount of rotation in the food the chefs served, but there was no denying that they had a diverse set of cooking skills. Tonight''s course appeared to have the central theme of Italian, but the dishes were ones he hadn''t ever seen before.
Dinner conversation started as it usually did with general small talk and discussion of work rted stuff that they seemed to think was harmless for Samuel to know.
Zane was the first one to pop the question of what Lena had been doing with her day off since she was so much quieter than she usually was when he told her to take work off.
"I kept Sammy-boy entertained since you told me that I should be spending less time with my work and more time with my potential fianc¨¦." she replied, taking a drink before she continued.
"We gave the horses some exercise though Sammy isn''t much good at riding without a saddle. Then he requested that I had the board games brought out for something less intensive." The princess''s response was partly right. Except for the fact that he had asked her first if they had any board games, not as a result if wanting to do something less intense after hurting his back. He was thankful after the fact though that he had made that choice beforehand.
There were a few looks of surprise that passed over the table at the mentioning that the board games had been brought out. Had it really been that many years since anyone hadst touched them.
"If you were going to bring them out and y, you could''ve at least asked me if I wanted to join. You hardly ever include me in on the fun." Leo pouted, feign a slight amount of hurt mixed in with his real disappointment that they yed without him.
"There was no space for a third wheel. Today was intending as time for us to spend together, not to invite a disruptor. Besides, I thought you were busy today taking over the work that I wasn''t allowed to do?" Lena raised an eyebrow as she asked this question.
"I did do everything, and then some. The work that needs to be done is never ending, but that doesn''t mean I couldn''t take a small break to enjoy in the fun you guys were having."
"Um, I kind of think that you''re missing the point in what she said." Samuel piped up causing both the siblings to turn and look at him. Leo with slight surprise that he had spoken up and Lena with an expected looked as she waited to hear what else had to say.
"The point isn''t that you were purposely excluded from joining in but rather, there was no room for you in what we were doing because it was supposed to be a couple thing?" He said thest part a bit uncertainly as he wasn''t sure what other word to use to describe what he was trying to say.
"See, even Sammy-boy here understands what I am trying to say better than you do. Couples need time alone to do stuff without other people upying the same space as them. His argument seemed to please Lena as she used it against her brother who was less thrilled that the other had spoken up in favor of his exclusion from the fun.
"It seems like you two are finally starting to get along better." Zane made thisment as Samuel and the princess looked at each other. Could what they were doing be considered getting along better or were they just getting better learning how to share the same space?
"I don''t mind hispany, there''s still half a week left go, and even after that six months to decide if everything will work." Lena replied as she went back to focusing on her food again. Samuel didn''t know what to say in response to thement so he instead chose to keep quiet and focus on his food as well.
After that, the conversation focused more on the board games than on the couple and how it had been a while they had been touched and some couldn''t remember all the games that had been collected. There was nothing in the conversation however about any intent to y anything before they were put back.
Once dinner was finished and most everyone had been cleared out and the table was cleaned up, Lena decided to catch Samuel before he got ready to leave.
"Come with me, there''s something I want to talk with you about tonight." She told him.
Chapter 36 - If You..
Samuel wasn''t sure what it was that Lena wanted to talk with him about, but when he realized that it was going to involve them talking in her room again, he became a little hesitant about following after her. The princess didn''t miss and turned to look at him with her arms crossed.
"I told that I want to talk to you about something, nothing else." She told him again. She was fairly certain that tonight her father was still around and if he saw what was going on and asked about it, he would probably tell her to leave Samuel alone for the night if he didn''t want to go and talk with her. That wasn''t something that she wanted to do however. She wanted to talk with him in her room because it was more private if she closed the door behind her.
??
"You know though if you keep hesitating like that and not taking me at my word, I might actually change my mind and chose to do something." He couldn''t tell by her tone if she was just saying that as a tease or if she seriously meant it.
"Can''t we just talk about it here instead?" He asked trying to negotiate as he really didn''t feel like entering her room so soon again. She gave him a very t look when he asked this.
"Sammy-boy, if this was something that I wanted to talk about around other people, I would''ve chosen to do so. I want to talk just between us about something seeing as the week is almost and I don''t want anyone else influencing your decision." There was a hint of impatience in her voice as she spoke.
"Would you prefer instead that we talked in your room since it''s your space?" She offered after a short pause in which he continued to look at her uncertainly.
"I guess that could be better, though I''m not sure that you would leave there either if I asked you to do because I was ufortable." He replied as he moved towards his door. The little queen watched him without moving from her position.
"Is this one of those situations where I try to make apromise in your favor and you''re going to end up mming the door in my face because you don''t trust me?" She asked as she grabbed the door handle to his room and had begun to twist it open.
"I can''t say that he idea didn''t cross my mind, but if you''re serious about just wanting to talk, I''ll listen to what you''re going to say if you agree there can be some distance between us." He replied as he nced back her, opening his door and stepping inside. Because his back was to her, he didn''t see that she rolled her eyes at him.
She followed after him though and closed the door behind herself. She chose to stat leaning against the wall right inside the door while he sat down on the bed. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Lena chose to break the silence.
"Trust is something that we still need to work on between us, but that isn''t what I wanted to talk about with you. Tomorrow is Friday and that means there''s only three days left before you''re leaving again, right?"
"Yeah, at least until my birthday from what I understand, if you agree to the arrangement for us to get officially engaged." Samuel replied. She could tell that this conversation was making him be a little stiff, most likely because he wasn''t sure still what her answer was going to be.
"I''ll make you apromise about that. I won''t object to the arrangement. I wouldn''t really have a viable excuse that I could use with my father even if I wanted to seeing as he can tell we''re not working out badly, so I might as well say yes and wait for the six months to by." She told him with a shrug, he got ready to open his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand to stop him.
"Let me finish. This week hasn''t given you a weak insight into what it''s like being a part of the Red Scorpions. There''s a lot of things that my father didn''t want to expose you to because he wasn''t sure how this was all going to work out and the more involved you were if it didn''t, the more at risk you and your family would be if we didn''t work out." She exined.
"Bing a part of this family, there''s going to be a lot of things you might not like that you''re going to be exposed to and have to deal with. We grew up in different worlds so the things I''m used to, you may not understand right away and might even disagree with, butpared to other groups, we''re not as cruel or unreasonable." Samuel was quiet as he listened to Lena''s exnation, he could see why she would want to talk about something like this in private. Her father might not have approved of her telling him so much since there was still three days to go before the week was over.
"I''ve already made up my mind to agree to this, so it isn''t like you could easily say no and reject your position to be my fianc¨¦. What I will offer though is if you agree toe with me to the gun range tomorrow and see what it''s like to be around real guns and handle them, I''ll agree to let you go home over the weekend, if you also agree to allow me toe over when it''s your eighteenth birthday." Samuel wasn''t sure to say at fist when she offered him this chance, it wasn''t what he had been expecting her to say.
"Why would you let me go home early?" He finally asked after a short silence. Her bodynguage didn''t give away any uncertainty or worry she about how he would react to that information.
"I have already made my mind up about the decision. The point in youing here was to see how it would end up working out between us. If I tell my father that I agree to the arrangement, then there''s no reason for you to stay here the other two days when you could be with your family with the short time you have left before your birthday." She replied.
"Do you agree with what I am asking though?" She questioned as she folder her arms over her chest while waiting for a reply.
"I don''t mind, but I wouldn''t to check with my parents first to make sure they''re okay with it and let them know what you told me." He replied. She could tell that what she had told him had caused him to rx considerably. There was even a noticeable amount of excite me in his bodynguage.
"So next time I tell you that I want to go somewhere to just talk with you, are you going to believe me?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him. He offered him an ufortable smile when asked that.
"I think I will base that off of your mood." was the response he gave. It wasn''t what she was hoping for, but she would have to deal with it for now. They could work something out about thatter.
"Fine, I''m leaving for the night then, but if your parents agree to it. We''ll have to head there by ten in the morning so that we will be there on time." Lena told him as she stepped away from the wall and headed towards the door to leave. She didn''t have anything left to say to him so she knew it was time to retire for the night since she still had other things to do.
"Thank you." Samuel told her before she had a chance to leave, stopping, she turned to look at him over her shoulder with a small smirk.
"Don''t thank me just yet. This is only the first week. We still have six months ahead of us after this before the wedding would take ce to work everything out." She replied before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
Chapter 37 - Decision
Lena hardly had begun to walk away before the door suddenly opened behind her and Samuel stepped out. She raised an eyebrow at him when she realized that he seemed nervous about something.
"I realized that I forgot something after you left." He told her as he tried to keep his voice as straight as possible while approaching her even though he was nervous about what he intended to do. He tried to convince himself however that he was eventually going to be getting used it and probably after tomorrow, he wouldn''t be seeing her for a week or so anyways. Lena was about ready to ask Samuel what he was talking about, but before she had a chance to speak, he leaned forward and carefully ced a kiss on her lips.
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It waspletely different from how she kissed in that it didn''t hold the same level of confidence and it was much quicker and shorter, but at least he did it this time without her saying something first.
"That was all, so I guess good night and I''ll see you tomorrow morning if my parents agree." He quickly told her before retreating the few steps back to his room. He went back inside and closed his door a little harder than he had meant to, but managed not to m it.
Lena stared at his door for a few seconds as she processed what had just happened before a smirk appeared on her face. At least if she was going to be in an arranged marriage with someone, it was at least someone who was proving to be more interesting than she had expected him to.
She knew that right then wasn''t the time to be pondering over such a thing however. She still had to go speak with her father about the matter and tell him what she had decided. She didn''t think that he would object to letting Samuel go home early if he knew that she was serious about following through with making the engagement official.
Zane was waiting for her in his study which was on the opposite side of the house from where the sun room was located. She didn''t bother knocking before she entered as she knew he was already expecting her. She had caught him before going to talk with Samuel to say that there was something that she also wanted to discuss with him tonight.
He looked up from what the paperwork he was going over and set it to the side when he saw that his daughter had entered. He didn''t miss the serious look about her, he had already guessed however what it was that she was going to want to talk with him about.
He motioned for her to take the seat at the opposite side of the desk from him as she reached into his draw and pulled out the pipe. Lighting it, he handed it to her first once she was seated. He knew that she was probably a bit too young to be smoking at her age, but he never objected because histe father had allowed for him to do the same.
The pipe was also a sort of sentimental item for the family as well. It was hand painted ck and red and had been passed down for generations with little wear and damage having been done to it over the decades. Each generation did their best to preserve it and make sure it stayed undamaged no matter how many times they used it.
Lena had waited until the first few puffs of nicotine had hit her before she handed the pipe back to her father and started to speak. She wanted to get the matter over with before she ended up changing her mind as well.
"I talked with Sammy tonight. I told him that I agree to go ahead with the engagement, but I also told him that there are a lot of things that he hasn''t been exposed to yet that might be hard for him to get used to right away." She exined to her father who nodded his head as he listened to what she said while blowing out the pipe smoke. He didn''t speak though because he knew the princess wasn''t done with what she had to say.
"I told him that if you agreed and his parents agreed, if he apanied me to the gun range tomorrow, that I didn''t mind if he went home early for the weekend to spend it with him family as I''ve already made my decision and I didn''t think you would object." He stared at her thoughtfully for a few seconds.
"Why did you want to take him to the gun range?" He asked. He want to understand her reasoning behind this before he said anything else.
"Because even if I agree, there''s no point in going forward with the engagement if he can''t handle being around guns. It was justplicate everything." She exined as she took the pipe back from him.
"I don''t have an objection to that as long as you use proper safety measures, but does this mean you''ve epted him?"
"I wouldn''t go that far. He''s an interesting person that much I can agree on, but whether I ept him or not is still to be determined over the next six months when he''s going to be exposed to a world that is vastly different evenpared to what he was introduced to this week."
"I can handle that as long as you''re not nning to drop the boy the moment that mutual feelings develop or you start to think that he can''t handle the situation. She scowled at her father when he said this. Working so closely as they had, he always knew what she was thinking or considering even before she had said anything to him about it.
"I don''t n on doing anything unfairly to him. However, also won''t stick with someone who would so easily break under pressure. If I find him to be like that in the slightest, of course I will send him away. There''s no other option for it because this type of world isn''t for someone who''s like that." She retorted causing him father to chuckle. Feeling slightly irritated, she decided not to hand the pipe back to him yet.
"It may mean that you need to change your standards a bit for that to work. Your expectations tend to be raised at a level that is a bit too high for others to quickly catch up with. If ites down to it though, I won''t object to you breaking the arrangement if you think he wouldn''t be able to handle his position of taking over with you." Zane assured her.
"My standards aren''t the problem, it''s other people who don''t want to have to jump as high as is sometimes necessary to aplish certain goals." She huffed before handing him back the pipe. "With a little bit of time and training, I''m sure he will do just fine, but he hasn''t been tested yet so I''m not holding my breath."
Listening to the princess talk, her father couldn''t help but feel that he was partly at fault for the way she thought and the perspective that she had situations from. It was both a positive and negative, but at this very moment he felt like it was something that was going to cause her trouble in the future.
"I''m sure that won''t be an issue when ites to it, something can be worked out that can ease him into it. Since you''re here though, there''s something that I want to talk to you about. Perhaps a reason why it might not be a bad idea to send him back home early either way." Reaching into a different draw he pulled out arge white envelope.
Lena didn''t have to open it to already knew that what was inside was going to end up causing her a headache. It seemed like the world already knew what the n moving forward should be even if she wasn''t certain of it herself.
Chapter 38 - Watching Is Different
Samuel was buzzing with excitement once he was back inside his room and that didn''t die off the following morning when he got up earlier so that he could have time for breakfast before he and Lena would leave for the gun range.
He wasn''t sure though if it was due to the fact that he was getting to go back home sooner with his family if his parents and Lena''s father agreed to what she had said or if it was because she had made a decision on the proposal and he now knew what to expect going forward.
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Either way he was excited when he called his parents and talked to them about what had happened. He had been certain that they would at least be happy to know that he was going to be able toe home early. The agreement to the proposal he wasn''t sure how they were going to take, but he at least hoped it would take away a certain amount of the pressure over whether they would have to pay back their debt or not.
This time when he called however, the reactions he had been expecting were the exact opposite from his parents. His father who had been fairly reserved each time he called and seemed unhappy about the situation seemed to be ted that Lena had made a decision that she would go through with it and that meant he would be able to go home before the week was up.
His mother on the other hand was acting slightly off. She still seemed happy about that her son was talking brightly about the matter and seemed as though he was happy about the situation and things were going well between him and the princess, but it seemed as though something was bothering as she was being quieter than normal.
He tried not to focus to heavily on it while he had been talking to them as he knew his parents were generally open with him about anything that they felt he should know or need to worry about it. Plus, it didn''t stop them from having an enjoyable talk like usual despite his mother''s slightly quieter nature.
They spent over an hour talking as there was a lot to discuss about the matter and himing home as well, it meant that there would be more time to prepare for his birthday. His father more than his mother was surprised to hear that Lena had wanted to be able to attend. He was under the impression that they wouldn''t be getting a chance to meet her until the wedding.
Samuel couldn''t really give them an answer either as to why she wanted toe for his birthday, but it wasn''t like there was any reason to reject her either. The only small matter was that he had to exin to his parents that she mighte across less kindly than they might''ve imagined her to be, but that didn''t mean that she treated him badly. It was just the way that she was. Plus Samuel was pretty certain of the fact that she wasn''t fond on strangers and that exined why she got more bristly when she had to be around people she didn''t know that well.
He knew that he probably should''ve ended the call sooner as it meant he got less than optimal sleep as he had also forgot until he was done with his parents that he Roger would also want to know what was going on.
The following morning theck of sleep didn''t really bother him that much due to the adrenaline from the excitement that he was feeling. His parents weren''t thrilled about him going to the gun range, but they could understand why she probably wanted him to go with her- he had never been around guns before.
Samuel couldn''t deny that he was slightly apprehensive over the idea of having to handle a gun, but it wasn''t like there would be much to worry about since it was a secluded area that held little risk for anyone aside from inanimate targets from getting hit from what Lena had exined to him.
She hadn''t been there to join him for breakfast and told him instead to pack it because she had things she needed to do before they left, but she wanted to be able to eat before she got there as food was necessary to help her focus on the targets she would be aiming at.
Thus, Samuel settled on making sandwiches since they tended to be a fairly sturdy and resilient food that did well traveling distances and not eaten right away if one knew how to put them together well.
Of course as with any of the other times that he had cooked, there were so many options to chose from to put in the sandwiches that it was almost overwhelming to try and decide what would be best. Lena hadn''t given him anything to work with either when he had asked while she was getting ready to leave except that she didn''t care as long as it tasted good. Because of this, he decided to go simple and work with some of the more fancy looking cured and smoked meats and cheese and only bothered with onion and tomato on top as he didn''t want to add too many vors.
Clive drove them to the range which around twenty minutes away. Lena didn''t object because she knew that there rule was someone more qualified had to be apany them to make sure that nothing happened.
Not driving meant that Lena could eat during the drive. Samuel didn''t miss the fact that she didn''t seem to share the same amount of enthusiasm as he did about the situation. He presumed because she didn''tin about the sandwiches while she was eating that she didn''t have a problem with them, but instead of trying to talk she was staring out the car window with a focused face while she ate.
Samuel wanted to ask if something was wrong because he felt she had something on her mind that wasn''t there the previous night, but wasn''t sure what to say or if it was even something that he could ask about and by the time he thought of what to say, Clive had informed them that they had reached their destination.
Much like everything else that he had seen the Red Scorpions own, the gun range was far more expansive and borate than what he had been anticipating. The building was a dull gray and made out of cement in order to avoid any bullets damaging the building due to misfiring or missed targets.
There were individual rooms for solo target practice that lined one wall of the hall upon entering the room building, the other side branched out into arger room with lockers, a desk, metal cabs, and what looked like bullet proof vests and other equipment. Beyond this, he couldn''t see anything else, but he could tell that the halls lead to other rooms. For safety purposes, the guns were all under lock and they to open where they were held was inside the desk which required a key that was kept at the main house for extra precaution.
The storage containers were made as to not be easily broken from the outside even using brute force and no one had ever tried to break in, but it was always better to be safe than sorry Lena told Samuel as she unlocked the desk to get the key out.
First thing the princess took care of was showing him how to put one of the vests on. Samuel didn''t know anything about this and it made him feel a little nervous that she was taking this precaution.
"It''s typical procedure standard around here. No one has been shot before, but if you get used to putting the vest on each time before you shot the gun, it bes a habit so even when something happens and you''re under stress, you won''t forget your vest and go straight for the fun." Lena told him as she helped him slip it on and made sure all the straps were in their correct ces. She took extra time to make sure he could see how to attach everything correctly.
"What are you thinking so far?" She asked once he was kitted up and she had begun to put her own vest. Clive had even put on one even though he wasn''t even going to be inside the gun range. Samuel wasn''t sure if this ease the tension he was feeling or also part of protocol.
"Honestly, it feels really different when you''re watching someone else do these type of things than it does when you''re right in the middle of it." He confessed as he looked down at the vest he was wearing. He suddenly found that there were a lot of questions he wanted to ask but didn''t have the time to right now.
"You get used to it quickly if youe here often, it won''t be so bad. Wait until after we''re in the range and get started." Lena told him as she finished putting her vest on and turned to pull the guns she was nning on using for practice. Despite what she said, he didn''t that this was something that he was going to easily be able to get used to.
Chapter 39 - Aim
Once they had everything they needed, they moved to where the group shooting range was located. Lena had chosen the Ruger .22 because of of how easy it was to handle and the higher uracy ratepared to the Smith & Wesson Model 29 which was her usually favorite to use.
There was an upper and lower area to the range. The top part had a closed off still-target range with ss creating an almost booth effect between each ck cutout human shaped target that were positioned about 75 yards from where they were standing. The lower part was set up in a more outdoor open range style where some of the targets if desired could be activated to move and hide behind the fake obstacles that were setup to make the targets harder to hit.
Being in the shoot range, Samuel felt even less confident than he had about his decision before getting here. He had never held a gun before let alone heard anyone fire them off at such close range. Lena didn''t seem at all bothered by his hesitancy as she tossed him something that looked simr to a pair of headphones to put on.
"They''re to protect your ears against the sound of the gunshot. Being in such a closed space, it''s going to be loud and if you''re not careful, you might damage your ears." Lena exined as she put her own.
"Do I have to shoot?" He asked feeling slightly weary as he slipped the covers over his ears like he had seen her do.
"Not right away, you can watch me first and get a feel for it. You should know that this is going to be part of your training as well once we are officially engaged and you move here." She told him as she grabbed the gun out of the holster she was wearing. She double checked the safety on it and made it wasn''t loaded before holding it out to him.
"Holding it and getting a feel for the gun is the first part. You can''t hurt anyone with it because it isn''t loaded. In order to increase your uracy you need to get used to the weight." He carefully reached forward and took the gun from her. The weight of it was more than he hand anticipated causing him to almost drop it before he managed to gain a firmer grip on it.
Holding the gun wasn''t as bad as he expected knowing that it was empty. The shining metal still looked just as intimidating to him as it did in the princess''s hands. After all, it only took one shot to take a life.
He didn''t hold onto it for very long before he handed it back over to her. Loading it, she motioned for him to stand behind her as she utched the safety on it. Shifting her position for the best aim, she got ready to fire.
He tried to brace himself for the sound that would follow her pulling the trigger, but he couldn''t stop himself from flinching as the bangs range out even though they weren''t aimed in his direction. The covers on his ears certainly decreased the noise, but it was still far louder than he had been expecting it to be.
The only reason why he opened his eyes to look was because he had heard Lena tsk. He had anticipated it was because she was annoyed over the fact that he had flinched and closed his eyes in response to the sound, but such was not actually the case.
The princess had made the noise because only two of the three shots she had fired had made perfect aim where the target showed the heart would be. The third not far off had hit more towards the center mass on the body. Which could still cause a great deal of damage but wouldn''t kill the target.
"Two of them hit on point." Hemented trying to make Lena feel better. She nced back at him before facing forward.
"Two out of three in a real fight can be a matter of life death." She told him as she shifted her position slightly and fired the gun again. The noise was still just as loud, but he managed to not flinch as much or close his eyes. He wanted to watch her as she shot the gun to see how she held herself.
Somehow it didn''t surprise him that she had such a calm look of concentration on her face as she fired the gun. The way she held the gun spoke of the confidence that she had in knowing the bullets would hit the mark where she wanted them to because she was in control of the gun. It was a level of confidence and control that Samuel couldn''t quite understand but made him feel a slight level of intimidation as he wondered if she had would have this same level of indifference andposure when it came to taking the life of another.
Shooting the gun off again, she fired all except for thest bullet in the cartridge. Turning to face Samuel she motioned him over.
"It''s just one shot you can take." She told him. He hesitated when she said this, still feeling confident over holding or firing the gun.
"Stop worrying so much and juste here, you''re not going to hurt anyone and I''ll help you figure out the right way to hold and fire it." Lena snipped at him as her impatience grew with his hesitancy.
"I''m not really sure that I am ready to do this." He told her as he walked over to her anyways. He didn''t want to further annoy her but keeping his distance.
"You''re just thinking about it too much. As long as you don''t point it at anyone, you''ll be fine. Just stand there." She motioned for him to stand where she had been a few seconds ago.
He suppressed the sigh that wanted toe out and did as she said. He couldn''t share the same level of confidence she had no matter how hard he tried. Looking ahead and seeing how urate Lena was made him feel even more nervous.
"Rx your hands or I''m not going to be able to position your grip." She told him as she took hold of his right hand and put the gun in it with her left one. She made sure that the safety was back on it beforehand to make sure that no idents would ur. Samuel tried his best to rx his hand give her full control of it, but it was harder than he had expected to let her manipte his fingers to grip the gun right.
It was a bit awkward because of the height difference, but Lena did her best to position Samuel''s hands and arms just right while she stood behind him. It would''ve been easier if he was slightly shorter, but it wasn''t like she could ask him to kneel or bend his legs to make up the difference since he barely knew what he was doing as it was.
"You know if you''re going to do this, first thing you need to do is fix your breathing. The harder you breathe, the more the gun is going to move on you. Pay attention to my breathing and try to match it." She scolded him as she slowed down her own breathing to the level she wanted Samuel to adjust to.
It took a minute or two before his breathing even out and became at a manageable pace. She couldn''t have him breathing so heavily if he actually intended to hit the target.
"Are you sure that I am going to be able to do this?" He asked uncertainly as she made him face forward and pay attention to the target while keeping his breathing even.
"If you stop fretting you will. Plus, I''ll be helping you to aim so there''s nothing to worry about." She replied As she shifted his position slightly again.
"Make sure to brace your feet a bit as well as your arms. Not too stiff so that you''re ridge when you fire but not so soft that you lose your position from the recoil." She knew that Samuel was trying his best to do what she asked, but it wasn''t easy with it being his first time.
"Now, I''m going to take the safety off and you''re going to keep your finger away from the trigger until I say shoot." She told him as the gun made a click sound indicating that the safety had been removed. Samuel stopped speaking as he tried his best to just focus on what he was getting ready to do.
"Now shoot." She told him once she was certain that he was in the best position he could be. It took a second longer before he put the right pressure on the trigger and the gun went off.
Chapter 40 - Youre Terrible At This
After the gun had gone off it took mere seconds for it to hits mark. Lena didn''t know what to say however once she had seen where it hit. Samuel was being quiet as well, but more so because he had already expected this oue.
Despite the fact that the princess had been helping him to stay steady as he fired the gun and fixed his position for him, he had still somehow managed to hit far off from the center point she was aiming at. The aim was so far off it had almostpletely missed the target and only barely grazed it instead.
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Without saying much to him, she loaded the gun and made him go through the process two more times to make sure the first time wasn''t a fluke because of ast minute change right before the gun went off. However, both times the result ended up being the same with little improvement in uracy even though he had been trying to rx more.
Taking into consideration the fact that he knew how to y paintball, she had assumed even though a paintball gun and a handgun were the same thing that he would at least have developed some type of uracy even if it wasn''t the best to work with, but this made it seem as though he had almost none whatsoever.
"This is not the oue that I was expecting. Lena finally murmured as she released his arm and moved away from him.
"Well this is my first time handling a gun as I told you before and I don''t really understand that well how I am supposed to aim or fix my breathing the way you." Samuel replied as he turned to face the other. Keeping the gun pointed down for safety even though he knew it was empty, he held it out to take back.
"I know that already, but generally when a novice has someone help them to line up and aim, they can at least hit a center mass point, not instead almostpletely miss the target." She replied feeling annoyed at the situation. Partly because she hadn''t expected him to be that bad and partly because she felt like there was something she must''ve been doing wrong that caused him to have missed by so much.
"You''re honestly terrible at this. It''s only your first time shooting and I''m sure the difference in our size doesn''t help that factor, but your ability to aim is horrible." She ran a hand through her hair as she spoke. It was hard to not let the frustration that she was feeling bubble over since it wasn''t even Samuel''s fault.
"I am sure that it is something with a little bit of practice that I can fix. I understand what you said before about me needing to learn how to protect myself, but I am sure that I still have some time to at least get the basics of it." She turned and faced him with a raised eyebrow.
"You do understand that this is something that can take a fair amount of time to fix depending on why you''re aim is bad. It''s evident that you''re nervous about handling a gun and would prefer not to touch it which affects your breathing and how rigid your body is, but even with practice if you can''t get over your nervousness at handling a gun, you''re going to miss more often than not still." She exined trying to get him to understand that the problem was not as simple as he was making it out to be.
"Also, we''re going to be apart for the next two weeks before the engagement. Even after that, I''m not going to have the time to help you practice this except for on the days I will being here myself. Sure there are other people you could ask, but that isn''t a guarantee that the problem can be fixed. I''m talking about you need weeks of constant practice." Samuel frowned when she said this, he didn''t want her to reject him over something so small since it was his first time firing a gun.
"How did you survive ying paintball with your aim?" the princess asked after a few seconds, crossing arms over her chest.
"My record in ying paintball isn''t that greatly actually. Usually unless I was ying with Roger, the team I was on lost because we tended to miss a lot or not move quickly enough. I could still hit targets but it was usually when I was able to focus, not when the game began to get intense." Samuel replied. Even though he hadn''t been the greatest at paintball, he still enjoyed ying it with his friends whenever they got the chance.
"Practice when we''re away then. Not with an actual gun I mean. I don''t think it would be safe for you to do that with how nervous you''re around them, but I mean with ying paintball. It won''t help that much due to the difference in size of the gun between what you''re aiming this time and a paintball gun, but if you work on focusing to be able to hit your targets rather than letting your nerves get ahead of you, it''ll help a little bit." Lena told him with a sigh. There were some suggestions that Clive wanted to make about the situation but decided to hold his tongue until he had a chance to talk with Lenater.
"For now though while we''re for the rest of the time, you can stay to the back and watch me practice so you can at least get used to the sound of the gun and not flinch so much when you''re around them." Maybe it wasn''t the way that Lena had meant for it toe across, but it felt as though she was sending a child to stand in the back corner because he couldn''t be trusted to do what he was doing. He didn''t say anything as he obliged by taking some steps back so that he was standing behind her but still close enough so that he could pay close attention to the way that she was holding herself as she fired the gun.
To him, she made it seem as though it was easy to do. But watching really was a lot different from handling the gun himself and figuring out the best way to fire it. He would humor her while they were apart and try to practice with paintball as he was Roger wouldn''t turn down any chance to y with him, but he wasn''t sure exactly how it was going to help. He just knew though that this couldn''t be the one thing that would stop them from getting engaged.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 41 - Last Night
The rest of the time that they spent at the shooting range, Samuel went from standing back and leaning against the wall while watching lean to shifting to sitting on the floor. He wasn''t exactly sure how Clive managed to stay standing for the likely two or three hours that they spent at the shooting range, but he got the feeling that it probably came from years of practice.
Lena was so focused on what she was doing that she hardly took time in between shoots to talk with the or do anything that would make it apparent that she remembered that they were still there with her. She took her practice very seriously and any little mistake or distraction that happened would cost her getting a perfect or near perfect shot and that wasn''t something she could afford.
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Clive on the other hand was kind enough to indulge Samuel with some small talk even though the other hadn''t directly asked him for it. He would keep his voice low as he exined why the princess would shift her position slightly or change by a mere inch or so the point she was holding the gun at or where her fingers were ced in order to test which gave her the higher rate of uracy.
Samuel listened intently as the older man would exin something to him. He knew that it took a lot of practice and experience to be able to correctly use a gun and a get a good shot, but it was still far more effort and detail orientation than he had expected involved in getting the perfect shot.
When it was time to leave, Lena made sure that she put up away everything correctly and had Samuel take off his own vest so that he could slowly get used to how to take it off himself. Later she could work more with him understanding how to put it on.
The ride back to the estate felt even quieter than the one to the shooting range had. The princess was still spending her time focused on looking out the car window than she was with trying to talk with Samuel who was sitting right next to her. Somehow he had expected that she would be acting differently since it was going to be thest night he would be staying there before going back.
"Is something wrong?" Samuel finally asked when he couldn''t handle the silence any longer and wanted to know what was going on.
"Nothing is wrong. I''m being quiet because I have a lot on my mind today. But it isn''t anything wrong with you if that''s what you''re worrying about." Lena replied without turning to face him as she kept looking out the window.
"Except for your poor aim, but we will fix that with a bit of time. Try not to get ahead of yourself with anything yet while we''re apart. Remember you''re still a little chickadee so don''t do anything that get yourself hurt."
"How would I end up doing anything to hurt myself? I will be spending most of the time with my family. At most, I will be doing paintball with some of my friends and we might go and do a few other things together but nothing that puts me at risk of hurting myself." He felt mildly confused by herment.
"You say that, but from my observations since you''ve been here, you seem to have a knack for being clumsy and getting yourself hurt." Lena replied as she nced back at the other who seemed slightly offended at what she had said.
"Two situations don''t countify enough to base such a judgement off of. I only struggle with things asionally when it''s something that I am not familiar with. What happened when we were out riding doesn''t count anyways because you were the one who was going too fast and I didn''t know how to correctly handle Goldy going down that slope." he retorted. He had honestly never really been clumsy beforeing to stay with her. Though that could''ve been partly due to the fact that his parents hardly let him do anything that was too active out of fear he might hurt himself.
"Two situations in a week do to me because I am hardly ever clumsy, even when I am working with something I have never done before." Lena tsked when she finished speaking, changing the subject before he could say anything else.
"I have some things I need to take care of when we get back, so you''ll have to entertain yourself for a while probably until dinner."
"I thought that you still had the day off for today as well?" He asked confused by her sudden announcement, turning to look at him for the first time since they left, she offered him a small annoyed smile.
"I was supposed to. But the universe had other ns apparently so there are somethings that I need to be doing instead. The time can be made up though as I can take the time to drop you off tomorrow back at your home when you leave." the princess told him. She was only mildly annoyed by the fact that other things hade up which interrupted the way that she had nned on everything to go.
"Are you nning on meeting my parents when you do that?" Samuel asked, he was slightly nervous about this since he hadn''t exactly beenpletely upfront about the type of rtionship that he and the little queen had.
"No, I will wait to meet them until your birthday. Considering I don''t know that much about them, I would prefer to understand what I should to expect before I do that." Her answer provided him with the small amount of relief.
"If that''s the case though, you don''t have to drive all that way with me if you don''t want to. Clive brought me here on my own with no problem, I am sure that the ride back will end the same way."
"Sammy-boy, I am saying it as something I want to do. I wouldn''t have said it if it wasn''t something that I wanted to do."
"If you say so." He replied, not feeling fully convinced that was the case with the other.
"Haven''t we gone through this before?" She asked, slightly annoyed as she narrowed her eyes while looking at him. He shrugged her off before replying.
"You mean saying you don''t'' do anything that you don''t want to do so if you say you want to do something, it means you want to conversation? We have once."
"Which was mere days ago. Hence, my response to that still hasn''t changed. So, I will being with you tomorrow regardless of what you''re decision is."
"Doesn''t that mean though if you''reing regardless of what I say that I don''t really have a decision in the matter in the first ce?" He quipped back.
"No, you can freely state what you''re decision is, I''m just not required to listening to it since no directive is being given. Decision is simr to an opinion, just because you have one doesn''t mean it''s going to be shared with others or they''ll chose to agree with you." Lena replied.
The bantering continued like that for thest few minutes of the ride until they got back to the estate. It seemed harmless enough to Clive that he didn''t bothering trying to interject himself into the matter as the situation didn''t elevate itself as the seconds passed by.
Plus, once he had parked in front of the estate, the bantering between the two stopped and Lena was the first to step out before Samuel followed quickly behind her.
Until the car ride, Clive had been unaware that Samuel''s visit was getting cut short. Because of the extra driving he would be doing, he made a mental note for himself to remember the car would probably need to go back for an inspection sooner than he had initially nned with all the extra driving he would be doing.
It was thest night before things would be going back to being quiet for a while until the official announcement for the engagement would be made.
Chapter 42 - Youll Find Out Later
Samuel had thought that once they got back to the estate that there would be a few minutes for them to talk before Lena had to get on to whatever work was stopping her from taking the day off.
He was mistaken however because she stopped to talk with Clive and ended up waving him off inside saying that it wasn''t a conversation he could be to be privy to yet but would find out about itter. Her serious attitude all made him think that it was something rather important that she was dealing with.
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It was only mid afternoon and he wasn''t certain what he should to keep himself preupied until dinner came around. Not having any friends in the immediate area made it hard for him to find something to do. He could call Roger, but he knew that the other would just want to ask him about what had been going on in his rtionship that was making hime home early. He hadn''t told the other a decision had been made because he wanted to talk about in person.
Samuel was sure his friend was going to be happy for him because he knew what the answer meant to him. He himself however wasn''t sure quite yet how he felt about it. He was excited certainly. He was not sure though if this was just because the little queen had said yes to him and it would take pressure off of his family, or if it was because he was excited to continue on with their rtionship.
A week was certainly enough time to get to know if you''refortable being around someone and if you can get along with them, but it was no where near enough to determine if it was possible for two people to love each other. Samuel knew though that there were a number of arranged marriages that took ce without a concern put towards love but instead directed out of some type of status or materialistic benefit from it.
He hoped though that in their case something else woulde out of it, or that they''d at least figure out how to keep getting along if they were supposed to consider having kids sometime in the future.
"Well, well. It seems like you survived your trip to the shooting range. No holes to be seen from what I can see." Leo greeted him as he entered the mansion. The younger boy was sitting inside the guestroom reading a book. Based upon the cover, Samuel presumed that it was something work growth rather than as a pleasure read, unless the other enjoyed such books. He had his feet braced on the end of sofa he was sitting on with his sandals on and hanging over the edge.
Unlike his older sister, Leo always seemed to prefer to wear something that was more business casual yetfortable. Usually in the range of dress shirts and loose cks.
"It wasn''t that bad really. I mostly just watched. Apparently between my aim and inexperience with guns, I''m not quite ready to be handling them on my own and shooting." Samuel replied as he came to sit across the room from the other. Even though Leo had never said anything to him about a potential rtionship since that one night in his room, the older boy still preferred to be cautious around him. Whether Leo took notice of this or not he was unsure of.
"It can take some time for people to get used to guns. Learning early helps for sure, but different circumstances can make it easier or harder for you to learn. Don''t you y paintball though?" Samuel couldn''t stop himself from rolling his eyes when Leo asked this question, resting his book against his chest as he turned his attention to the other.
"I do and that''s the exact same thing that Lena asked me about. I have yed for a while, but my hasn''t been when ites to hitting targets. It has never really bothered me though because my friends and I just did it for fun. Being a good aim or bad only really mattered based upon howpetitive you were and what your goal during the game was." Samuel replied with a sigh.
"Sounds like you need to maybe change your objectives then. Not be soid back and nonchnt about it when you y and put your focus on actually trying to hit a target." Leo suggested.
"I have never really experienced paintball myself though I know what it is, but maybe you can find a friend who would be willing to help you with moving target practice. Offer him a reward for being a good sport or something." Samuel couldn''t deny that it wasn''t a bad idea, it added on to what the princess had suggest he do once he was back home with his family. He would have to figure out though who wouldn''t mind be smacked by paintballs if there was something worth their while to receive afterwards.
"It isn''t a bad idea. I would just have to figure out who would be willing to do it with me." Samuel replied as he leaned his head back in the chair. Being away for almost two weeks, he was going to miss howfortable the chairs were at this ce. Just a couple of days and he was starting to feel as though he was already getting spoiled.
"I''m sure there will be some willing victim for you. Lena would probably never tell you this, but back in the day when we were learning how to shot, I ended up being her practice target." Leo snickered when he said this.
"Really? I always assumed she must''ve been a good shot from the start?" This news had gotten Samuel''s attention and he was intent on hearing more of what the younger brother had to say.
"Nope. It was probably though that I was automatically allowed to learn how to shoot, but she had to convince our father that it would be alright for her to do it as well even though she was the older sibling." Leo replied
"In this case though, the gun used for practice was a toy one one that shot darts which couldn''t end up identally causing anyone to get hurt if they were hit by one. It ended up taking us a few weeks of practice before she got good enough to be consistently hitting me before my father agreed to let her move onto a real gun. Not targeting me of course, but at the shooting range under his supervision.
"You know, you really shouldn''t get into the habit of talking about your older sister behind her back in ces where she might end up hearing you." Because of where the room was positioned and how quiet she was and how softly the door opened and closed, neither had heard him approaching.
She reach her arm over to ruffle her younger brother''s hair, but by the way he hissed in response, Samuel knew that it wasn''t that gentle of touch unless the other hated his hair being messed with.
"What were you talking with Clive about?" Samuel tried asking her again now that she was inside. Turning to look at him, she gave him a very nk if not slightly annoyed expression.
"As I told you outside, you''d find out about itter. I have other stuff I need to do now." She replied, leaving her brother alone so that she could head further inside.
"Keep yourself behaved and don''t talk about people behind their backs unless you want to get in trouble for it again." She said over her shoulder before she was too far away to be heard without raising her voice. Samuel had hoped once she was done talking with Clive that the other would answer his question, but he guessed he would really have to find outter from her.
Chapter 43 - So We Part Until Two Weeks Pass
Even though Lena had said that she would be backe dinner, both her and Zane were missing when the call for dinner came. Samuel would''ve been more worried about it if anyone else at the table had seemed rmed by their disappearance.
Julian, Zane''s younger brother if Samuel remembered it correctly must''ve noticed that he seemed perplexed by their absence and exined that it wasn''t umon for something toe up every few weeks or so that would cause them to be absent for a few hours or a day or two depending on what was going on. Samuel wasn''t sure how to reply so he just nodded his head to let the other know he had heard him. He wasn''t asfortable talking to other members of the family aside from Leo as he hadn''t gotten much time to get to know them this week.
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"Don''t worry too much. Your princess will be back before too long." Leo told him, partly teasing to try and lighten the mood. Samuel turned his attention to him as he was the only person who he wasfortable with.
"I''m mostly just curious about what she''s busy with since she said she would be back by now." He replied to the other who shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Probably business rted. They''ve been working on some taking over and expanse on the business side and that stuff can take days and hours to sort out depending no the size of the otherpany anding to an agreement."
Leo kept the conversation going for a little while, exining certain things about what business they dealt in and how some of that worked. Keeping to everything that was legal so he wouldn''t risk getting yelled at if he said too much. Otherwise though, the table was rather quiet.
Once dinner passed though, Lena still hadn''t reappeared nor Zane. The rest of the family left the table as everything was cleared up without any mention of them. It was going to bother Samuel if this type of silence andck of enlightenment about what was going on was retained once he and Lena were officially engaged.
By the time he had finished packing everything up which really wasn''t much more than he had came with and called his parents to talk with them one more time before he woulding home tomorrow, Lena still hadn''te back from what he was aware of which was a bit of a disappointment for him as he ended up going to bed without seeing her again.
Next morning when he woke up however, he was surprised to find the princess curled up in his chair. Her legs tucked up against her chest and her head resting on the arm of the chair in what looked to be a rather awkward rather thanfortable position to fall asleep in. She was still dressed in what he guessed was work close, a blouse and jeans which made him wonder at what time she hade backst night and since when was she allowed to sleep in his room at night?
"Is it time to leave already?" She asked from her position without opening her eyes. Her voice sounded tired still as though she had just woken up.
"Almost, shouldn''t you sleep more though? It looks like you didn''te back until rathertest night." Samuel replied as he slipped out of bed, slipping the sandals onto his feet. He feltpelled to be quiet as possible since it seemed as though the little queen wasn''t fully awake yet.
"I don''t know what time it wasst night. There was somest minute stuff I had to clear upst night that took longer than it was supposed to, but I''m fine with leaving on time." Lena replied blinking a few times to help her wake up further.
"I''ll ask Ryan to make something for us to take with us since it''ll be a long drive." She told the other as she got up. Stretching lightly to get rid of the stiffness she felt from sleeping in such a bunched up position, she left without saying anything else.
Samuel stared at the closed door for a few seconds. He wasn''t as worried about leaving on time as Lena had been. Sure it was going to be a drive, but even it took them an extra hour or two, it wouldn''t be that bad. Regardless though, he had to shower and get dressed.
Simr to what had happened when he first arrived there, Clive had helped to load his stuff into the vehicle and made sure it fit securely so that nothing will create a mess while they were driving. Aside from him, Lena, and Ryan, the only other person who was awake that time was Zane. Who shook his hand and bid him goodbye, saying he looked forward to seeing him again soon.
Samuel couldn''t help but wonder how quickly the two weeks would go by as they walked out to the car. Lena had changed into something morefortable, but still seemed tired as Clive held the back door open for them to get in. He was surprised that she decided to sit in the back with him rather than taking the front seat.
The drive back to where he lived was a mostly quiet one. Samuel unlike Lena had gotten plenty of sleep the night before and wasn''t feeling tired in the slightest.
The ate a little ways into the drive with Lena asking a few brief questions about his family which he was happy to answer. She didn''t ask too many follow up questions as he answered her questions and instead mostly opted to making a noise that let him know she was listening to what he was saying.
The rest of the ride was mostly quiet however as Lena stayed in the corner of her seat with her arms crossed across her chest and eyes closed as she head rested squarely against her head rest. Samuel wasn''t sure if she was sleeping since her eyes were closed and her breathing seemed calmer than normal if she was still awake.
Had she not been there, he would''ve probably made conversation with Clive, but he didn''t want to risk waking her up so he instead opted for texting his family and Roger that he was on his way back and managed to entertain himself with some brief conversation before they stopped replying because they had other things to do.
Even though he was trying not to make too much noise while on his phone as he looked for something to preupy himself, the low setting of his volume must''ve still been too loud as he was suddenly startled by Lena grab the arm of his shirt and pulled him against her. He hadn''t been expecting this time and the sudden movement made him stiff.
"Breathe and rx. You don''t need to fidget so much when there isn''t anything to do. Try to just enjoy the silence." She told him, her voice was low as she spoke which told him she was still half asleep as he kept him pressed against her side. Samuel put his phone down but didn''t bother saying anything as he was certain the other had fallen back asleep.
The rest of the ride except for thest thirty minutes was spent with Samuel being stuck against Lena''s side while she slept. She wasn''t one to cuddle, but she certainly didn''t mind keeping her arm tucked around him.
She didn''t fully wake up until they were close to his house and she knew he would be leaving soon.
"Stay in touch while you''re here." She told as she handed him a piece of paper with her phone number on it.
"Will you be avable to talk often?" He asked as he took it, she shrugged her shoulders.
"Depends on the day but I''m sure it won''t bother you too much." She replied as she shifted position to look out the front, she was curious about what the house he lived at looked like.
It was smaller than she had expected, but then again everything was smaller to her after having lived all her life at the estate. Noticing that no one was standing out front also helped to alleviate a certain amount of tension she had initially felt about agreeing to go with him. The house didn''t look particrly specialpared to all the others around it. Just a typical red brick house with a gray shingled roof. No wonder it was such an adjustment for him to move to a ce that was so much more elegant than what he was used to living in.
"So I guess here we part ways until the next two weeks pass." Samuel said the car stopped near the front of his house. Clive was willing to assist him with unpacking, but he had already told the older man he would have no problem brining in everything himself.
"It won''t be that long. Time will probably go by rather fast since it is almost your birthday." She replied. The other just nodded his head in response to this. Clive got out of the car to help at least pull everything out of the trunk, but Lena remained in her seat as she didn''t risk bumping into his family if she got out to help, she wasn''t ready to meet them yet.
It took mere minutes to pull everything out and stack it out front. Rather than opening the car door again to say good-bye as she had expected him to do, Samuel instead tapped on her window asking her to roll it down, which she did. The second unexpected event was that rather than speak to her, he leaned over to make the distance a bit less awkward between them and kissed her on the cheek.
"Aren''t you going to say goodbye?" Samuel asked as he pulled back. Lena paused for a second before replying, a small smirk on her lips.
"Goodbye is only for people I don''t intend to see again. Considering we''ll be meeting again in less than two weeks, there''s no reason for it to be said here." Was he reply causing him to smile.
"Well then I guess the same goes for me." he replied as he stood up and moved back so she could roll the window up. He needed to get inside anyways since his parents would be expecting him soon.
Lena didn''t want for him to go inside in case his parents came out so instead she waited until he was near the front door and turned onest time to wave at her before she returned the gesture and then told Clive to leave.
Two weeks would really end up passing by quicker than she had expected. Unlike Samuel, she had take care of while they were apart.
*Author note* So this is the end of the first volume. Thank you for all your support up to this point. I will be getting the second one up soon. In the meantime, those of you who are here for romance may wish to check out my spirity novel - Romance Among Humans for something a touch different but slightly simr.
Chapter 44 - Time Passes By So Quickly
*Author note here* Since most people voted for a chapter a day, that is what I will be doing for thesest three chapters. But for those of you who were looking forward to a mass release- I will n on doing that when I lock the chapters that follow these three. It''ll be probably be 5 chapters released at once or at least that is the n right now. With at, please go ahead and enjoy the story*
The two weeks had ended up going by quicker than Samuel had honestly thought that they would. He had a lot to keep himself busy with between his friends and family that it almost felt like there was not enough time between his time back with them and his uing birthday when he would be getting ready to leave again. This time for a much longer period of time.
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There was only three days left until his birthday which was causing him to feel a mixture of excitement and nervousness. He was worried about how his parents were going to react to meeting Lena for the first time.
His parents had been thrilled that he came back early, slightly less so that he and Lena were going through with the engagement at least to this point, but they didn''t try to dissuade him from the decision even after he had tried his best to as honest as possible about what type of person Lena was.
They weren''t thrilled to hear that she harsher than they had imagined her to be despite knowing that she would be the one to take over after her father retired. Samuel supposed that they presumed she would at least be someone with better manners and who was of a kinder nature being a girl.
Lena didn''t seem to be concerned about what they thought of her. At least not by the way she addressed the matter when he talked to her about it on call. She kind of brushed it off and said it something that they could deal with once they met her on his birthday.
She hadn''t had a lot of time to talk with him on call since he left. She was likely to text him because it was easier than trying to fit in time for a phone call that could take anywhere from ten minutes to over an hour depending what they talked about or rather what Samuel talked to her about.
Lena was just as quiet if not more so over text and phone that she was in person. She would ask him a few questions about how things were going, butpared to the lengthy replies that he would provide her with, she sent back replies that were no more than two or three lines long and very straight to the point.
Samuel had asked her about that as well when they were on a more recent day. He was wondered if she didn''t enjoy talking or if that was just her preferred way tomunicate.
"It''s because most of the time I text with people it''s work and business rted. Family I see everyday so unless something is taking longer than expected or I won''t being back for the next, I don''t bother texting or calling them. Friends are something I am sure you saw for yourself that I don''t really have so I''m not used to holding casual conversations with people." was the reply that she had given him. It sounded like an honest and reasonable response to his question.
"If I really didn''t want to talk with you, I would''ve must never given you my phone number or I''d ignore you when you tried to call or message." it felt like she was trying to give reassurance about the situation even though her tone didn''t particrly hold a reassuring note to it.
"But how would I know that you''re not ignoring me when you go hours without talking to me?" He countered, mostly as a joke, but pushing the situation further at the same time to make sure that she was being genuine with him.
"Sammy-boy, trust me, when I am ignoring someone, it''ll be quiet obvious. Especially if they don''t get the point when I stop replying to them. I prefer to make it very clear for those who don''t understand based upon my silence."
"Fair enough, but I would still like to work onmunication after these next few days are over. Especially if we are going to get officially engaged. I would expect to know like your family where you are and what''s going on if you suddenly have to disappear." He told as heid back on the head. He heard her make a noise that sounded like either a muted sigh or scoff.
"Isn''t that an unspoken expected change to the dynamic? Of course I would tell you even if you didn''t ask me to. Some things I just haven''t been able to do because my father wouldn''t allow it until after he was certain whether I was going to agree or not. The less you knew until then, the better for safety reasons."
"What about my family?" He then asked, curious to know where they would fit into everything.
"They''ll be kept in the dark mostly, depending on what they want to do at least. My father is assuming that because you have younger siblings who are still in school for a few more years that they wouldn''t want to be uprooted and moved in to the area we''re in control of." She replied. It wasn''t a wrong conclusion that her father hade to.
"Once they''re old enough to go to college, it''ll be up to your parents as to what they will want to do. Also since this an arranged marriage, they''ll be getting some type of marriage gift, insistence of my father."
"You know my family isn''t likely to ept something like that so easily." Samuel knew his parents would automatically reject any such thing if they hard about it as they didn''t want to be indebt to Zane any more than they already were.
"That''s why he won''t be telling them about it." Lena exined. "He intends to do it in a way that they wouldn''t know that it came from us and will most likely not reject it." She assured him.
"I need to go now though. Tell me tomorrow what I should n on bringing with me or wearing before your birthday. I know it''s not a formal things so I want to make sure that I am wearing something that will be fitting."
"I will call or text tomorrow, it isn''t something that you really need to worry about that much. Anything casual that you pick to wear would be fine since it''ll jut be family and some close friends." Samuel replied before they said their farewells and ended the call.
His biggest concern during his birthday was how it was going to go to have Lenae. Samuel couldn''t say not to her wanting to show up since their engagement would be made official the week after that, but it still worried him about how it was going to go with his family.
Chapter 45 - The Day Before
The day before his birthday had perhaps been the busiest of the two weeks yet. Mainly because his parents wanted to make sure that things were perfect for him as they knew it was going to be one of thest few birthdays that they were going to be able to celebrate with him in the way that they enjoyed doing birthdays. It meant a lot to him of course even though he felt at the same time that they were going to too much trouble.
Both his parents had argued though that it was one more important birthdays because 18 only happened once and it meant that he was technically officially considered an adult even if he did have to wait another three years before he would legally be allowed to drink which would be the next important milestone in his life.
His mother decided to start making the cake that day because she knew that it would have time to set better if she made it the night before and put it in the fridge overnight. It was going to be a limoncello cakes as that happened to be one of his favorite vors. As she had anticipated that there would be more guests these year, she doubled the recipe that she usually made to ount of the extra people that would be showing up.
Samuel was less inclined than his parents to want to invite too many people over. One because he didn''t think that there home could amodate too many people and two because he hade to the conclusion that Lena didn''t likerge groups of people and having too many people in such as small space as his house was would end up making him ufortable.
She was another issue he had to deal with. He had tried his best to exin what she should wear, in clothes. Something like a t-shirt and jeans or casual cks would be fine, but he wasn''t certain that she exactly understood what he was talking about when he exined this. Then the second problem was that she was nning on bringing a gift with her for him. He hadn''t been expecting that and he didn''t exactly want any extra gifts either. His family would probably already be providing too many for him as it was plus the few friends he was inviting would probably be bringing gifts of their own as well.
It wasn''t an argument that he was going to be able to win with her however when he tried to argue it out with her over text and she inly told him that it was a gift that was non-negotiable and would be considered rude to not ept it as his birthday. His biggest fear was that whatever she was going to bring with her would turn out to be too extravagant or over the toppared to what everyone else brought and that would just end up making him feel ufortable.
The conversation ended though with her telling him that he was worrying too much about something he didn''t need to and that she would text himter but she had to leave now because she had more work to get done before tomorrow came along This pretty much settled the matter as he knew it wouldn''t be wise to bring it up againter since she had made it clear that there was no way she wouldn''t be bringing whatever it was with her.
At least one thing that Samuel didn''t have to worry too much about was rtives. Aside from his parents and siblings, he didn''t really have that many rtives that his family was close to.
On his mother''s side, there had apparently been some type of fallout with them prior to his parents meeting that never was made up and she didn''t bothering because a mixture of her not feeling that it was worth the time and that she knew they probably wouldn''t ept her marriage even though his father made her very happy.
On his father''s side, he knew his uncle and his wife would being, probably his cousin as well. It wasn''t likely that his father''s parents would being since they were getting older and it be a bit to ask them to be around so many people. His cousin was engaged as well, but they weren''t nning on getting married for a while yet until she finished college and her fianc¨¦ managed to secure a better paying job so that he would be able to take care of her. He wouldn''t being to the birthday however as he had work that day and couldn''t afford to take the day off.
Outside of family, the only people that Samuel had intended to invite out of his friends was of course Roger who would appear whether he was invited or not and give him a hard time if he somehow forgot to invite him, a few of the other guys he yed paintball with frequently and maybe Jennifer if she was interested ining. He had no idea outside of those people who his parents were going insist to invite as well. He just hoped that they were reasonable about the number of people.
The rest of the day blew by fairly quickly with everything that they were finishing up that before Samuel knew it, it waste night and he was exhausted after eating dinner with his family and retiring for the night. He still needed to figure out what he would be wearing the next day. Even though it was his birthday, he still needed to make sure to dress in a way that gave off a good impression to everyone that would be showing up.
The next morning he had been hoping to sleep in a bit since as far as he was aware everyone wouldn''t be arriving untilter on in the day as that was the time his mother requested so there would be time for anyst minute preparations that needed to be taken care.
His n to sleep in however was cut short when he was awoken by what sounded like a soft knock on the front door. ncing at his phone clock, he saw that it was half past seven in the morning. His fuzzy mind couldn''t process who would be at the door at such an early hour, but since it didn''t sound like his parents had gotten up to answer the door, most likely because it was too soft for them to hear as their room was further away from the front door inparison to his own, he got on a slipped on something morefortable before he went to go and see who was at the door.
When he opened the door he was surprised to see Lena standing there looking rather different than he was used to seeing her. Her long red hair had been pulled back into a braid, only allowing a few strands to flow freely on either side. She had on a n t-shirt with a casual open button over shirt on with ck jeans matched with ck sketchers.
"What are you doing here so early?" He asked, closing the door behind him so he wouldn''t disrupt his parents.
"I left early because I wasn''t sure if I left too muchter if I would end up making it in time." She replied with an air that made it seem like that was the most obvious answer to why she was at his house so early.
"It''s still a few hours yet before everyone will be here and my parents aren''t even up yet." He told her, still trying to process the fact that she was here far earlier than he had anticipated her to be.
"Then we can just sit out here and talk for a while until they would normally get up." She replied, waving him off with her right hand. It was then that he noticed there was bandage wrapped around the middle of it.
"What happened to your hand?" he asked concerned.
*Author not here*
Hello again dear readers I am putting this out here again please don''t forget if you''re interested in joining a discord server for this story that the link for it can be found on the synopsis area of the book. Let me know if it doesn''t work.
Chapter 46 - Birthday
By the look on Lena''s face it was obvious that she had forgotten about the bandage wrapped around her hand.
"It''s nothing serious, I just hurt it one of the times I was doing training and my father insisted I keep it carefully wrapped so as to not get an infection since it''s my dominant hand." She replied with a shrug.
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"If was anything serious, I wouldn''t be here today." Samuel wasn''t fully convinced about this but he knew there was no way for him to see how badly the injury was himself with the way that it was wrapped. "What is nned for today anyways?" She asked, changing the subject as she moved to sit down on the porch. If his parents were still asleep, she wasn''t going to risk talking their conversation inside where she might make a bad impression by entering the house while they were still asleep and she hadn''t rightly introduced herself to them yet.
"Not much really. My mom made a cake and some other family will being to join us a few of my friends." Samuel replied as he sat down next to her but not too clos. "Other than that it will probably just be a lot of talking and maybe a few games."
"Your family doesn''t all live close together?" She asked.
"No, my uncle lives about two hours away. He moved elsewhere after he got married because he wanted to find a better job to support him and his wife. They stille to visit with my cousin whenever they get a few days off or we''ll go visit them around the holidays." Samuel. Lena made a ''hm'' noise in response to this. In her mind having grown up with all her family living so closely together, she didn''t imagine that others didn''t live the same way.
"You know though, you don''t have to stay too long if being around everyone is going to make you ufortable." Samuel offered.
"It''s fine. They''re all your family and friends. Plus, I have to wait gifts are being open anyways to give you yours. It would be odd if I already gave it to you so early on." She replied.
The conversation went on for a while longer, mostly revolving around what had happened over thest two weeks. Samuel had more to offer as to what he had been up to than Lena did. He got the feeling thought that it was due to the fact that she still wasn''t allowed to talk about a lot of things with him until after the engagement.
The one thing that he had been hoping to avoid talking with her about, how is target practice and working on his aim was going was the one conversation that she didn''t let slip by. He didn''t have much to say about it though because even though he had been trying, it hadn''t gotten that much better.
Roger had been happy to help him work on it, but his friend was difficult to work with because if he missed too many times, he got impatient about it and tried to show him the best way to aim which didn''t work well for Samuel . No one else though had really wanted to help because they had other things going on since it was summer break now and most of them had graduated so they were more focused on trying to either find a job or figure out what college they were going to go to.
The conversation didn''t have to go on for too long though because he heard a sound that indicated to him that his parents were awake. There was one spot near where the front door was positioned that if anyone walked over it, the floor would make an odd ''creak'' sound that indicated to anyone who was outside the front door that someone was getting ready to open.
Samuel used the opportunity to stop Lena from further expressing her disbelief that he hadn''t gotten much better at all while they were apart.
"That sound probably means my parents are awake now. If you''d like to go in and meeting them, you can." Samuel offered as he stood up. Even if she didn''t want toe inside with him, he needed to go back inside to let his mom at least know where he was before she began to worry about him.
"If you think that they''re going to be alright with me being here this early." She replied with a slight sigh. It wasn''t that she didn''t want to meet them, but rather that she wasn''t use to doing this type of thing and didn''t know what to expect meeting them for the first time.
"It''ll be fine, if anything they''ll probably be surprised that you came so early since no one else was nning oning untilter in the day." He replied as he held out her hand to help her stand up since there wasn''t much to hold onto to help one regain their bnce once they sat down on the porch. She gave a small nod of her head after he had helped her to stand up but didn''t say much else as he opened the front door.
"Oh Sam, I didn''t know you were up already. I thought-" He mother had started, a smile on her face until she realized that her son wasn''t the one only that hade back into the house. A mixed emotion passed over her face, but Lena didn''t take it to me that she was unhappy to see that they were there together.
"Mrs. Foster I take it." Lena offered with a nod of her head. She tried to offer a smile but she knew it was smaller than she meant to be, she wasn''t used to smiling politely at people.
"This is Lena." Samuel exined to his mother who took a few seconds to recover before she began to smile again.
"Lena! So nice to finally meet you. I have heard a lot of good things about you. I''m sorry for myck of manners dear, I hadn''t been expecting anyone to already show up this early." Samuel''s mother apologized as she approached the two. Lena was quickly taken off guard when his mother came in to give her a hug rather than shaking her head. She froze slightly when this happened and Samuel didn''t miss the sh of shocked look that crossed her face.
"Please, make yourself at home. My husband, Sam''s father will be down soon and I''m sure he''ll be excited to meet you as well." His mother told the princess before releasing her from the hug and turning the same thing to her soon while saying ''happy birthday''.
"Thank you." Lena replied, brushing off the shock of what had happened. As she nced at Samuel to try and figure out what she should do next. Without saying anything, he motioned for her to follow her into the living room since he knew that his father would be down soon. He didn''t have work today, but he did need to go out and pick up a few things for the birthday party that his mother wanted to make dinner with but realized that they didn''t have.
When his father dide down, he gave Lena the handshake that she had been expecting to get from Sam''s mother, but said something simr along the lines that she had about hearing good things about her and it being nice to meet her. Their conversation was brief though as he wanted to leave and get back quickly but he assured her that he would like to take more time to talk with her after he was back.
"I look forward to getting to know more about you as well." was the response Lena gave, uncertain as to what else she should say in such a situation. She was happy though to have the reprieve from talking to anyone else after he had left.
While Samuel assumed his mother was making breakfast, he and Lena stayed in the living room where he talked more about his family and exined a few things to her. His younger siblings weren''t up yet, but he knew that there mom would end up waking them before breakfast. He was curious as to how Lena was going to react to them since they were younger than Leo was.
After he felt like it had been longer than usual for it to take his mother to make breakfast, he went into the kitchen to make sure that everything was okay and that she didn''t need help with anything. He stopped not far in the kitchen though when he saw his mother on the phone with a rather stricken look on her pale face.
Chapter 47 - Something Wrong?
Samuel was about to ask his mother what was wrong, but almost as quickly as the shocked look on her face was there, it was gone. She ended whatever call or message she was listening to and set her phone back down on the counter. Turning around she saw that he was there and she smiled at him.
"Sam, is everything okay?" She asked as she went back over to the stove to finish putting breakfast together. She was making hash browns, eggs, and toast with a fresh strawberry jam for breakfast.
??
"That''s what I was just about to ask you." He replied back. She shook her head at him as she flipped the eggs in the skillet.
"Everything is fine. I got a voicemail from a number I didn''t recognize and with familying as well as your father being out, I was worried something might''ve happened but it turned out to just be one of those warranty scam calls." She replied brushing it with a lightugh. Even though she was acting normal now, Samuel wasn''t so quick to believe that was all it had been.
"Okay.. Do you need help with brining anything out?" He asked seeing that she had almost finished cooking everything.
"If you want to start setting the table, your father will probably be back soon." She replied as the toaster went off signaling that thest four pieces of toast were done.
"No problem, I''ll just go get Lena real quick." Samuel replied as he stepped out of the kitchen.
Lena was stilling sitting in the same spot that he had left her in except now she was looking at a small box that had been wrapped in silver wrapping paper with a golden bow on it.
"Breakfast is ready if you want toe into the kitchen while I''m setting the table." He told her causing her to take her attention off of the box and look up at him.
"Where do you want me to put this, or rather, is there a special ce that everyone else will be putting their gifts?" She asked.
"You can give it to my mom if you want, she set everything up so I''m sure she knows where the best ce to keep it is for now until everyone else arrives with their gifts and such." Samuel replied. He was curious as to what kind of gift that she had gotten him or rather was required to bring, but the size of the box told him nothing beyond what the size of the item was.
"Alright." She replied as she stood up, brushing her hair out of her face to keep it from annoying her as she followed Samuel into the kitchen. The princess was mindful to not say anything that mighte across as rude since everything that he and his family did at their house waspletely different from what she grew up being used to.
"Hello dear, you can sit right there if you want. Sam usually sits in the chair next to that one so you can guys can sit together while we eat breakfast." his mother told her as she pointed to a spot at the table where an extra charge had been pulled up."
"Thank you, Mrs. Foster." Lena replied as she took the seat the table. She felt out of ce with Samuel and his mother both taking care of the table while she sat there and did nothing.
"You know Lena dear, you don''t have to address me like that if you don''t want to. You''re going to be my daughter-inw soon so you can address me as mother if you prefer." Something shed in Lena''s eyes when she said this, but neither of them noticed because they weren''t paying attention to her face.
"Thank you, I will keep that in mind." She replied.
"Do I need to wake up my younger siblings?" Samuel had hardly asked the question before thumping could be heard on the stairs and two kids came running down and into the kitchen. They stopped though when they realized that there was someone they didn''t know sitting at the table.
"Stranger danger." The little girl whispered as she she inched her way over to the safety of her mother. Lena raised her eyebrow at this, not certain where the idea of this ''stranger danger'' the little girl said came from me. The boy who appeared to be the slightly older of the two was a bit more bold.
"Who are you?" He asked as he stared at Lena intently. She remembered that Samuel had told her he had siblings, but she didn''t realize that they were so much younger than him.
"Carl, Jessie, this is Lena, she''s my girlfriend." Samuel introduced. He decided to go with girlfriend because he doubted that they would really understand what ''fianc¨¦'' meant. Jessie, the little girl still stood, hiding slightly behind her mother while looking at her older brother.
"You never said anything about having a girlfriend." she told him, though it came out more as ''gillfliend.'' as she was currently missing one of her front teeth.
"That''s because we only just recently started going out." Lena replied as she looked between the two children.
"I''m sorry, this is a little bit different for them, they''re not so used to being around strangers, you''ll have to excuse theirck of manners." Sam''s mother apologized, offering a smile as she tried to encourage her daughter to greet the younger woman.
"Carl, why don''t you greet her first so your sister can see that there''s nothing to worry about?" Sam suggested, knowing that his little sister wasn''t going to be so easy to win over. Carl still looked at the princess suspiciously and she stared back at him with a simrly leveled looked. She wasn''t used to being around kids. Even though her cousins were younger than her, it was still only by three years, not almost ten.
"I''m Carl, you better be nice to my older brother and family." He said, approaching her stiffly before sticking his much smaller hand out for her to shake. She replied by offering him an amused smirk as she shook his hand more gently than she usually did others.
"And I''m Lena. I''m not sure what ideas you have, but being your brother''s girlfriend, I have no reason to not be nice to you your family." Jessie still didn''t seem all that convinced even after her brother had greeted him and took his seat at the table across from her. She wanted to stay close to her mother until she had more time to determine if the stranger poised any threat or not.
Lena didn''t mind this. She would prefer kids who kept their space around her rather having to worry about them being all over her with her not knowing how to handle them. Eventually she was going to have kids, but she would have time before then to understand how to deal with children, plus she would be raising them herself which created a totally different dynamic than this.
Chapter 48 - Party Starts
It wasn''t long after everyone had taken their seat at the table before Samuel''s father returned with the items his wife had requested for the birthday party. His initial expression upon entering the kitchen indicated that he had forgotten that Lena was going to be joining them that morning, but it was only for a brief second before his attention turned to his daughter Jessie whom he could tell wasn''t thrilled about the stranger being with how closely she was sticking to her mother.
"Jessie, it''s okay. There''s nothing to be scared of, she''s going to be family soon." He tried to reason with his daughter who seemed to hardly believe him more than she had her brother and mother. It didn''t stop her from eating, but it was obvious by how quiet she was being that she was cautious of the princess still who was also being to feel ufortable after the meal had started and Sam''s parents began asking questions about her.
She tried her best to be polite as she answered, but she never much enjoyed when the the spotlight was on her and people wanted to talk to her outside of a business setting. She was great at putting on a professional business persona for those times, but in casual settings such as this, she wasn''t quite sure how to deal with it withouting across as rude or short tempered. If she was back home, she wouldn''t care if they thought poorly of her, but her wanted her to be polite and give a good impression since it was her first time meeting Samuel''s family and Zane couldn''t be there himself. She could do her best though if it was just for one day and they didn''t try to ask too many questions that were invasive, which they didn''t thus far.
Once breakfast was over, Lena wasn''t quite sure what to do with the waiting after she had asked Samuel''s mother where the best ce to put her gift was. She had a table that was setup in the far corner of the kitchen that was out of the way that she told her would be space to ce it.
Now that it was gettingter in the morning, it wasn''t going to be long before some of the other guest would be showing up ording to what Samuel had told her and the reason why his mother was getting on some of the smaller preparations that she wanted to have in ce by the time they came, especially the rest of their family that would be there.
Lena would''ve chosen to wait outside if she wasn''t concerned over the fact that would leave her open to being the first person that any guests who arrived would see. Thus, she decided to wait back in the living room where she still felt very out of ce while Sam interacted with his parents as they both worked to getst minute things finished.
The princess was interested in listening to what they were talking about, but was d to not be a part of the conversation for a while. She was aware though that there were two pairs of eyes that were intently watching her while the rest of the adults were preupied. She chose to not recognize their presence though because so far they were only interested in watching her and not trying to interact with her. Plus, she didn''t want to scare the younger of the two more than she already had just by being there. It wouldn''t make a good impression to make a kid cry even if it was on ident.
The sound of the doorbell drew their attention away and seemed to make them excited which indicated to Lena that whomever was there, they expected it to be family that they would be excited to see.
"Lena, could you get that please." Samuel was the one who asked her this and she hadn''t been expecting it.
"Sure." She replied even though she didn''t really want to be tasked with opening the door and greeting people that she didn''t know. She would do it anyways though because it was the polite thing to do as the guest. She took a slow deep breath before she opened the door.
"Wee." She greeted as she opened the door, offering a polite smile to the two women who were on the other side. They seemed a bit perplexed at first to see someone that they didn''t recognize opening the door for them.
"Did wee to early?" The young woman asked as he peeked around Lena''s shoulder as though to see if anyone else was home.
"Not at all. I believe you''re on time. I apologize for theck of introduction. I''m Lena Scarlett." She offered her hand to be shaken. The older of the two was the first one to take it as he spoke.
"Oh, you must be Sam''s girlfriend. I''ve heard a bit about you from my brother-inw." She replied offering a smile "I''m Charlene and this is my daughter Fran." Knowing that they were rted, Lena began to see the simr facial features that the two shared. "My husband John will be here in a moment to introduce himself, he''s just grabbing a few gifts that we brought with us." She told Lena as she moved passed her toe inside. Fran also introduced herself as well, a bit more apprehensively than her mother had, but still with a polite handshake and smile.
"It''s nice to meet you." Lena said to the other two as she held the door open for whom she presumed was John, he could''ve probably gotten the door himself, but the way he was carrying the packages looked rather awkward and unsteady. He thanked her, but didn''t say such as he headed into the kitchen to drop off the gifts and greet the rest of the family with this daughter and wife in tow.
Lena had an idea by the way that John and his family dressed that they came from the more financially fortunate side of the family and were perhaps a touch on the snobbish side because his brother''s family hadn''t been as fortunate. If such was the case, Lena couldn''t see herself getting along well with them. Samuel dide over and thank her for letting them in and apologized for this less warm reception towards her than his parents had had. She shrugged it off though because it didn''t bother her all that much. Plus, both the younger siblings had decided to leave her in favor of their uncle whom they seemed certain must''ve brought something for them as well.
The party had began to get started at this point though as more guests continued to show up over time. The rest mainly being the friends Samuel had invited and two other people that his family were close with in the area. The only person who hade that Lena had recognized was Roger who seemed more surprised to see her than she did to see him. She didn''t offer him anymore of a warm reception than she had anyone else, but at least it seemed like after he and whomever the girl who had apanied him had shown up, that appeared to be the rest of the guests for the time being which meant that Lena was off greeting people at the door and instead found herself being mixed in with the crowd of guests as people had begun to move out of the kitchen and dining room area and into the living room.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 49 - A Lot Of Conversation
It ended up being most of Samuel''s friends who were interested in getting to know Lena more than his Uncle and family had been. His cousin, Fran had been polite and asked a few questions and talked with her at first after everyone else had arrived, but didn''t stick around long before she went back to be near where her family was positioned in the living room.
With the addition of so many people being there, the living room had been shifted around to amodate the numbers by moving the furniture further back in the room and leaving the middle floor open for people to stand and chat. Samuel''s parents were setting it up so eventually they would be moving out towards the back yard area where tables, and grill had been setup. Lena didn''t know much about what a barbeque entailed, but it didn''t sound bad from the way that Roger and Sam had exined it to her, plus being outside meant that there would be more space away from people.
The girl who hade with Roger, Jenifer as the princess had learned her name to be was probably the most interested in her because she was Sam''s fianc¨¦. Not out of jealous or any such thing, but more because she was curious to know what kind of person he ended up with. Her overly inquisitive manner and close proximity didn''t settle well for Lena, but because the other wasn''t beingpletely invasive she tolerated it and managed to answer the questions as best she could without giving too much information away about things they weren''t supposed to know.
Samuel also tried a certain degree to stop too many people from asking her questions at once, most likely due to the fact that he could tell she was obviously ufortable with the situation that she found herself in. Roger picked up on it quicker than any of the others did and petition that they moved out to the back patio where the barbeque was going to take ce since food was going to start being cooked soon anyways.
It was more spacious than Lena had imagined it would be, the cement patio was at least twenty by twenty feet wide. It was covered and held two round tables and a set offortable looking chairs. Off to the side was where the grill was a ced and two metal tables had been set up behind, most likely for where the food and dishes would go. Arge drink dispenser with fruit punch and bottles of two litter soda and tea had been ced along the back of one of the tables for those who wanted to drink.
Being midday, the fresh air was nice though a little bit warm due to the summer heat. Lena didn''t mind it though because it felt easier to breathe outside than it had indoors. She couldn''t deny that Samuel''s parents seemed like nice, caring people. It was a family feeling simr to her own yet different in a certain way she couldn''t exin. It was something that she hadn''t figured out yet if she was going to be able to get used to or not. She knew that she wouldn''t be seeing them often because of her own family situation and the way she lived, but that didn''t mean she intended to keep Samuelpletely away from his family, that wouldn''t be fair to him or them. It would just be a matter of working out a safe situation for both parties.
Samuel''s father and uncle took care of cooking the food while their wives talked and helped to set everything up and made sure everyone knew where the drinks and snacks were ced if they wanted something while waiting for the main course to be served. No one was really interested in drinking however. Roger had actually suggested that they y ball.
Lena wasn''t sure what he had meant by this, even though she had agreed to join because she didn''t mind anything that required moving around. It left less space for people to try and talk with her while she worked on getting morefortable with the current situation.
Roger took the ball first and exined how it worked to Lena. It was basically a modified game of catch that they yed when they didn''t want to go out and do paintball. The goal was to catch or kick the ball to another yer, it didn''t matter which was done, the only rule was that no yer could keep the ball for longer than ten seconds before they had to pass it one to the next person. It could be yed in teams or individual. A yer was out when they missed the pass to them or held the ball longer than ten seconds. It was a definitely a game that caught the princess''s attention.
Since there was ten of them, they decided to y individuals because the space was a little bit tight to spread out too much to make it advantageous to y in teams. Jennifer had decided to join them as well. Passing the ball was done carefully as to not hit it off to the patio or grill where other people were crowded. It didn''t limit the ying field too much however as they were able to go further back since there wasn''t a house located behind Samuel''s which meant they could use that space without worrying about upsetting anyone.
Despite the number of yers, the matches ended up being rather quick either because people didn''t have a good grasp on the ten second count as they got ready to shoot or others would miss the ball. Lena lost the first time exactly because of the ten second count and trying to figure out the best yer to aim for if she wanted a chance to get someone out of the game.
She didn''t mind this though as it gave her a chance to observe from behind the scenes to get a grasp on how everyone else yed. Samuel was actually better at ying this than he was paintball because it was more straight forward and quick paced than paintball was plus it was easier to see where everyone was because movements were limited in this game. Jennifer dropped out after the third game as her aim wasn''t that great and many times the boys ended up hitting it past where she was quick enough to catch it so she just ended up sitting further back and watching them y until food was called and it was time for everyone to take a break.
Samuel found it interesting that even though they weren''t ying a match game, Lena hardly aimed to hit towards him during the game unless she needed too or thought it would be more advantageous for her. He also noticed thatpetitiveness between Roger and Lena hadn''t died down either. Although, it might''ve been more one-sided with the jock as the princess didn''t really seem interested in focusing on him as her target the same way that he did her.
Either way, the game had been a great way to burn energy and everyone was rather tired and hot after ying and thus had to go and wash their hands and faces before they were to be served. The momentary cool air from inside was a nice reprieve from the hot outside that they would soon be returning to.
So far, aside from therge amount of questions and conversation that Lena had been a part of, it hadn''t been a bad day for experiencing something that she wasn''t used to. It wasn''t something that she could see herself doing often, but perhaps something they could work in in the future of Samuel wanted to be able to spend more time with his family if they ended up moving closer.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 50 - Gifts
The food wasn''t what Lena was used to eating, but couldn''t deny that it tasted good. It had been years since her own family had done something like this that she had almost forgotten what grilled food tasted like. The princess had opted for eating a hot dog over a burger as she felt that it was more manageable considering the limited seating and people being rather pushed together than eating a burger would''ve been. Along with the hotdog, she found her te being filled with small portions of potato, macaroni, and pasta sd by Sam''s mother as she made im that Lena should eat more and not worry about taking too much because there was plenty to go around.
She had found herself seated between Sam and aunt which was a slightly ufortable seating situation for her as she wasn''t found of the other woman who seemed to not know how to feel about the princess either. She was a modestly polite woman, but she didn''t care much for the fact that it was Samuel''s birthday party. Nor was interested in getting to know Lena who was her nephew''s fianc¨¦ or even the fact that he was engaged. The little queen had already made a mental note that if it came to them getting married, she was going to remember to not invite this part of Samuel''s family. Only his parents and younger siblings would be allowed toe.
The only satisfaction she got when it came to sitting next the other woman was the look of utter shock on her face when Lena inserted herself into a conversation around business management and had no problem keeping up with the conversation and understanding what John whom Charlene had been bragging about was discussing. John seemed to take it better than his wife did that the Princess knew what he was talking about. Perhaps because his wife enjoyed his sess but didn''t actually take much interest in what he actually did with the business he owned.
Samuel was probably the only one who didn''t seem at that surprised by the various knowledge that Lena had despite how young she was. He had gotten the opportunity to hear about it first hand when he was spending the week with her. Even if there was were parts he still didn''t know about. The legitimate work world that she lived in he had heard some about.
The rest of the meal was directed more towards Samuel by his family and as friends as Charlene had be more quiet once she realized that perhaps there were other people just as impressive as her husband within the family. His parents even seemed to be a certain amount thankful that she had quieted down so that the focus could return to their son, the whole reason why the party was being thrown in the first ce.
After eating, they decided to move back inside where it was a little cooler and they could y games that didn''t require so much moving around. Samuel got ultimate choice over what was yed since it was his birthday. Lena didn''t decide to join in though because of the number of people who wanted to y would''ve required her to be bunched even more closely with people than they had been outside. Instead, she chose to stand back with her ss of punch and watch others y. Since it was only mid afternoon, there was a bit of time before gifts would open which was what Lena was really waiting for.
For some reason, her father had requested that she take a picture once Sam had opened the gift she had brought with her. She kind of had an idea why he was asking this, but she didn''t quite see the point as her father would be able to take any picture that he wanted once Sam hade back to live with them again. She supposed though it wouldn''t capture the same level of surprise that woulde from him first opening it.
They yed an array of games ranging from, Janga and trivia to scrabble, decrypto, and tsuro. Some of the games Lena had never heard before but they seemed from her perspective to be ones that were more enjoyable to watch from background first before joining in. Between how quick some games were to how slow others were and yers swapping around depending on the game, she lost track of how long she had been standing back and watching.
"Thank you Lena dear foring. Sam may not say it himself, but I''m sure he''s really thankful that you were considerate enough toe all this way for his birthday." Lena was again caught off guard by the gentle hand that was ced on her shoulder by Sam''s mother.
"It really isn''t that big of a deal. I don''t think it''s an unfair thing to do in return for him staying with us for most of a week. Thank you for having me on such short notice." The princess replied with a slight shrug.
She was honestly surprised that despite the situation, Sam''s parents were being as warm as they were to her despite the circumstances. She doubted that there were many people who enjoyed giving their children ''away'' under such circumstances and even though her father had helped them out financially, it didn''t mean that they were required to be as kind as they were being. It wasn''t like she would call for their heads to roll if they were cold or harsh towards her. She wasn''t quite the type of person.
"No, really, it is a big thing because I get at least one chance to meet the person that Sam''s been engaged to thest eighteen years so I can see for myself what type of person they are." She patted Lena on the shoulder as she finished speaking. Turning to face the princess, she looked as though there was something else that she wanted to say to her, but ended not stopping because Roger did a call for the gifts to be open because he was getting impatient with howte it was getting and really wanted his friend to see the gift that he had gotten for him. Thus, his mom went over to help tidy everything up and help her husband and John bring the gifts in. Lena didn''t get a chance to ask but she hoped that her gift would be one of thest ones that was opened because she felt like it was something that would be better opened towards the end after most if not all the other gifts were opened.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 51 - Tradition
Many of the gifts that Sam got were practical ones such as books, clothes, a new wrist watch which came from his uncle and aunt so it was a bit pricy. His parents had gotten him more sentimental items such as a three picture frame that held one picture from his graduation and two from other moments with this parents that they knew meant a lot to him. They also got him a keychain that read ''Family is always with you'' along with a few other items they thought he might need moving into live with Lena.
The gifts his friends got him were a touch less practical but still greatly appreciated by him. Roger had gotten a gift card pass to the paintball ce he had taken Lena to and it was no small sum of money he had put on it either. His other friends also got him new paintball gear, headphones, swiss army knife, and then someone had apparently thought it would be a good idea to get him a lock picking set as well among some of the other gifts.
Samuel was as Lena had anticipated, graciously thankful for all the gifts that he had gotten if it seemed to her that some of them might not have been his ideal gift, he didn''t show it.
When it came time to open her gift, he looked over and gave her a smile as he began to unwrap the bow on the top of the box with everyone watching him. Reluctantly she pulled out her phone so that she could take a picture of him for her father. She was beginning to feel a little ufortable as he got closer to unwrapping the gift as she knew she would have to exin the tradition to Sam and his family since his father wasn''t here to do as male head of the mafia usually did this.
Samuel didn''t know what to expect when Lena told him that she was going to be brining him a gift, but he certainly wasn''t expecting the two rings that were neatly nestled in the box. One was a silver ring with a scorpion emblem that held a red gem and the other was rose gold ring with a dove design with a small diamond in the middle of the dove''s back. He was speechless to say the least as both rings looked as though they cost more than a pretty penny. A lot of noises of surprise came from his friends and family when they got a glimpse at the two rings. His younger siblings were a bit put out as they were too short to see what all the excitement was about.
Somehow despite themotion, she managed to get some pictures of Samuel''s initial reaction that she thought her father would appreciate.
"I don''t know what to say?" He told her as he looked up at the princess not really sure how he should respond to the gift.
"You don''t need to say anything, it''s tradition in our family for the parents'' rings to go to the first born when they are engaged. Usually it''s the first son who receives them, but things are a bit backwards this time around." Lena exined as she came closer.
"We might have to get them fitted for the correct size before we can wear them though. My father didn''t want to ruin the surprise so we couldn''t get them checked before you left." She told him as she took the box from him.
"Hold out your left hand." She told him as she took the silver ring, it was traditional for the male to usually put the ring on the woman''s finger, but since everything was reverse, she didn''t mind doing this despite everyone watching them.
Samuel felt a bit self-conscious as he held out his left hand for her put the ring of his ring finger. It was honestly probably one of the only times that she touched him with such a soft and gentle touch as she fit the ring on his finger. Lena made a ''hm'' noise when she saw that it almost fit perfectly on his finger. It wouldn''t need to have much of an adjustment to be a perfect fit.
"Do you mind if I put the other one on you?" he asked, looking up at her as he picked up the other ring. The princess nodded rather than replying with words as she held out her hand for him to take and put the ring on. He handled putting it on her hand with the same gentleness that she had done with him. Unlike his ring though, this one would need a much bigger adjustment as it was far more loose on Lena''s ring finger. Thus, he took it off and put it back in the box, knowing she would probably prefer for it to stay there rather than risk losing it.
As the princess looked down at the ring in the box, he saw something that looked like hurt pass over Lena''s face before it vanished a secondter and she motioned for him to hold out his hand so that she could take off his ring and put it back in the box as well.
"My family has a friend who would be willing to help get the rings adjusted some time after this week if you would like." Lena told Samuel as she put the top back on the box, but didn''t remove it from hisp.
"Okay, we can figure that out when we get back." Samuel replied with a nod of his head.
"Do you guys already have a date nned for the wedding? You both seem so serious and are moving all this along rather quickly." Charlenemented as she looked between the two.
"It won''t be for six months at least." Lena replied as she nced at his aunt. She got the feeling that the woman just wanted to know so that she could have something to brag about in her social circle. Too bad for her that she wasn''t going to be invited to the wedding or the engagement party for that matter. The princess''s phone buzzed in her pocket which let her know that her father had gotten the pictures that she had sent him.
While Lena was distracted checking her phone to see what he had replied with. She missed Roger shooting Samuel a thumbs up as a way to say ''good job!'' in response to the engagement rings. He just rolled his eyes at the Jock though he couldn''t help but smile.
His nerves hadn''t gotten any better over time, but when things like this happened, it made it fall all that much real to him that they were moving towards getting married. He wondered though what the next six months would be like if they were going to be living together. Certain things were expected to change he presumed, but he what he was most interested in knowing was if there was any certain tradition about what should happen during the engagement period that he hadn''t heard about yet.
Putting her phone back, she realized that while most everyone was talking to Sam about what was going on with this sudden engagement and what it meant for him, his mother was looking at her rather fondly.
"You''re going to be joining us for Cake and dinner, right? I know that takes a few hours for you to get back home, but we have an empty guestroom you''re more than wee to use if you would like to stay the night." She offered the little queen who shook her head in response to the offer.
"That''s very kind of you, but I really need to be leaving soon. I would normally ept such a gracious offer, but there is some work that I need to attend to early in the morning with my father that I can''t bete for." She exined. She didn''t want to be rude, but she really did have work that she needed to get done. She had already spent far more time at the party than she had intended to.
Hearing this, Samuel''s mother motioned for him toe over. She wanted him to at least walk her out to the door as she felt he would probably prefer to see her off rather than her leave unannounced. The princess didn''t think that there was any need for this because he seemed to be enjoying talking with everyone else.
Sam was happy to do it however. Walking her to the door, he stepped outside with her because he wanted to be able to talk without his family or anyone else interrupting them.
"You''ll have to thank you for father for me. I Really wasn''t expecting that kind of gift." Sam told her he handed her back the small box. He felt like it would be safer for him to keep it with him.
"It''s more of a traditional than birthday style gift so there isn''t really anything to thank him for him, but I''ll let him know what you said anyways." The princess replied as she took the box back.
"When will I bing back to stay with you again?" Sam then asked as he began to walk down the steps of the front porch.
"When you text me and say that you''re done with the birthday celebrations. Soter this week probably." She replied turning back to face him. "Clive will probably fetch you though as my father will have things he will want to be done in preparation for how busy things will be getting."
"For the next six months after that then?" He rified. She nodded with a shrug.
"Something like that. There''ll be a lot to do during that time though so it won''t be that bad." She paused after she spoke before she turned and walked back so that she was standing in front of the other again.
Without him having a chance to realize what she was nning, the princess leaned up and pulled his face down towards her as she gave him a short yet deep kiss.
"Happy birthday Chickadee." She told him in a low voice before she pulled away and turned around to leave. Sam felt his face heat up and was rather d that his family wasn''t there to see what had just happened.
Chapter 52 - Is She For Real?
Samuel watched Lena walk away until he couldn''t see her and used that time topose himself before he went to head back inside. Looking up at the sky as he turned to go back inside, he realized that were few hours left before it would start to get dark. This meant that Lena would most likely not get back home until after dark. He would have to remember to text herter to make sure that she made it home safely unless she texted him first.
As soon as he opened the door and stepped back inside to the living room and turned around after shutting the door, Samuel became very aware of all the people looking at him expectantly. He could tell by their faces that not everyone had believed him when he said that the princess was his fianc¨¦. Only his parents, Roger, and Jenifer didn''t seem that surprised as they knew the most about the situation. His cousin was probably the most surprised.
"Is she for real?" His cousin was the first one to break the silence. His parents had done a good job of keeping the whole affair a secret from his father''s side of the family because they felt that the reaction they would receive for what they decided to do wouldn''t be a favorable one.
"I did say she was my fianc¨¦ and I don''t have a reason to lie about it." was the simple response that he gave as he headed back towards the kitchen. It was almost time for dinner and the cake but he knew that it would be better for him to clean up the mess that had been created when he was opening his gifts. He cousin asked him a few more questions about her seeming as though she was having a hard time believing that her younger cousin was truly engaged. Especially to a young woman who seemed like she must''vee from a fairly well to do family.
The questions ranged from asking where she lived, what her names was, how did they meet, when was he going to tell them, how long had they been dating in secret and many other simr questions that blended together.
His father decided to step in when it became more than just his cousin asking questions and his friends wanted to know more about the mysterious girl was well. He had purposely at the time left out telling those who had yed paintball with him that she was his fianc¨¦ because he wasn''t yet sure what was going to end up happening between them.
"Come now, it''s Sam''s birthday. there''ll be plenty of time to ask him questionster, but for now lets just enjoy the rest of the night." He pped his hands to get everyone''s attention so that they would let his son be. The other smiled appreciatively at his father as he helped to clean up the wrapping paper and sort his gifts.
Samuel didn''t really have a problem with answering any of the questions that his friends had about his rtionship with the princess. He just really needed to talk with her first and probably his parents so that he coulde up with a fairly convincing story that didn''t give away what actually was going on. In this respect, Lena had it easier because her whole family knew why they were getting married.
He couldn''t deny feeling a certain amount of relief now that she was gone. Things had gone better than he had expected and she had even managed to keep herself fairly well put together and didn''t go off on anyone even though he could tell that most of the time she felt rather ufortable with everything was going on. He particrly hadn''t missed the odd way that she had acted around his mother.
Taking up some of the gifts to his room, he couldn''t help but wonder if the little queen''s reaction to his mother had anything to do with the fact that Lena''s own mother never was around during the whole five days he had been with her.
He had wanted to ask Lena about this, but there never seemed to be the right time to bring up the question and the fact that she never spoke of her mother herself and that Zane had never brought up his wife made him think that maybe it was a question better left unasked for the time being. Plus, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future to find out what was going on with her mother after they were engaged.
Even though he knew that he would probably be leaving again in the next few days, he made sure to put everything away neatly before heading back out to get ready for dinner. He didn''t want to misce something and forget where he put it when it was time to leave. He wouldn''t have a chance to pack anything tomorrow as he knew that he and his family would most likely be going up to visit his grandparents so that they could celebrate his eighteenth birthday with him since this year it wasn''t safe for them to make the trip even though they only lived an hour away. His grandfather never wanted to admit it, but with each passing year as he got older, it became harder for him to drive.
Once he was back in the kitchen he saw that everything else had already been cleaned up and the table had been set for dinner. Since there were far more guests than usual and the table was a touch too small to fit everyone, chairs had been brought over so that some of the guests could sit and eat near the table with their tes on theirp.
His uncle, aunt, and cousin decided to leave before dinner as they had a bit of a trip to travel back home and wanted to back before it got dark. Samuel gave each of them a hug and thanked them again for the gift anding. He also had to promise his cousin before she left that he would make time to call or meet up with her in the near future to tell him about Lena and when he got engaged.
He would deal withter, but right now he was going to enjoy the rest of the night with his family and friends. Mostly though, he was just looking forward to the cake as it was one of his favorite sweets to eat. If it survived over the next few days, he would have to remember to take a piece for Lena to try since she didn''t stayte enough to have any. He was certain that she would probably love it as well.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 53 - Preparations
On the ride back home, Lena mildly regretted her decision to not take up her father''s advice to ask Clive to drop her off at Samuel''s house and then stay at a nearby hotel so that he could take her back home when she was ready to go back home. She was feeling rather tired and still had four more hours of driving left. At least being on her motorcycle meant that she could rely on the differing temperatures and wind to a certain degree to help her stay awake. The only annoying part would be driving after dark when others on the road in cars were not always so considerate towards those who were on motorcycles.
And if it wasn''t for the fact that she really did have an important meeting that she need to attend with her father the following morning, she honestly would''ve probably just slept in the guestroom at Sam''s house, but now that it was getting closer to her officially taking over her father''s role, she couldn''t afford to miss such meetings if she was to expect everyone else to take her seriously.
Many of the members in the outer alliances who were not as close to the family were still under the impression that it was some type of joke that Zane intended to put his daughter as the head of the Red Scorpions over his son even though he was the second born. Of course, few would openly question his decision when either he or Lena was present, but the disapproving murmurings still reached their attention because those who were more loyal had no problem reporting it to Lena''s father.
It wasn''t a subject that her or her father had talked about between themselves mostly because he knew that his princess wasn''t going to change her mind about taking over just because some people were displeased with the idea of having to rely on a woman to lead them. There were many ways after all to take care of those who broke loyalties or showed that they could not be trusted.
It was a worry for ater time however, because Lena knew that once she got back there were certain preparations that she needed to get in order before Samuel would being back to live with them again. The engagement party wouldn''t be held for another few weeks, probably in the fall as there were certain items in ce that they needed to get in order. Outside of this, the princess was also going to have to get ready to what her brother had begun to jokingly refer to and others family members had picked up as ''take your fianc¨¦ to work day''.
With the engagement bing official now. One thing Lena was nning on doing was getting Sam familiar with the legal side of the businesses that they ran. With work picking up, the little queen herself was going to have to spend more time in office and she felt that it couldn''t hurt to have Samuel familiar with where she worked for days when it ended up being safer for her to bring him with her rather than for him to stay at home.
Plus, there was probably something or other that he could take part in while he was there. She didn''t quite know what he would interested in doing, but it didn''t seem out of line to her for him to be a part of their legal business process since he would be taking over with her.
Normally it would''ve been her brother would be working with her, but in this case, it seemed as though he was considering other ns that didn''t go along with this line. He was only sixteen still so there was time for ns to change, but after being in Ennd for a few years, it seemed as though he had turned his attention towards something different that had interested him rather than working with his sister.
When it came to Sam, she trusted her entirely family not to do anything with him, she didn''t trust however his own naivety as to what he was getting into and his inability to protect himself should something unexpected happen. A training schedule was something else that she was going to have to get in ce as well. Even if it was something that she was going to have to watch over herself, she wouldn''t let the little chickadee remain unable to protect himself for too long if she had any say in it. She would have to figure out though what approach would be best to work with him since using a gun didn''t seem to be something he could pick up as easily as she had been hoping for.
Thinking back to Samuel''s parents, she still felt a bit odd about the fact that they were much more weing and warmer towards her than she had expected them to be. Certainly, she also hadn''t been as stand-offish as she usually was with other people, mostly because she knew her father would reprimand her if she dared to be disrespectful on her first meeting with her soon-to-be inws. However, it was also how kind Samuel''s parents had been that made it easier for her to be mindful of how she came across and interreacted with them.
His extended family was another story though. While she didn''t his cousin, Fran so much mostly because they didn''t interact that much, she didn''t feel very favorable towards Charlene and John. It was one thing to unt power and status when there was a rivalry going on and to make someone else understand their position, but in such a situation where it was evident that Samuel''s parents weren''t trying topete with his uncle and aunt, it just became a distasteful disy of arrogance. Mostly on the part of Charlene though.
"Google, call James for me please." She told her phone after a few seconds of musing. She had an idea that might fix this family problem that was bothering her.
"Calling James." The phone replied back. Thankfully she didn''t have to listen to the ringing of the phone for too long before someone picked up.
"This is James at your service.". He was her personal secretary though she didn''t often bother him for much as she preferred to take care of everything herself to make sure that it was done correctly. What she wanted however was something that he would be better equipped to look into and could get onto faster than she would currently be able to anyways.
"Hello, James. I know it''s ratherte tonight, but I Have a favor that I would like to ask you." The princess told the man.
"Princess! How nice to hear from you, I thought you had today so I wasn''t expecting a call from you." The man indeed did sound rather surprised to hear from her.
"What can I do for you this evening?" He inquired trying to sound more professional.
"There''s something that I would like you look into for me actually.." She told him before giving the name of John''spany that he owned.
"I want you to tell me where they''re located and if it would be too far out of line for us to look into absorbing them into the rest of our businesses in say the next few months?" She told him, waiting for a reply as she could hear him taping away on hisputer, most likely making a note of what she was asking him to do.
"Certainly, miss. When would you like me to have this report ready by?" He asked.
"Wednesday would be fine. You can email it to me and I will look over it." She replied smirking to herself. It might work, though if it did, she would have to exin it to her father and see what his opinion was.
"Understood miss. I will get on it first thing tomorrow and will have it to you in no time." He replied, knowing better than to ask why.
"Good." Lena replied back before she ended the call. That was one less thing now that she had to worry about finding a solution to. It would be handled in apletely legal way as well. If his uncle agreed, there would be a decent sum ofpensation for letting them take over his business and of course, he would still stay in charge of it, he would just have to report to her. If he didn''t easily agree, well there were still legal ways to handle that as well that wouldn''t cause unnecessary trouble.
It was also something that the little queen would probably have to mention to Samuel as well. He might not be thrilled to hear about it second hand from someone else, especially if he got the wrong idea about how it was handled. She of course didn''t have any intentions of hurting his family, but that didn''t mean that she couldn''t take measures to put some of them in their ce for such behavior that she disapproved of.
Chapter 54 - It Has Been Nice
Lena did text Samuel back when he messaged her to make sure that she had gotten home safely, he however hadn''t seen it until the next morning because it came at a ratherte time of night. He wasn''t sure if that was because she had just seen his message or if she really did end up getting back home thatte?
He had been up ratherte the prior night himself. After his extended family had left, things ended up rxing a bit more and he really enjoyed the rest of his birthday party with his friends and parents. Dinner and cake were even more amazing than he had expected them to be. He couldn''t thank his mom enough for all the effort she had gone in making it for him.
The only thing that would''ve made it better for him was if he had been able to sleeping in more the following morning considering howte everyone was up for the previous night. However, he couldn''t because his grandparents were impatient to celebrate with him and his grandmother had gone to the trouble of making her own cake and birthday breakfast that neither he nor his parents could make them wait any longer than the drive up there took.
His younger siblings were upset that they didn''t get to since they had school that day, but Samuel promised them that he would see if he could bring back some of the cake with him for them to share that night. His parents would''ve taken Jessie and Carl if they were going to be there toote, but they only nned on staying until the afternoon as his father couldn''t much more time than that off from work before his time off would be without pay.
The drive to his grandparents cottage wasn''t as bad as the drive back and forth to where Lena lived since unlike her, they only lived over an hour and a half away. They were both retired and enjoying life on the outskirts of a small town where there wasn''t too much noise and they could enjoy the everyday peace.
They used to own a muchrger house, but eventually as they got older, they sold it off to afford the small two room cottage they currently upied. It was just the right size for them and less daunting to take care of.
Samuel was the first one to knock on the door as he knew his grandmother would want to give him a huge hug as soon as she saw him. at 75, she still had a lot of strength despite her small size to give him a strong hug. He couldn''t hide the smile on his face as he knocked on the door and heard his grandmother calling that she would be there to get in ''just a minute''.
Even though he had braced himself for it, he still wasn''t ready for the huge hug that his grandmother gave him the moment she opened the front door and saw who it was.
"I love you too grandma." He said with augh as she let him go so that she could give him a good look over.
"You don''t look like you''ve grown that much since thest time I saw you, are you sure you just turned 18?" She asked scrutinizing him to see what might''ve changed since shest saw him.
"It''s only been a few months since Ist saw you. At most, I might''ve grown an extra half inch since youst saw me." He chuckled as she poked his ribs, a sign that she probably thought he was losing weight. Even though he really wasn''t that thin, because of his height, his grandmother was always under the impression that he was too thin and not eating enough to stay healthy.
Once she was satisfied with giving her grandson a good look over and another hug, she turned her attention to her son and wife, each of whom she also gave a hug to.
"Grandpa is still inside waiting in the living room for you. He has our gifts and didn''t want to bother moving them or getting up to see you since you would being in soon anyways." She informed them as she held open the door so that they coulde inside. Samuel knew that this meant he should go and head to the living room to see his grandfather.
He gave his grandson a hug as well, but it wasn''t quite as tight as the one his wife had given Samuel. Their brown tabby cat Muffin was also happy to see him. He rubbed against his legs before looking up at him and meowing as though to ask if he had anything for the feline. He of course didn''t, but he leaned down to give the cat a few pets before the other left once it realized there would be no food for it.
The gifts that his grandparents had gotten him were a new ck wallet that was small but sturdy and held more than enough spaces for his cards and lose cash as well as a lope for him to hang a keychain on that could hold his keys. They had also gotten him some ties and a new pair of shoes. His grandmother insisted on the ties and shoes as she thought that they woulde in good use for him when he went to college. First impression mattered after all.
Once he had thanked them for the gifts and they spent a short time catching up, his grandmother shoed them over to the dining room table where the food had already beenid out but carefully covered. She had crepes, scones, with hash browns. After seeing the breakfast spread and knowing that there would still be cake toe, he knew that his sweet tooth would probably be hurting after today and he wouldn''t want to eat anything else sweet for quite some time. Good thing that he knew someone else who he was certain would be happy to help him eat the extra shares he was certain he would sent home with.
He couldn''t deny that it had been a really nice time however. Maybe to some it wouldn''t have been the most ideal 18th birthday party, but considering everything, Samuel didn''t have anything toin about.
He was going to miss these type of family asions now that he was going to be staying with Lena for a longer period of time when he left again. Her family was nice and all and it was enjoyable for the table to always be full at least when they ate dinner, but it didn''t hold the same type of warm intimacy that he grew up being used to with his own family. The two family rtionships couldn''t bepared.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 55 - No Surprises, No Cake
"No." Lena told her younger brother for this sixth time as she sat in the sunroom going over some business rted paperwork that needed her attention. She didn''t even have to look up from what she was doing to know that the other was pouting.
"What''s wrong with holding a surprise party, I''m certain he would appreciate it." Leo tried to reason with his older sister again even though he knew that he hardly held her attention.
"Just because you weren''t able to be there doesn''t justify a reason to hold a surprise birthday party for him." Lena replied as she flipped over another page, setting it down, she grabbed her ck pen and signed on the appropriate line. One of these days once everything as more organized, she was going to get someone she could trust to read the documents to her and sign for her. One never knows how tedious it is to sign paperwork until they have to go over at least a hundred pieces of paper in one morning.
"That''s not the only reason I want to do it though. I want to do it because he''s soon going to be a member of the family and what better way to great him when hees back? Ryan I''m sure wouldn''t have a problem putting some food together and a cake-" Leo continued to argue causing the princess to stop what she was doing and fix her younger brother with a hard stare.
"I highly doubt that after thest two days Sammy-boy is going to be wanting anything to do with the cake for the next year from what he''s told me." Leo frowned at this.
"Did his mother make him that much cake to eat?" He asked.
"And his grandmother as well apparently. I think he also said that some of his friends who couldn''t be there on his actual birthday took him out to celebrate as well and got him something sweet, a sundae or something I believe." Lena replied.
"Wow. I think you''re about the only person who could handle that much sweets without getting sick." Hemented, rather surprised that Samuel had to eat so many sweets in such a short period of time.
"You can see why I am saying no then to anything that you''re proposing to do." The princess told her younger brother who still wasn''t convinced that should be enough to equate her answering being a no.
"Then we can still do something minus the cake or maybe food at all." He suggested causing the other to sigh in annoyance.
"No cake, no surprised. Nothing of the sort. You can wish him a happy birthday if you want when he gets you and say you''re sorry that you couldn''t be there, but I think he''d prefer if you let him be since he''ll be having to adjust back to everything again. Plus he will be busy with me anyways and father." The little queen pursed her lips when he phone began to ring. She already knew that it was going to be the tailor calling. Thanks to her father, he was already looking to set up an appointment date to get Samuel fitted for the suit that he would wearing for the engagement party.
"You really don''t know how to have fun at all do you?" Leo went back to pouting again. He still didn''t understand why his older sister was averse to doing something thought would be a nice surprise, especially since it was for her soon-to-be fianc¨¦.
"This and that are two different things. No shoo unless you have something else important that you want to talk with me about. I need to take this call before I missing them and fatheres back around to ask me why they called him instead of talking to me directly." Lena hissed at him before answering the phone in her typical business tone.
Leo stuck his tongue out at his sister as he got up from the chair he had been sitting in. Lena didn''t break stride from her answers to the tailor on the other end of the phone, but she did fix her younger brother a cold re in response to his childish behavior.
Realizing that it was unlikely that the conversation was going to go much further no matter how much he bugged his sister about it, he decided to leave the sun room as there was work of his own that he needed to focus on. Later he woulde back and bug her again. He kind of wanted to know what was up because he noticed that she seemed a little bit different since she came back the other day from visiting Samuel''s family for this birthday.
The princess had of course denied that anything was wrong because she didn''t believe that she was behaving any different from usual or that if she was, it was because now that the engagement was bing official, she had a lot of work to do. Because Leo was the only who pointed it out to her, she also didn''t give it much heed since he always seemed to think that there was something or other going on with her when her behavior was ever so slightly different from normal.
Thus, Lena blew it off as her brother being his typical hyper analytical self. She believed that if there was actually anything serious going on or if she was behaving too out of the ordinary, her father would''ve alreadye and talked with her about it to find out what was wrong.
Once the call was over and she had given the tailor a couple of dates that would work having already cleared it with Samuel ahead of time knowing that they would both have to be present for the appointment, she proceeded to text the other that they were picking out the date and the tailor would be calling again the next day to do a final confirmation over which date would be best for them.
This was just one of the many things that she still had to make sure was together though. It would still be a while before they held the engagement party, but having all the pieces done way ahead of time would make it easier when the actual time came.
For the immediate future though, her focus was on getting through the rest of the paperwork in front of her and making sure her brother hadn''t gotten the idea in his head to throw some type of party for Samuel anyways even though she had already told him it wouldn''t be a good idea. She didn''t think that an almost two year age difference would really impact the difference in their level of maturity so much, but in the case of her and her brother- it seemed as though it had made quite a difference.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 56 - Still Different
Samuel took one extra day to be with this parents before he knew that he was going to have to head back to live with Lena and her family. Even though he knew it was still going to feel different than being around his family, he wasn''t as nervous about it as before. He also noticed that his parents didn''t seem as stressed out over the matter either. He had hoped that meeting Lena would take some of the stress away from them worrying about him.
Jessie and Carl were the ones who were having a hard time with it because this time his parents had tried to exin to them why their older brother would be going away for such a long time. Jessie especially threw a fit because she still had the impression in her mind that Lena wasn''t a safe person for her brother to be around. Samuel managed to bribe her into trusting him however by agreeing that if she was good and trusted him that everything would be okay, he not only leave behind one of the extra pieces of cake for her to have all to herself, but also that when they came to visit for a party that would be being thrown soon, he would make sure that the chef made them something special.
This did the trick and she almost instantly calmed down and stopped crying beyond a few sniffles. Carl wasn''t as easy to convince, but he didn''t throw as big of a bit being the older one of the two and having a slightly better understand of the situation at hand. He didn''t want his older brother to go, but he understood that the other had already made the choice and that it wasn''t a forever forever thing, just a near future arrangement.
The second surprise that came to Samuel when it was time to leave was that the person who hade to pick him up wasn''t Clive, but a rather young looking man by the name of Jeff. Who apologized for the sudden change of n and exined that Clive had a family matter to attend to and couldn''t pick up the young sir that morning and he instead was tasked with the job.
Jeff looked to be near thirty with messy ck hair and of a slightly shorter yet leaner build than Clive was. He wore sses and had a small goatee but despite being younger, he maintained the same professional and polite air that Clive had when he first picked him up and helped Samuel load his items into the trunk of the car without even being asked to.
"It''s nothing serious that''s wrong, is it?" Samuel asked when they were both in the vehicle and he was buckled up before Jeff started the car up.
"It''s nothing to worry about young Sir. His miss is unexpectedly pregnant and because of her age, the doctor is wanting to be extremely careful for both her and the child''s sake. She''s six weeks out and was admitted to the hospitaltest night for concern that she might be in pre-termbor." Jeff exined as they pulled out. Samuel waved once more at his parents before they were out of sight.
"Oh." Was all he could say. He didn''t remember any indication that she could be pregnant when he interacted with her the week he was staying with everyone. Though he supposed pregnancy wasn''t as obvious for some as it was others.
"It shouldn''t be anything serious, but he will probably be off duty or on decreased tasks until everything is stable or the miss has given birth." Jeff exined.
"I hope that everything turns out okay for them." Samuelmented. He felt slightly lessfortable with this new person who was driving him back. He had gotten used to Clive and was looking forward to that familiarity during the long drive.
"As do the rest of us young Sir. Clive doesn''t say much about himself, but he''s one of the few main family employees who has been serving the Red Scorpions for a few generations now. I can''t tell exactly when they came under their services but I know for sure it has been for at least thest four generations." Samuel was surprised to hear this.
"So that''s why he has such a heavy presence within the estate?" he rified, Jeff nodded his head.
"Precisely. Not many people get to live in the main estate unless they are trusted by Zane himself or serve an important purpose by staying there. Other members such as myself live in the estate that is set aside for the rest of the staff and employees that work with the Red Scorpions. Don''t get me wrong, Sir Zane is a very generous leader who makes sure that we are all well provided for. It''s just that most people don''t noticed unless they live in the main estate." All that information soundedplicated to Samuel.
"Unless you want silence young Sir, please feel free to talk or ask any questions. I am aware of what I can and not disclose to you as of yet as well as the schedule that the Princess has been setting up for your return."
"Schedule?" Samuel asked confused, he hadn''t heard anything about a schedule from Lena before now.
"Yes young sir. I believe it''s an engagement preparation schedule among a number of other things. You have some appointments that you will be needing to go as well and discussions with her as to what should ur for the engagement. I believe Sir Zane will be part of those conversations as well. I believe that there is another schedule that the Princess is working on as well. I was only briefly caught up on what was urring, Clive would''ve been better equipped with more information to answer such questions." Jeff did his best to exin though a bit apologetically as he couldn''t provide a clear answer to the question.
"It''s okay, it''s not your fault that you got assigned to this position without much prior notice. I can ask her about it once we get there. I do have a few other questions I want to ask before we reach there though. I don''t think it''s anything that you shouldn''t be able to answer, just some stuff I have been curious about." Samuel told the other who nodded his head slightly to let him know that he was listening since he couldn''t turn to look at him while driving.
"Ask away and I will do my best to answer. Anything I can''t, I will direct you to ask the Princess herself." Jeff replied. Samuel actually had a lot of questions that he wanted to ask, but he was certain most were rted to things that he wasn''t cleared to know about yet.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 57 - Impatient
Lena knew that since it was Jeff who was not familiar with the route to and from this estate to Samuel''s house that it would take him longer than it would''ve taken Clive to go and pick up the other, but the time difference was making her impatient.
Samuel had texted her to let her know that he was about an hour out ording to Jeff - meaning that he would again be in time for dinner. However, it had been over an hour since he had sent her that message and she had yet to see or hear any sign that they had arrived.
It wasn''t that she was worried that anything had happened to the little chickadee himself, more that she was worried Jeff would end up getting lost despite using the navigation device and would end up arriving farter than they had been scheduled to be.
Even though it was hot, she was determined to sit outside and wait for their arrival, quite a different approach than she had taken when Samuel had firste to stay with them. She could''ve waited inside the guest hall and it might''ve been a better idea considering the heat was most likely contributing to making her more annoyed with each passing minute. She was stubborn however though and had already made her mind that she wasn''t going to move.
Another fifteen minutes had passed by and she was just getting ready to call Jeff to find out what was taking so long when she heard the car before she saw it begin to pull up. She should''ve felt more relieved to see that they had arrived at their destination safely, but instead the sight of the car made her feel more annoyed. It had taken much closer to two hours than the hour that Samuel had imed it was going to take.
"Lena!" I didn''t expect to see you out here. Have you been waiting out here all this time, your face is rather red." Samuel stopped when he noticed that Lena''s face did indeed look red.
"If my face is red, it has nothing to do with the heat and everything to do with the fact that it took far longer than was scheduled for you to arrive." Shemented, fixing the car with a re. Jeff didn''t notice it at first as he had headed back to the trunk of the car to pick up Samuel''s belongings so that he could help carry them inside.
Once he came around the front however, he didn''t miss the way that she was ring at him.
"I do apologize Princess. I swear I didn''t get lost or anything. Traffic as we got closer to this area became more difficult to navigate, there had been a crash that was slowing things down a considerable amount." Jeff apologized offering her a slight bow of his head as he did so.
"You''re forgiven for this time, but make sure that the next time something like this happens you make sure to keep me updated." Lena told the other with a slight scowl. She really didn''t like being kept out of the loop when something unexpected urred.
"Thank you Princess." Jeff replied feeling somewhat relieved as he headed inside to take the boxes up to Samuel''s room.
"Little Chickadee, you should''ve updated me as well if you knew that it was going to take so much longer." She told Samuel as she turned her full attention back to him.
"Sorry, I really didn''t think that it was going to take that much extra time to reach here otherwise I would''ve." He apologized.
"But you really didn''t need to wait outside for me. I would''ve told you when I got here."
"Don''t mind her, she just did it because she was beginning to get impatient about how long you were taking." Leo replied for his sister as he approached the two. He wanted to offer Samuel a hug, but Lena interjected between them. She elbowed her brother none-too-roughly and he made a mock noise of hurt.
"It wasn''t because I was getting impatient. I had just expected that he would arrive sooner than he did." The princess replied.
"Right, that exins why you''re taking out your frustration on me over such a small thing as that." Leo took a step back as he spoke when he realized that his sister was beginning to get more annoyed with him.
"It really doesn''t matter why she was outside, the point is that it''s too warm to be sitting out in this heat for such a long time. Why don''t we go inside?" Samuel suggested. He hadn''t been standing outside for very long but he could feel the heat starting to get a little too warm for him.
"Fine. It''s time for dinner anyways. We will have to catch up on talking after we eat. There''s a few things that I want to go over with you." Lena replied as she began to head back towards the front entrance of the estate. Leo had gone on slightly in front of her after he had gotten one look from her that told him she expected him to not get in Samuel''s face right now. She still wasn''t convinced that he wasn''t going to try to somehow throw him some sort of a surprise birthday party despite the siblings conversation about it the other day.
Once they reached the door she turned and gave Samuel an expectant look that he didn''t quite understand right away.
"Are you expecting me to open the door for you?" He asked giving his best guess as to why she was waiting on him.
"Of course I do and I''m d that you haven''t forgotten that much while you were away." The princess replied. Her behavior in situations like this still confused him at times. Maybe he would have a chance to get used it more this time since he would be staying there for a much longer period of timepared to before.
"Fine, fine. It''s only fair since you were waiting outside for me for such a long period of time." Samuel sighed as he stepped forward to open the door for her.
"It still isn''t that hard to do. You get used to it quick." Lenamented as she walked through the door. Unlike the annoyance fromst time, Samuel got the idea that she was teasing him more than making a harshment about it. Leo looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut as he walked in after Lena. It seemed he had the impression that since Samuel was holding the door open, he might as well go inside ahead of him as well.
Chapter 58 - Surprise Dessert
dinner was enjoyable though slightly overwhelming with so many people giving himte birthday wishes. He knew that it was just a formality most likely, but he appreciated it despite it being overwhelming with so many people at the table.
Clive was still absent, most likely staying with his wife in the hospital. Jeff had also disappeared after he had dropped of Samuel''s stuff in his room. He supposed that it was because Jeff hadn''t been given permission to eat dinner with the main family. If he didn''t think it might''ve been out of line, he''d have offered to have him sit and eat with them as a thank you for the extra trouble he had gone to.
A few weeks away hadn''t really changed much. The food was still as good as he remembered it, though he had a preference for the lesser high ss meals that his mother made.
He had been anticipating questions regarding the uing engagement party and announcement but instead there was nothing but small talk at the table generally centered around mundane things that had been going on and some questions about Samuel''s 18th birthday.
Lena didn''t partake much in the conversation as she wanted to be finished with eating so that she could talk with Samuel on her own. She had hoped to get some of the exnations about what was going to be going on out of the way before it was time for dinner, but there was no such luck with him arriving an hour after time.
The only time that she jumped into the conversation was when Leo hadined to Samuel in a rather dramatic way that the princess had refused to take up his idea of throwing him a birthday party here since only Lena had been at his actual birthday party. Rather than joining in the conversation she red daggers at him, making the warning very clear that he should be careful what he said.
"Honestly, that would''ve been far too much for me." Samuelughed in response to the information causing Leo to frown, he didn''t like that his sister had been right.
"I had to deal with three celebrations it was and two was already too much before my friends wanted to take me out for a third time." He told the younger brother.
"A fourth time would''ve just made it an even number which is better than an odd one any day." He mumbled back in response.
"He''s probably just upset that he didn''t have an excuse to celebrate something so that he could have a feast and make a mess of things." Lenamented as she took a drink of her water. She had finished eating and now she was just waiting for Samuel to be done as well.
"That''s not true, I wanted to do something nice for him." Leo defended himself though it was a rather weak defense.
"It''s fine. It''s not like my 18th birthday is the only birthday I will be having after all." Samuel said as he tried to diffuse the situation before it became a bicker. His attention was turned to Lena however when he saw the way that she as looking at him. Her head was slightly tilted as she fixed with him with a serious yet questioning look which assumed meant she was wanting to know if he was done eating so that they could talk before it became toote.
"Can I have five minutes?" Samuel requested from the Princess who nodded her head.
"Fine, I''ll be waiting for you in my study though. The door opposite from the sun room we met inst time you were here." Lena replied as she got up from the table and left.
"I''ll be right there." He replied as she left the room. He was done eating, but he had a surprise he wanted to get for Lena but didn''t want her to be there to see what he was bringing. It required him to go into the kitchen and bug Ryan for a pair of forks. The other greeted him warmly but he kept the conversation short as he was certain that Lena wouldn''t want to be kept waiting since it was already past seven in the evening and there was probably a lot for them to be discussing.
He kept the cake in the stic takeaway boxes that his mother had packed them in. They were of a sturdy quality that kept the cake safe and upright so that it didn''t end up getting damaged during the long drive.
He probably brought more with him than they would be able to eat, but he wanted to see what she thought of it since he knew that his mother''s cooking abilities were far superior to his own when it came to sweets.
It was hard though to bnce the two containers with the slices of limoncello cake in them as he struggled to open the door to what he presumed was the office. He was happy to find that he had gotten the right door. It was a bit dimly light in the office as Lena only had a deskmp on rather than the overhead light.
The office was setup simr to her father''s except in this office she had two bookcases filed with boxes and an assortment of other items. Her desk was slightlyrger as well and was littered with papers and folders that she had been going through.
She looked up when she realized that Samuel had entered the office when she heard the door click shut. She didn''t have a chance to ask him what he was carrying before he spoke.
"I know you didn''t have a chance to try the cake before you left so since there was too much leftover for us to eat on our own. I brought some with me for you to try and see what you think. I don''t know if you like limoncello or not though." He told her as he approached the desk.
"I haven''t tried it before, but you can set it down here." The princess replied as she shifted some of the items on her desk to make space for it.
"Thank you." She told him as he took a seat that was positioned next to the desk.
"It''s no problem. I wanted it to be a surprise since I know how much you like sweets.". Lena didn''t have to say anything about how excite she was to try it as Samuel could see the way her eyes lit up when she heard it was something sweet.
"It might just make up for the fact that you came so muchter than you told me you were going to arrive." Lenamented as she pulled one of the stic boxes closer and looked at the cake, she couldn''t deny it looked good and was probably far sweeter than she imagined limoncello to be. Samuelughed at herment.
"Well, I am d to see that bribing you can still work in some circumstances." She shoot him a look that said ''don''t push your luck.'' but didn''t say anything as she focused her attention back to the cake in front of her. She was eager to try this limoncello and see how it tasted.
Chapter 59 - Schedule
Lena ended up liking the cake so much that Samuel offered his piece to her as well. She was d to have it, but refused to touch it until he had assured her had brought it mostly because he hoped she would like it enough to eat both pieces, but if not, he could probably eat the second even though he had already had so much sweets over the past few days he could hardly handle eaten more.
In order to appease the princess, he did split it with her though and ate the smaller piece.
"Is it a family recipe?" Lena inquired after they had finished eating.
"It is actually. It was originally made by my grandmother mother on my father''s side and she passed it down to my grandmother who gave it to my mom since she never ended up having any girls." Samuel replied as he tossed the boxes.
"I''m sure she wouldn''t mind me asking for it after we get engaged and married. She''d probably be happy to continue it down the line since my sister and brother are still too young to think about getting married for a few years."
"Hm, I''ll think about that." The princess replied. It was definitely something that she would like to have again, but she didn''t want to mess with a family tradition if Samuel''s mother would prefer to keep it between family members only.
"Right now, we need to focus on everything that''s going to be happening over the next few weeks." She said as she changed subjects. Grabbing a set of papers off the desk she handed it to Samuel.
"This is going to be your schedule over the next few weeks. I figured that you would prefer to see a physical copy of it rather than me telling you about it so that you can put everything in your phone." Taking the papers from her, he sucked in a deep breath when he saw how packed it was.
Not only did he have a number appointments booked with her for matters rted to the engagement, but there was a schedule around that she had setup of other things that she wanted him to be doing as well.
"This is a lot. When is the engagement party going to be happening anyways?" He asked looking up the princess from the schedule he had been scanning through.
"We don''t have an exact date yet. My father thinks that we should have everything else in ce before we make the announcement since it''ll b a pretty big deal. But even after it is announced, it''ll probably not be held until at least two weekster for invitations and such to be sent out and taken care of. You won''t have to worry about that since you''re the one entering into the family." She assured him.
Plus, most of the stuff that is listed here are things that we''ll be doing together. You''ll need everything new for the engagement and so will I since I have never bene part of anything of this sort for a few years now."
"What about this secondary schedule you set up here." He asked showing the part he was talking about.
"It''s the continuing of your training. It''s an engagement party so of course you need to continue working on being able to dance well as I''m certain that there''ll be some pressure for us to at least take one dance together. The rest of the training is to make sure that you are up to speed on being able to take care of yourself since I won''t always be there to watch your back." She exined as she handed the papers back to him.
"Does this mean that I am going to start being let in on more of what your family does once our engagement is official." Samuel asked as he took the papers back. It really was going to be a rather busy schedule for him.
"Over time you will be, most that''s up to my father''s discretion since he''s currently in charge. I have some authority in telling you what I think is important for you to know or what might impact us directly since we''re engaged, but anything more serious will be for my father to give permission for me to exin." The princess knew that Samuel was probably curious to know more about what he was getting himself into, but when it came to those on the outside entering the group and family, it was always tradition for the head of the group to give out such permissions.
"The business side however, you will be able toe and see what''s going on there. It''s actually on the schedule for tomorrow because there are somethings that I need to do there." Looking back down at the schedule he saw that she was right. She had blocked out time for him toe with him.
"Bring your fianc¨¦ to work day?" He read out loud slightly confused over why it was captioned as such.
"That''s Leo''s fault. He insisted that it bebeled as such and wouldn''t leave it alone." Lena sighed. She didn''t find it amusing the same way her brother and some of the other members in her family did. Leo however wouldn''t let it be though until he convinced her tobel it as such.
"He certainly has an interesting sense of humor." Samuelmented with a smile. He was interested in seeing what type of legal business that they worked in. Whether he would fit in or not he wasn''t sure of though.
"That''s one way of putting it. Another is annoying persistence in wanting to get what he wants when he thinks he can get away with." The princess grumbled as she worked through some of the documents on her desk.
"Despite being so close in age, you two are almost pr opposites of one another." He noted causing Lena to look at him.
"Is there something wrong with that?" She asked unsure of why he made thatment.
"No, I just find it interesting. I''m not the same my other two siblings, but I just figured that it was something to do with therge age gap between us, but then I look at you and Leo and can see that you two are hardly alike as well." He rified as he looked up from his phone to look at the princess.
"It probably has something to do with the fact that we didn''t grow up together for the second half of our lives as well. My father sent Leo off to the UK When he twelve."
"Oh, I thought that he had only been there for a short while. I didn''t realize it had been years since you two saw each other."
"It wasn''t really that bad though. We would talk a lot on the phone or video call with father''s help if our time and schedule matched up, or we''d text if not. We didn''tpletely lose touch. Plus, he came home to visit when he could over the holidays for a couple of days before he''d have to head back." Lena exined. It had been a bit difficult for her at first she remembered, but once she knew that Leo was enjoying himself over there, it wasn''t so bad for her.
Samuel was getting ready to say something else when there was two knocks on the door signaling that someone wanted permission to enter. Lena wasn''t sure who it was so she decided to get up and answering the door while she motioned for Samuel to stay sitting where he was at.
Chapter 60 - Picture
Samuel tried to see who was at the door when Lena opened, but the position of the chair and the way that she was standing ended up blocking his view.
"I''m in the middle of a meeting right now, is it something important?" The princess sounded slightly annoyed which told him it wasn''t family. He couldn''t hear what the other person was saying though because their voice was rather low. The way that Lena sighed however told him it was something that needed her attention.
"I''ll be right back, I''m being required to take care of something by my father. Stay here Sammy-boy." She told him turning her head enough to look at the other without moving her position.
"Okay." Samuel replied with a nod of his head. Turning around, he could Lena continue talking to whoever it was but he couldn''t hear what they were saying.
Samuel wasn''t bothered by the waiting though because he still had to finish putting all the appointments in his phone and Lena not being there meant he could also better look at the office.
There was one thing in particr that had caught his attention when he came in- a picture frame that wasying t in the bookcase in the corner. He saw it standing up but sitting down made it go out of sight.
He probably shouldn''t have been snooping around, but curiosity was getting the better of him and wanted to know what the picture was. He just told himself that he would take a quick peek at it but wouldn''t move it and make sure that it stayed in the same position he found it.
He figured that since Lena was going to speak with her father anyways that she probably wouldn''t be back for a few minutes at least which meant the risk of hering back and seeing him looking at it were low.
Still though, he tried to be as quiet as possible as he got up from his seat and shifted over to where the bookcase was. The picture frame was silver and looked to be rather expensive from the boarder and the way the back was designed which made him even more curious as to what type of important picture was preserved in such an expensive and decorative picture frame.
Samuel made sure that he was as gentle as possible as he lifted it up to see what the picture was. The front of the picture frame was just as ornate as the back was, two small doves were on each side and winding vine of what looked like roses was crafted into the frame. It looked as though it had been custom made.
When he got a look at the picture itself, he felt his breath catch in his chest. It was a picture of whom he assumed was Lena and Leo when they were younger, they looked as though they could''ve been no older than 8-10 years old and they were both smiling brightly. Leo looked about the same except that he had aged and his hair color had changed slightly and he was wearing a rather fancy looking suit for his age. Lena on the other hand looked like much of a bright, full of like and energy little girl which was a stark contrast to the person he knew her to be. She was wearing a baby blue summer dress and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Like her brother, she had a bright grin on her face as her eyes sparkled as though she was excited to be live and looking forward to whatever adventure life threw at her next.
What caught his attention most was the woman in the dark blue who was standing and smiling behind them with a hand resting on each of their shoulders. She looked a lot like Lena, except if Lena was about twenty years older and had shorter, darker red hair. Her eyes and nose were almost the same color and shape except that her eyes held a much softer and more affection expression in them that matched the gentle smile on their face. Based upon the background of the picture, he guessed that it must''ve been taken in the sunroom that Lena frequently upied when she was busy or wanted to talk, except that by the background, it looked as though some remodeling had been done since the photo had been taken which made sense it was probably almost taken ten years ago.
Samuel set the the picture down again before returning to where had been sitting before. He thought that he would feel much less curious after he looked at the picture, but peeking at it had the exact opposite effect on him. He wanted to know who that woman was now.
He could only assume that she must''ve been their mother, but he had never remembered seeing a woman that looked like that during his stay before. He had noticed how a ''mother'' was never mentioned in any conversations or that Zane had never mentioned why his wife was absent. Had something happened to her? He wanted to know, but got the feeling that because it was a subject that wasn''t touched upon, it might not go well if he suddenly brought it up, especially if the princess was touchy about the topic.
He had thought about taking a picture of it on his phone so that he could look at itter, but he would feel terribly guilty if anyone found that he had been snooping into something that would probably turn out to be none of his business in the end anyways.
For now he would just have to let it be and try to act as focused as possible on finishing putting everything down on his phone schedule so that Lena wouldn''t suspect what he was up to while she was gone.
He needed to get it finished anyways because there was going to be a lot for him to do and he doubted that if he didn''t write it down, he would have an easy time remembering everything since he didn''t n any of it for himself. He would also need to probably send a copy to his parents as they were still going to expect him to call and talk with them around everything else going, especially as they were getting everything together for the engagement. He was certain his mother especially would like to see what he and Lena would be wearing so that she could what to wear prior the engagement party both for herself and her husband.
Samuel got the feeling however that it was something that they weren''t going to have to worry themselves with too much as he felt certain Zane would be taking care of such things in order for them to not worry about spending extra money.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 61 - Secret
Lena hadn''t been expecting her father to need anything while she was meeting with Samuel, she thought that everything that they needed to focus on for the night had been taken care of, but she had apparently been wrong to presume that.
Romeo had been the one to request her presence. He was the person that had been assigned to fill in for Clive in the main house while he was staying in the hospital with his wife until he knew that everything would be okay with her and their soon to be born son.
Romeo wasn''t much younger than Clive, he was about the same height and built but his hair was more gray and he had looked a little worse for wear than the other had with thin scars on his lower arms and one most noticeable on his pointer finger where he had been cut deeply once by a knife during a fight many years ago along with a number of smaller ones on his face. Because of the many years he had spent fighting, he was also far more serious and less friendly than Clive was also well. He preferred to main the stoic and intimidating persona that he had developed over years. For him, it served his purpose well to make sure that no outsiders dare approach anyone in the family when he was around.
Romeo had felt bad about bothering the princess as he was aware that she was also busy with other matters that needed to be taken care of, but Zane had been insistent in the fact that he go fetch her for him as there was something important that they needed to discuss tonight. He didn''t dare argue with his boss and did exactly as he was told.
"I do apologize again Princess, but he insisted that it couldn''t wait until morning." Romeo said again as he approached Zane''s office door and knocked hard on it twice.
"It''s fine, if he said that it''s something that cannot wait, it means that it has to be something pretty important." Lena replied, she didn''t wait for her father to reply before she opened the office door and entered.
"What''s wrong?" She asked as soon as she had stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Her father didn''t reply at first as he seemed fixed on the letter he was holding. Lena approached the desk but didn''t sit down as she waited for him to reply to her question.
"I can''t say if anything is wrong, but look at this for me and tell me what you think." Zane replied after a few minutes, a sign that he had probably read over the letter a few times before he handed it over to the princess.
Lena frowned as she took it, uncertain as to what she was expecting to be reading. After reading it a mixture of emotions shed across her face rather quickly - confusion and surprise followed by annoyance and something unreadable as she looked up from the letter to look at her father who had a simr expression his face.
"What exactly is this supposed to be?"
"I don''t know myself or even if it''s something legitimate that we need to worry about. It''s possible that someone caught wind ahead of time that an engagement was getting ready to take ce and decided to reach out and mess with things just to see what would happen or it could be legitimate." Zane replied as he folded his hands together on the desk.
"One thing that I am certain of however is that he knows nothing of this and that it would be better to keep this a secret for right now."
"You''re telling me you don''t think that he''s ying anything here and that I shouldn''t be keeping an eye out on him?" Lena replied as she pursed her lips, she wasn''t as quick as her father to believe the best in others and this letter was already causing doubt to stir in her mind.
"Absolutely not. If anything, I have a hunch that it''s been kept from more than just him. I''ll look into of course, especially with the engagementing up, but there is no reason to mess with anything until we know anything for certain. I just thought that you would want to see this." Zane held his hand out so that he took the letter back from his daughter. She read through it one more time before she handed it back to him.
"I am going to trust you word for this, but if anything odd is going on here at all- I am calling the whole thing off and I will be taking over without anyone at my side, is that clear?" Lena told her father as she turned to get ready to leave. Since her back was to him, she couldn''t see the way that he smiled when she told him this.
"Of course. I am not going to go back on my word if everything doesn''t end up working out." He told his daughter who seemed satisfied with his answer by the way that she nodded her head.
"Keep me updated then. I need to get back to Sammy-boy so that we can finish working out everything for the weeks ahead. Are you supposed to be going on any of this trips with us?" Lena asked, it was one of the few things that she hadn''t taken into consideration as she had been setting everything up. Zane made a ''hmm'' noise as he thought about what she had asked.
"I will go with you both when you go to get the rings fitted correctly. Aside from that, I''m not sure that my schedule this well will allow me any more freedom to do as please otherwise I would." He replied. He himself had been expecting that he would have more time to a part of the whole process, but between work and Clive being with his wife in the hospital, he couldn''t afford as much free time as he had been hoping. Not that he med Clive of course, it was just something unexpected that had urred.
"I''ll let him know to expect you toe with us then." Lena replied she left the office. Romeo was still standing outside as she left the office. He didn''t say anything as she walked out but she offered him a nod of her head as a way of saying ''thank you'' foring to let her know what her father wanted.
Recently, it seemed as though if it was not one thing, it was another that was making it difficult to keep everything going smoothly when all the princess really wanted was for everything to already be done and taken care of before it even started.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 62 - Who Will Be Coming?
Lena was slightly annoyed by the time that she had gotten back to her work office. She was hoping that there would be no more interruptions to prevent her and Samuel from going over everything else that they still needed to talk about.
"Sorry, my father wanted to ask something about the schedule and see abouting with us when we got the rings refitted." Lena apologized as she stepped back into office.
"That''s fine. I know it''s kind of a busy time right now. Will he be joining us for any of the parts we will be getting together for the engagement?" Samuel asked as he looked up from his phone. He was almost finally done with putting everything in.
"He says he can''t say for sure. He''s busy this week a lot as well but said if he has the times he would like to be a bigger part of it." Lena replied as she came over to sit back down at her desk.
"I''m guessing that you have never been measured to wear a proper suit before?" Lena asked. She presumed the answer would be no, but wanted to make sure just incase he had as it would save time.
"Nope. I have worn a suit before, but it was one of my father''s older ones and it was a bit too big since I''m not the same size as him." Samuel replied.
"We''ll have to take some time to do that one the day we go look for a suit and dress. It''ll only take a little of extra time though." The princess wrote this down as she talked.
"Off the topic of this. I thought that you wanted me to work on increase the uracy of my aim so that I would be better with a gun. You also want me to learn self-dense as well?" Samuel rified. This wasn''t something that Lena had talked with him about before so he was curious what brought about this sudden change.
"Correct, among other things. I do eventually expect you to be good with a gun as well because a gun has a better protective ability than having physical fighting skills, but since it''ll take time, it''s better to work on both at the same time." Lena exined.
"I decided to make the change since it seems that you, Sammy-boy have a good uracy when ites to throwing and rather strong aim I noticed when we were ying ball at your birthday party."
"I didn''t think that my aim was anything special though?" Certainly he had better aim throwing than he did with a gun, but he never thought much about it.
"It may not be, but in physical defense and fighting, it''s beneficial to have a good arm strength because it can increase your ability to defend yourself. Don''t worry too much about it though, I''ll mostly be in charge of that since I know what I have in mind." Lena smirked after she said thest part causing Samuel to frown.
"I''m not sure that actually makes me feel all that much better if learning to physical fight and defend myself goes the same way learning how to dance with you goes, I may not survive very well."
"Of course you will little chickadee, it''s quite easy actually. You just have to be good at learning quickly and keep up. The better you do, the easier it will be on you. Besides, we''re officially engaged now which means I don''t have any intention of attempting to identally kill you before we go through with the whole engagement process."
"Oh how much better that makes me feel." She didn''t miss the sarcasm in his voice when he replied with way and cuffed him on his ear.
"I''m serious about this. It''s not going to be all sunshine and roses once we get past the engagement and are officially married. Things will change and you''ll be thankfulter on that I didn''t take it easy on you when you consider everything that we will be dealing with." Samuel wasn''t convinced about this, but he didn''t argue with her about what she was saying since he was still unware of what he was going to be finding out once they were married.
"What about guests and such? Are there going to be a lot guests there that I''m not that familiar with? I feel like this is going to be different from a normal engagement party." The little queen looked at him thoughtfully as she considered the best way to answer the question that he was asking.
"I''m not sure that I would say it''ll be much different from a typical engagement party. There will be a lot of people there outside of my family, you could call them allies. Mostly people my father know who shares the areas we have control over. There are four main groups in total, though I''m not sure myself who will be invited. Of course, your parents will be invited if they wish toe." Lena exined. Some of these questions she honestly didn''t have a good answer for as it would be up to her father to decide these things.
Lena would''ve preferred to keep it to a smaller, more private matter, but she knew how these type of things tended to work and that inviting a certain number of people was unavoidable because of matters of respect and so forth.
"Is there anything particr that I should be aware of or have to worry about with that in mind?" Samuel then asked. It was starting to feel that this engagement party was going to be a muchrger affair than he had expected.
"Not really. Because my family out of everyone who will be in attendance is the most respected and has the highest amount of power, you won''t have to worry about stiff formality or watching your behavior. You may be someone from the outside, but because of the respect for our family, you won''t have to worry about anyone speaking out against you." the way the princess spoke of power and respect made him think that it meant something more than it usually did in the business world.
"I am going to have to talk with my family about this and make sure that they''d feelfortable attending under such circumstances. Since it''s going to be more than just family, they might not want to take such a risk."
"That''s fine, considering the circumstances, my father and the rest of the family would understand if they didn''t want to attend. The only time it is generally viewed as a sign of disrespect is if it''s within a engagement that is taking ce between two parties in this world as there are little excuses for both families to be present at engagement parties and such." Lena exined.
"For tonight, I think this will have to all since it''s getting sote and tomorrow we need to be up early so that you cane to work with me."
"There''s still some questions that I want to ask though, I feel like there''s a lot more to this than I originally expected there to be and I want to make sure that I am prepared."
"Sammy-boy, let it be for tonight. You''ll just have more questions anyways. We can take more time to discuss tomorrow around everything else." She told as she got up from the desk letting him know that there was no room to argue about this even though he didn''t feel tired and doubted that he would be able to sleep well with so much going through his mind now.
"What about sleeping arrangements?" He asked as he stood up from his chair. He ced the schedule back on her desk since he was done putting everything in his phone.
"That''s going to change most likely after the engagement party. We''ll most likely be sharing the same room but we''ll have different beds." Lena replied as she moved around some of the documents on her desk to make it a little tidier as well as make sure that the ones she would need to take with her tomorrow were on the top so that she wouldn''t forget about them in the morning.
"Now, enough questions and shoo, it''s time to sleep and I want to be done for the night anyways before anyone else decides that there''s something that they need to bother me about." The princess told him as she held open the office door so that Samuel could leave ahead of her.
He gave her a look in response to her gesture that made her re at him in a silent warning that if he said anything, she wouldn''t be inclined to do it again in the future. So he instead held his tongue and walked out ahead of her. Lena made sure to close the door and lock it behind her before putting the key back in her pocket.
Chapter 63 - Take Your Fiancé To Work Day
The following morning. Lena had made sure that Samuel was up early. She needed to be into work early to finish some paperwork that she was behind on and because he wasing with her today, that meant he had to be ready to go early as well.
Instead of the normal casual clothes that he had been wearing, the the princess had found him something that she thought would be fitting for his first appearance at the business. It was a ck dress shirt with a crimson red tie and ck cks with matching ck dress shoes. It had belonged to Leo so it was a touch of a lose fit, he managed to fix that by rolling up the sleeves once and adjusting the way the pants fit on him so that he looked more professional and less messy.
She didn''t make them skip breakfast though and opted for a quick meal of toast with marmde and had Ryan pack lunch for them since they would most likely be spending most of the day the office.
Since Clive was still in the hospital with his wife, Jeff was the one who would be driving them to work that morning. He was already outside waiting by the car, most likely at Lena''s orders. She didn''t have to say anything to him however before he opened the car door for them and offered a slight bow.
"I need to be at work in thirty, Jeff. If you end up getting lost again today, I will be docking your pay for additional time it takes to get to work." Lena warned as she crossed her legs and leaned back in the seat. Even she had dressed up in a more formal outfit from usual Samuel noted. Jeff offered a smallugh at herment.
"It''s always a pleasure to work with you princess, you offer the best type of incentives to keep focused on task." He told her as he started the car and began to back out so that he could turn around before heading out the driveway.
"You''re not actually serious about that though, are you?" Samuel asked, feeling that if she was, it would''ve been a rather unfair thing for her to do.
"It depends on if he gets us there on time or howte he if not." Lena replied without looking at him. It wasn''t the first time that someone had their pay docked while working with the family for providing less than perfect quality services. Of course, it wasn''t a permanent docking of pay, just for the one issue or circumstance that was troublesome. The only time it ever became permanent was in the case of a continual problems.
In the case of Jeff, Lena was mostly joking, but knew it was provided incentive as he had a inconsistent history of being problematic on more important tasks because he easily got distracted and lose his focus unless he had someone to manage him correctly which was why in most cases he was paired up with someone who could usually help manage him.
"If you wanted to get there faster, wouldn''t have been easier to take your motorcycle instead?" Samuel questioned about half way through the drive.
"Of course it would be, but the motorcycle is more for casual outing or other such things. In the professional and legal field of work, impression matters and that means that I cannot just pull up to work in a motorcycle as the new CEO, it would look unprofessional." She replied.
"Oh, so it''s an image management thing." He noted as she nodded her head.
"Exactly. Until everything is more established, everything has to be done from a point of professionalism bordering on perfectionism." She exined.
"And that''s why she can''t have me beingte in delivering her to work in order to maintain her professional image." Jeff added in.
"Also why it''s important for you to be dressing professionally as well for your first time here. Not everyone here knows that you''re my fianc¨¦ yet, but even if they do, they are just going to judge you on whether or not they think that you fit in." Lena said as she nced over at Samuel was fidgeting with this sleeves to make sure that they looked more neat.
"We''ll get you some proper clothester and some cufflinks that will suit your clothes, for now this had to do though."
"Should I be expecting to dress more like this outside of work spaces as well?" he asked as he finally finished fixing his sleeves to a level he felt came off as more professional.
"Probably, but not yet for a while. We''ll worry about that after the engagement party." Lena replied just as Jeff pulled into the private parking lot.
"Here you are princess, delivered safely and five minutes under the time you requested. When should I be back to pick you up today?" Jeff asked as he parked and turned to face the other two.
"I will page youter to let you know when you should leave to be here by because I''m not sure how long we will be today." She replied as she unbuckled her seat to get ready and step out. Samuel did the same followed suit.
"Right then. Good day to you both and I will be backter." Jeff gave a small salute and waited until he was certain that both of them were out of the way before he began to pull out as they walked towards the inside.
"Remember to just follow me and not talk with anyone unless I indicate to. Being the fianc¨¦ to the CEO means you''re not required to answer or speak with anyone." Lena told Samuel as they entered the building.
"Isn''t that being a touch rude though?" Samuel asked as he tried his best to keep up with Lena as she walked through the building. The walls on this side were a pale blue and looked as though they had recently been painted.
"Of course it isn''t, at least not right now. Some of these people here like gossip and the wrong thing could get out before everyone understands who you are." She replied. She nodded her head as a man in a suit walked past them. He took a second longer to nce at the princess after returning the gesture when he realized that there was someone with her.
"Everything is about politics. And while it may be the day for me to bring my fianc¨¦ to work, not everyone knows that''s who you are yet and only a select few will know right now." The princess exined as she pressed the up arrow on the elevator whose doors opened right away for her and she ushered Samuel in ahead of her.
Chapter 64 - The Numbers Are Wrong
A/N: Hello dear readers. I have a temporary solution to my inte. Not sure how long it willst, but for now this is thest chapter I am posting this month. Next month I will be working towards win-win and daily updates.
Also remember if you enjoy the story, please join my discord server. It is easier for me tomunicate with readers than on here as I don''t always getments.
Thank you and enjoy reading.
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Lena had Samuel enter the office before and closed the door securely behind them. Because of how early in the morning it was, they didn''t pass too many other people before they reached office.
Compared to the rest of the building, he somehow wasn''t surprised to see that her office was the only that had been remodeled. He was getting the idea that red happened to be one of her favorite colors and not just one that the princess used because it was part of her family''s symbol.
"You can sit wherever you want. It doesn''t particrly matter." Lena told him as she headed over to her desk and left him standing right inside the door. He had the option to sit at one of the two wing-back chairs that was in the office or the sofa that both looked equallyfortable. He was more interested though in finding out what Lena was working on than sitting down and doing nothing.
"Do you take care of everything here yourself or do you have someone help you?" He asked and came to look over her desk. Much like at her office at home she had a lot of paperwork piled up on her desk, except that it was more organized here than it had been at her other office.
"I have a secretary, but most of this is stuff that I am taking over either from my father who was helping me to get familiar with everything before he handed over when I turned eighteen." She replied as she motioned to one stack of the papers on her desk.
"The rest is stuff that I am reviewing that employees from different offices were in charge of taking care of. I need to make sure that everything matches up and looks proper before I sign off on anything or give my approval for it." she waved her hand over the rest of the stacks of papers that seemed to be organized based upon department Samuel realized as he looked over what was resting there.
"I''m sure that this isn''t what you brought me here for, but can I look over the stuff from the financial department? I probably won''t be able to understand everything, but I used to help my parents with a lot of the financial matters at home and took a ss on it during high school." He asked as he pointed to the stack of papers that were on her desk. The princess shrugged her shoulders.
"If it''s only between you and me, I don''t. You won''t be signing off on anything so there isn''t any real harm you can do Sammy-boy. Just make sure you keep everything in the exact order its in."
"Do you have a calctor and notebook?" He asked as he grabbed about a third of the stack. Even though the stack didn''t look all that tall, he knew that there was far more than he could go through in the time that they would be there and that it would be easier to start small in case there was too much that he didn''t understand.
"I need to bring anotherputer in here." Lena murmured under her breath as she looked through the draws on her desk. She knew where the calctor was since she frequently used it herself for a variety of things, but she rarely touched note pads.
"Can you use a memo pad for now?" She asked pulling it out of the draw and showing it to him. It wasn''t that big, but it was going to have to work for now."
"It''s a bit small but I can probably make it work if I do it carefully." Samuel replied as he take the notepad from her.
"And honestly, I prefer working this rather than with aputer. Computer makes it too easy to miss numbers or put the wrongs in and if you get something wrong in the middle, you have start all over." he told her as he sat down at the sofa andid everything out on the rectangle cherry coffee table that was in the middle of the room.
"Hand takes so much longer though. AT least with aputer you are able to get everything you need to finish done in a timely manner." Lena argued as she shifted things around her desk so that she could focus on what she knew as going to be high priority to finish first.
"True, but that''s why in most business they hire a reliable team to help get the work done. Rarely does the CEO or higher level employees take care of it all themselves." Samuel pointed out as he got everything in order and made sure that the ck and red pens he had found worked before he got ready to start working out the numbers that needed to be gone through.
"It''s hard to find reliable people. Thus it''s easier if you just take care of everything yourself even if isn''t ideal that way it avoids more problems." Lena replied before bing quiet as she became absorbed with the work that she needed to get done. There was too much to do to spend too much time talking even if she wanted to make a dent before the end of the day.
Samuel and the princess worked in rtive silence with Samuel doing his best to work through what he had in front of him and not ask her too many questions if there was a word attached a cost that he didn''t understand. He was also surprised that no one hade in to bother her over the time that they had been there. He had expected that her secretary would at least have one or two things to report to her that morning, but he seemed mistaken about that.
"Can I show you something have you double check this for me?" Samuel suddenly asked slipping the piece of paper he had been working in front of Lena and on top of what she had been focusing on. She was annoyed at first because it obscured the piece of paper she had been reading and meant that she would have to read it over again once he was done bothering.
"What''s this?" She asked picking up the piece of paper and going over it. She recognized the numbers as costs, most of which seemed to be before she had be in charge of taking over.
"It''s the cost for thest three months for this department, but I can''t get the numbers to add up with what came up and how much everything came up. But, I don''t know if there''s something I''m missing." Samuel replied as she showed her what he had written down so that she couldpare it to the numbers that were printed on the paper.
"I need to add everything myself." She told him as she put the piece of paper back down and motioned for him to hand her the calctor. Samuel was quiet as he waited for her to discover the mistake he made ore to the same conclusion that he had.
She worked the numbers through the calctor twice before she made an annoyed noise and turned over to herputer. It took her a minute to find where the financial files were located. Theputer she used was the master one that had ess to almost all the files that were essed and stored from otherputers in thepany so that she could keep track of everything that everyone submitted.
"Well little chickadee, it seems as though you hit on something interesting here." The princess finallymented as she located the file that the paper had been printed off of. It really did seem as though the numbers weren''t matching up correctly.
Chapter 65 - Find The Problem
A/N: Hello dear readers. This note is to let you know that I have a treat for you. Author made a mistake in trying to unlock new privilege tier too early which means I need to do an extra mass release to unlock it for this month (July) Which means you all get an 3 extra chapters today! I hope you enjoy.
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"What are you going to do about?" Samuel asked as they went over the numbers twice more to make sure that they were correct in seeing that it didn''t seem as though the numbers added up correctly.
"It gets marked for right now, but nothing gets reported until we get a third party to look it over and make sure that the numbers are indeed wrong." Lena replied as she set the paper down.
"Consider this was from a bit ago Sammy-boy, I expect that it won''t be the only one like this that we''lle across. Whoever it is has probably gotten prettyfortable with whatever their game is. If we don''t handle it correctly, they''ll probably disappear before they''re found out."
"You can''t tell based upon who submitted the reports?" Samuel asked. He had seen the way that theputer system was setup to keep track of who submitted the reports. Lena shook her head.
"No because not all the employees have dedicatedputers yet. For the higher ups it''s essential because they move around and use a lot of high-ss information that that can''t afford to be leaked or lost. For many of the other employees they shareputers in departments because we do half day shifts. At least that''s the n until we can expand and afford to put more money into the setup for them." She exined as she closed off the report on herputer screen.
"It can''t be assumed that just because an employee''s name is put down as the one who logged that financial part of the report that they were actually the one who did it. Plus, tech does their best, but it''s hard to make sure that everyone remembers to lock theirputers or log out between shifts as well." Samuel was surprised to hear how low-cost thepany was being run, he would''ve thought that much would''ve been put into when considering how much money it seemed as though Lena''s family had.
"Don''t you have the money to afford it though?" He then asked. He realized afterwards however that perhaps it wasn''t the best type of question to ask since he wasn''t actually all that certain of what their financial situation was.
"We do, but this is the legal side of business. We can''t just invest a massive amount of money into thesepanies out of nowhere. It would suspicious as to where it suddenly came from. Thus, we have to go through the right legal processes and such to expand and make our revenue. Plus, my father thinks that it''ll be a good experience for me to learn how to manage all of this myself rather than building it up in such a way."
"Oh, so you have to figure out how to make all of this a sess on your own?" Samuel asked surprised to hear this. The princess nodded her head as she began to look through some of the other financial documents to see what other ones were submitted around that same time.
"Something like that. He''ll assist before ites crashing down so to speak, but it''s not likely that that will happen since I''m not doing anything particrly rash that he would need to worry about. Small mergers after all are the best way to start and then building out from that." Samuel had a rather thoughtful expression on his face after he listened to Lena''s exnation. It seemed as though there were still a lot of pieces that weren''t quite what they seemed to be to him.
"It''s almost time for lunch, you can continue working through those if you want until then. My secretary will also being in before that. The knocking on the door will be him." Lena told Samuel as she motioned to the papers that were left on the coffee table. He took the calctor back from her but stopped before headed back over the coffee table.
"What if after college I take over the financial department here?" His question caused Lena to pause what she was doing and look up at him. Did this mean that Sammy-boy have some type of ambition of his own.
"You want to go to college still?" Lena asked, making sure that she heard what he was saying correctly.
"I would like to. I mean, I know the marriage and everything would happen before all of that and maybe going to college would be a bit different once more people know who I am engaged to in the circle you work with, but I would still like to pursue that as an option." Samuel, turning his head to look at the little queen who had a small smirk on her face.
"Perhaps that would be a viable option if you do to college. But, don''t get too far ahead of yourself. It would probably take you at least three if not four years to graduate before that would be an option. It would also have to be cleared by my father before it could be official also."
"You mean to say though that the answer isn''t a no?" He rified, knowing that was what she meant already, but he wanted to hear her say it himself.
"No promises Sammy-boy, but I won''t reject any requests. It''ll just depend on what''s going on during the time that you would be considering going to college. Now, no more talking. I still have a lot of work I need to do and it''s already almost lunch time as it is. I don''t want to be stuck here until midnight." She told him as she put her attention back onto the papers that were in front of her.
It wasn''t a for certain yes, but it was an answer that left the door open for Samuel to go to college. It wasn''t the first degree that he had been considering getting, but finances and math weren''t too far apart, plus there was always a chance that if he could figure out how to make it work, he could barter to try and get both degrees if Lena or her father wouldn''t reject to such a proposal.
Setting back at the coffee table, he nced over at the princess. It made him wonder if she had any ambitions to go to college herself or if she was happy with all the skills she had learned already and hadn''t considered going to college. He wanted to ask her this question, but knew that he would have to wait untilter since he knew how busy she was with all the work she had to do and he didn''t want to take her away from focusing on it.
The princess''s focus was distracted from what she was working on again mere minutes after that because there was a knock on her office door that signaled that the secretary was there.
"Come in." She told them as she didn''t bother looking up from what she was doing as she already knew who would be entering the office.
"Sorry to be intruding." The older man replied as he entered the office. He paused for a second as he closed the door behind when he realized that there was someone else in the office with Lena.
"He''s my fianc¨¦. You''ll be properly introduced to himter." Lena told him as looked up from what she was doing.
"Oh right, sorry princess. I brought what you asked from me. Is there anything else that you need while I am here?" He asked as he walked over to the desk to hand her the ck binder that he was holding. He offered Samuel a polite nod of his head as he walked past the other.
"Actually, there is. Can you find me someone who can trusted as almost one hundred percent reliable and who wouldn''t attract any type of attention or make people suspicious that anything is going on to check some financial records for me?" She asked as she took the folder and set it off to the side where it seemed item that didn''t need her immediate attention had been migrating to.
"Is there something in particr that you would need for them to do? I have a few people in mind who I could call in some favors from, but I would need to know if there is anything specific you need looking into in order to determine who the best choice would be." He replied as he took a small ck book with an pen attached to it out of his pocket so that he could write down the relevant information. It helped him to keep organized.
"I''m not sure if there is anything specific that needs to be looked into beyond numbers not adding up. Perhaps a case inputting the numbers in correct, or someone get clever and thought that they could get away with embezzling funds."
"I see princess. I wille back tomorrow with a few names and you can see who you think would be the best fit? Of course, I will be able to vouch for them in terms of their trustworthiness and ability to get the job done." He replied writing the information down and putting the notebook back in his pants pocket.
"I don''t really care who they are as long as they can out who the problem." Lena replied
Chapter 66 - Questions And Answers
? "Is there anything else that you need while I am here?" He asked as he looked between the princess and Samuel who was watching them interact.
"Not for now. I''ll call youter if anything changes. For now you should go take your lunch since you''re done." Lena replied as she watched him bid farewell and leave the office.
"Wouldn''t it have been fine to introduce me to him while he was here?" Samuel asked uncertain as to the reason behind why she said it could happenter.
"Because although he isn''t a person who tends to be loose with words. The less information that gets out before the engagement is official, the better." The princess replied as she stood up from her chair.
"We should be more focused on eating lunch right now though. We''ll probably be homete for dinner with everything that needs to be done still."
"You could always ask Jeff to bring it to us?" he suggested, but the little queen shook her head as she grabbed the packed lunch bag from the rack where she had hung it.
"I don''t make it a habit to eat dinner here. Plus, knowing him he''d probably be twice aste if I asked him to bring dinner and thene backter to pick us up. It''s better to eat at home." Her reasoning sounded a bit odd to him, but he didn''t argue since she knew Jeff far better than he did.
Taking a seat in the chair opposite of where Samuel was sitting at the sofa she began to unpack the lunch. It was a light lunch made up of sandwiches, sausage rolls and pasta sd.
"What will happen when you found out who''s behind the mismatched financial numbers?" He asked after they had began to eat their lunch.
"It will depend on the reason behind why it happened. Simply mistakes as you pointed out fromputer problems or people having the wrong or different numbers are something that can be forgiven. Mistakes can happen. If there is a purposeful reason behind, there''ll be consequences of course. Legal ones of course." She rified at the end.
"You don''t really let the two different worlds mix that much?" He then asked as he began to eat one of the sandwiches.
"Hmm. It''s not so much that we don''t let them mix as much as there isn''t any reason for them to. Because the underground world can be an inconsistent ce, it''s good to have a hand in the legal side of work as well to handle any type of situation that may ur." She exined, taking a pause in eating as she spoke.
"Certainly some chose to do it because they want to make ties in the legal side of the world that will benefit them if any of their less legal activities end uping to light. A safety so to speak. Others do it because they know eventually they will have to step out of the underground because they aren''t sessful and they need something to turn to that will sustain them regardless if they don''t have a clean record or not."
"That would include the media as well?" She, nodded head in response to this question.
"Of course it would. Though technology and social media allow for more independent media to be run. Paparazzi and the bigger media still has an impact with what they publish. Thus it''s important to keep on their good side or keep them willing to turn their heads away if something is at risk of being leaked. Connections can either be earned or bought depending on the reason that they are needed." She finished speaking before she went back to eating again.
Samuel hardly had any of his questions answered, but it gave him at least a little more insight into how much work went into managing everything to keep the legal and illegal sides separate and to do image management as well. He could only assume that Zane did a very good job handling their image management and that as why hardly anything had ever been leaked out about the group.
Once lunch was finished, they both got back to work though Samuel had a harder time focusing on what was in front of him than Lena did. He didn''t mind going through all of the finances that needed to be taken care of, that didn''t bother him. It was more that since he had started asking questions it felt like he was getting closer to open the door to Pandora''s box and there were still a number of other things that he wanted to know.
It wouldn''t change his decision to get engaged and potential marry Lena, that was something that had already been set. He just wanted to know more about what really went on with her family since he would be marrying into whatever they were a part of.
Lena had already told him that it would be up to Zane to decide what he could or not know prior to them getting married, but he wasn''t sure how to approach such a question with the other man. He always seemed kind enough to him, but Samuel could also feel that there was a intimidating aura about him that always boiling just below the surface that made it hard to speak to him inly.
"If you can''t focus on that, you can always do something else until it''s time to leave. We''ll still be here for quite a while." Lena suddenly speaking broke him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, I don''t mind working on it. There are just a lot of questions I want to ask, but I don''t know what kind of answer I will get in response to them."
"Probably none right now." She answered honestly.
"I don''t mind because I am working. I mean because there''s nothing that should be told before we''re official engaged. Things change and since it''s a few weeks off it is better to keep things as they are until after we''re official engaged."
"But what happens if there''s something I have a problem with once we''re actually engaged and I don''t want to be a part of all this after that?" He countered with answer questions. Lena stopped what she was doing to look at him with a very hard stare.
"That''s the problem here little chickadee. There isn''t really any ''leaving'' once we''re officially engaged and you get answers to the questions you want to ask. The more you know, the harder it is to step out because people outside of our circle will eventually find out that you know too much and that wouldn''t be a safe thing to have happen." She replied.
"And understand, there''s a difference between honesty and a threat. I''m not threatening you in anything that I am saying right now. I am just being honest with you. The more you know, the more dangerous it is. In your case you could say it''s unfortunate because you''ve been put into this type of position without much of a say because of both your parents and my father. Perhaps youe to resent them for thatter on if there are things that you don''t agree with that are going, but it''s life." Samuel listened to what Lena said he wanted to respond, but he could tell that she wasn''t done speaking yet.
"I''m not saying that''s impossible for you to step out of all this right now if that is what you wanted to do, but with the pieces that are already being put into ce and the fact that we''ve agreed to go ahead with the engagement and neither of us or more importantly, you didn''t speak out against it before you eighteen birthday means that window of stepping out from everything has been getting smaller with each passing day."
"Once the engagement bes official more people than you can imagine or will be even invited to the event will know whom I am engaged to as the sessor of the Red Scorpions which is why at the point it will no longer matter what you do or don''t know about we''re involved in. Until that point though, there is a twenty percent chance that if you decide that you want to step away and not go through with this, what that means for your family would be a discussion with my father, but there''s a twenty percent chance you could step out without anything happeningter on in life. So as long as that twenty percent chance is there, none of the questions you have rted to the unground side of our activities will be answered."
"But basically you''re saying that I am already stuck here even if I changed my mind?" He rified as he tried to process everything that she just said to him. He knew what he was getting into as he got older after learning about the arranged marriage, but hearing all of it said out loud somehow made it weigh more heavily to him.
"If that''s how you want to view it, yes. Now, this conversation can be continuedter, but it''s more important to get work done right now." With that Lena ended the conversation and got back to focusing on all the work she had in front of her.
Chapter 67 - No Answers
The rest of the time spent in the office was done in silence. Lena kept her focus on her work so that she could get closer to getting caught up as she knew it wouldn''t be long before more paperwork and events requiring her attention would start piling up on her desk.
Samuel was quiet partly because he was focusing on working through some more of the financial paperwork and looking for any other signs that someone had been messing with the numbers. Mostly it was because he was thinking about Lena had said to him. It really did sound much heavier hearing it out loud than it did when considering what their engagement in his mind.
Considering it from a more heavy perspective didn''t make him want to change his mind about the engagement. He had already made the decision and didn''t think that there was a reason to step out now that he hadmitted to it and both of their families had epted it.
It also didn''t help answer anymore questions for him either. He knew that what he was getting obvious was an engagement to a woman who was part of a well established and most likely feared mafia group, that much was obvious. But the reason why they were feared or what they had aplished to get as far as they had was what he was interested in knowing yet was the one thing he wasn''t being told.
He understood the risk that was associated with finding out more about the illegal side of what the Red Scorpions did, but how was he supposed to decide if he didn''t want to go through with the engagement if that was the one part he wasn''t being told. He would have to find an excuse to talk to Zane about this though he wasn''t sure how that was going to happen.
Jeff had managed to make it on time to pick them up after the princes had messaged him and told him that they would be ready to leave by the time he got there which past seven in the evening. The sun was beginning to set and it was rather dark outside by the time they were driving back.
Since it wasn''t that long of a drive back Lena didn''t mind the fact that it was a rather quiet ride though she didn''t miss the fact that Samuel had been being more quite after their conversation earlier.
She didn''t consider herself having said anything that was out of turn. She had just been being bluntly honest about the situation that he was in and why everyone was being careful not to say too much around him. Even if it didn''t seem like he was going to change his mind and back out of the engagement, they couldn''t be too careful.
She knew earlier that she made it sound like he had a choice in the matter, but the fact was he really didn''t. Especially not after she had given him her parents'' rings. Technically before that even before that actually.
The way everything was being handled was more of a polite formality. The truth of the matter was that the moment he stepped foot onto their estate and stayed, he had pretty much lost his chance to back out of everything even though he went back to spend the time with this family.
It was one of the things that her father had wanted her to exin to him originally when she went to go visit him for his birthday, to let him know that while he was allowed to have that bit of freedom, the moment that Lena agreed to go through with the engagement, Samuel lost the ability to back out of it.
Of course Lena wasn''t going to say that to him, especially not around his family. Meeting them she could read the atmosphere enough to tell that if she said anything along those lines and they ended up overhearing it, it would cause any evenrger problem because it was obvious his family was protective of him.
Lena also didn''t bring it up because she didn''t quite think it was fair. The whole thing in the first ce wasn''t something that she was thrilled about. Her father had the authority to do it because of the situation Samuel''s family had been in and really, she may have been the one who was going to take everything over, but until that point the princess didn''t have the authority to go against her father if he truly wanted to force her to go through with the engagement.
Zane didn''t do that of course though. He knew well enough if he tried something like that with his daughter that she would''ve rebelled. Plus, his own parents might''ve believed that such a strict handling of situations even among family members in the group was the right way to go about everything. Zane however didn''t share their sentiments and preferred to allow his children a touch more freedom unless it was necessary for him to intervene and make a decision whether they agreed with it or not.
They were both going through with the engagement for different reasons. Samuel because of his family and not wanting to put a unnecessary burden by reject Lena which would most likely require them to repay their debts. For Lena it was mostly to humor her father and partly because she found Samuel to be an interesting person.
In terms of emotions- she wasn''t sure that she actually felt anything for him beyond interest and amusement. Samuel certainly wasn''t as bad to be around as her brother or a number of other people she had to deal with growing up. That didn''t automatically mean that she liked him or had feelings for him. Not only that, but she felt that they hadn''t spent enough time together yet for her determine what her feelings were towards. She didn''t even know how Samuel felt about her.
"If I''m not nning on changing my mind and I intend to stick this out, can you talk with your father and see if he would be willing to tell me more?" Samuel asked as they got closer to the estate.
"We can talk to him, but I don''t think that he''s going to change his mind just because you say that you''ve no intention of stepping out of our engagement." Lena replied with a slight sigh. She thought that she had already exined that to him earlier.
"I know that you said, but I still would like to get the chance to talk with him about it myself and see what he says about." He replied. He really didn''t want to have to wait however many weeks were left until they became officially engaged.
"If we do, it would have to be after dinner." The princess told him. She honestly wasn''t even certain if her father was going to be around that night. Most evening he had to elsewhere for business that he couldn''t finish up during the day.
"I don''t mind that." was the response in reaction to this news.
"You certainly can be stubborn when you want to be little Chickadee." Lenamented as they pulled up to the estate. Jeff stepped out to open the car door for them, starting on Lena''s side so that the princess could step out first. He was going to get Samuel''s door for him as well, but the other man had already let himself out.
Much to Lena''s surprise her father was stepping out of front door as they wereing up the steps. She didn''t expect to being back about the time that he was getting ready to leave.
"Lena, Samuel. I see you came backte today." Hemented as he stepped to the side so that he wouldn''t be blocking the door for them to go inside.
"There was a lot of work to catch up on and a possibly a little problem that need to be handled, but nothing serious. We can talk about itter." Lena replied as her father nodded his head in response as a sign that he was listening.
"We can talk about it tomorrow. I have too much to do so I probably won''t being back untilte tonight." he told.
"Alright. Samuel also wants to talk with you when youe back. He wanted to know whether you would be willing to change your decision and allow us to talk more openly about the more underground side of things that we deal with." She told Zane, stopping her father before he walked too far away.
He stopped for a few seconds before he turned back to face both of them.
"That can actually be handled now. I can understand your position since I presume you have no intention of stepping of the engagement to my daughter now that you''vemitted to it this far, but the answer is still no. It''s nothing personal. It''s just better if you don''t know about it right now." After Zane had finished speaking, he didn''t wait for Samuel''s reply before he continued to walk away.
Chapter 68 - Change Your Mind?
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Samuel was rather surprised that Zane had been so quick to shut him down without evening be willing to listen his reasons as to why he wanted to. Of course the Princess wasn''t. She knew how her father worked and that regardless of what the younger man said, he wouldn''t budge on not telling him anything until the engagement was official.
"Don''t take it personal. My father is just stubborn when ites to certain things and won''t change rules that have been put in ce before he was in charge." Lena told Samuel as she started heading towards the front door.
"Plus if you end up standing there for too long, the food that I asked to be heated for us will end up going cold again." Hearing this seemed to snap Samuel out of whatever thoughts were going through his mind as he turned around to follow after Lena.
This time, she didn''t have to ask for him to get the door for her, he opened it himself but was still being oddly quiet. The princess didn''t particrly mind the silence which is why she knew that wasn''t what was bothering her about it. But the reason that it was bothering her she couldn''t quite put her finger on it.
Because her and Samuel were the only ones who would be eating, she asked for dinner to be taken to the sunroom for them. Lena took off her dress shirt and only let on her undershirt so that she could be morefortable eating. Samuel didn''t both changing clothes as he nned on showering after they had dinner anyways.
The dinner was a gosh with garlic bread and roasted asparagus. It seemed simplypared to most of the food that was eaten at Lena''s house, it didn''tck in vor however despite it''s simplistic appearance.
"Are you thinking about changing your mind about this engagement if my father isn''t willing to change his mind and talk to you about what you want to know?" Lena asked breaking the silence not long into the meal. She wanted to know what was on the other''s mind that was making him be so quiet.
"No. I''ve alreadymitted this far to it. I just didn''t expect that he wouldn''t even be willing to talk with me about so I understand why." Samuel replied as he stopped eating to look at the princess.
"It''s because there are certain rules in the way things work here. Plus as I said before, as long as there is some chance that you might change your mind or your parents could speak out against this engagement before it''s official, my father won''t speak or get you involved in anything that would make it harder for you step away from this ce." Lena replied.
"The rules that are in ce around here have been put there usually because of something that happened in the past. Some of the reasons I am aware of, but it isn''t my ce to talk about and some of them are just there and aren''t to be asked about but to just listen." She replied with a slight shrug.
"In a normal family it wouldn''t be that big of a deal to go against a rule that a parent put in ce or something that they say they don''t approve of. Sure you might get yelled at or there would be a mild consequence, but nothing that serious. It''s different here though. Even among parents and children, disrespect or breaking rules is seen as a much more serious offense because the consequences it can have a far worse."
"Which is why you won''t tell me anything either." Samuel surmised.
"Knowing the right battles to argue over are important. In the whole scheme of things, this is a small fight not worth pushing to try and win. Plus for now, I already used up the one chance I had to push things when I told him that I didn''t want to go through with this arranged marriage in the first ce." She exined as she took a sip of the red wine that had been ced alongside the meal next to a ss of ice water.
"What made you change your mind since you were so against it from the start?" Samuel asked figuring that this was a question that the princess would be able to answer since it was something personal.
"Because you''re interesting and not as bad as being around my younger brother all day." She answered honestly.
"Just for that reason?" Samuel rified not certain if he should be offended or take it as apliment.
"Sammy-boy, I don''t like a lot of people and I don''t think that I need anyone with me to take over once my father decides to retire. The idea of having partner is something that''s only important to the older generation here in terms of appearance. Mostly because I am a woman as well." The princess replied.
"I''m not saying that I like you, but rather that you''re interesting and I tolerate you more than other people and you''re not difficult to be around. What trantes in terms of emotional attachment, I can''t tell you, but it doesn''t mean that I dislike you." The way she tried to exin it didn''t make him feel much better about what she had said, but he understood that she was trying to let him know that she didn''t at least dislike or hate himpared to before.
"And what, if I get annoying, you''re just going to break everything off?" He asked a a half joke though quietly hoping that wasn''t the case.
"Who knows. If you turn out to be like my brother or some of the other men around here, I can''t promise I wouldn''t think more than once about annulling our rtionship." She replied though there was a slight smirk on her lips as she spoke a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"Though there is always other options to and fix the problem with first before that happens."
"Other options?" Samuel asked not certain he was going to like what she was thinking about.
"Yes, but as long as you keep being like this little chickadee, you won''t have to worry about what those other options are." She responded. Shifting the dishes back on the table as she had finished eating.
"There are still a lot of things that we need to go over for the engagement as well." The little queen said, changing the subject.
"I thought that we went over all the parts that we needed to take care of and you said everything else would be taken care of by your father?" Samuel asked confused, shifting his dishes now that he had finished eating as well.
"We only went over the schedule and the basics of everything that will be going on." Lena rified.
"There are still a lot of small details to take care of around all of that. The details of the engagement party will be important as well. My father and most of the rest of the family will be expecting that we have an idea for what kind of theme we want to have."
"Theme?"
"You know, flowers, colors. What type of food or cake that we want to have. If we expect guests to bring anything, what decorations and colors do we want. Also what type of venue do we want to use for the engagement." Lena did her best to list off everything that had been discussed with her by her father.
? "Do we really get to make all of those decisions ourselves? I had figured that there was a typical theme was setup by your family for these type of things?" Samuel asked surprised that he and the princess were given so much autonomy over what the engagement party itself would look like.
"Not really because everyone has different tastes. For weddings, engagements, baby showers and simr events, it''s up to both parties to decide what they want do to do. If no decision is made then it will be taken care of by the head of the family who will chose what they think is suitable, but generally there''s no strict control over what has to be chosen."
"Do you have anything in particr in mind that you ever wanted to do for this type of thing?" He then asked.
"Not really." Lena answered almost immediately.
"There has never really been a time I considered what this type of event would look like to me because even before I knew about the arranged marriage, I was never interested in having someone take over with me. Intended to do everything myself thus it wasn''t something worth spending time thinking about." It was an honest answer that made sense from his perspective.
"I guess we''ll be figuring that out together then, because I don''t really know either what this type of thing should look like."
"We have weeks toe backter and think about it. That is if you don''t end up deciding to change your mind at thest minute." The princess replied as she stood up from her chair.
"I don''t think I will. I wonder about how living arrangement change will work though. You said that would also happen after our engagement is official?" Samuel asked watching Lena as she came closer to where he was sitting.
"Yes, my father was the one who said that would work best since there would need to some adaptions made to the rooms to amodate two people and different beds if necessary." She replied.
"However.." She continued as she came to stand near him, putting her hand over his left one that was closest to a her as a smirk appeared on her face again.
"We could always test it out ahead of time and see how it works out."
Chapter 69 - Because My Room Is A Safe Space?
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"I thought you told me before that the rule was that we couldn''t be in each others rooms after nine?" Samuel asked as he felt his arm tingle from where Lena''s hand was resting. It was a very faint but he could tell the princess was moving her fingers ever so slightly on his arm to create that tingling sensation that he was feeling.
"That little chickadee was a rule in ce one of us, meaning you wasn''t eighteen yet. The rule applies only below the age of eighteen to prevent anything unexpected from happening or anything that could poise a problem for anyone under the legal age to rightly be able to handle it." The princess exined as she shifted her hand further up his arm to near his elbow.
"Now that we''re both over the age of eighteen, that rule is nullified." She then exined as she took a step away from him so she was now standing behind the chair in one of his blind spots so he couldn''t see what she was doing.
"What exactly are you insinuating then?" Samuel asked as he turned in his chair to see where Lena was standing. He was surprised to see that she was standing closer to the door and further away from his chair than he had expected her to be.
"Just that the rule''s gone. What you think I mean beyond that is up for you to determine." She replied, the in different expression that was on her face when she said this seemed to be a mask to hide the storm that was brewing behind her eyes that were telling a different story from the words that wereing out of her mouth.
"I hardly believe that is all you''re trying to say." He replied as he stood up from the chair. It was gettingter and after Samuel realized what time it was because of his conversation with Lena, it made his body realize how tired he was.
"Don''t worry about the dishes. Someone wille and take care of them once the door is left open and they know we''re done eating." Lena told him rather than responding to thement that he had made.
Samuel still didn''t quite trust what exactly Lena''s intentions were, but he wasn''t as nervous about her as he had been when he first visited the estate. She wasn''t a gentle person which made her someone that he needed to watch himself around, but she wasn''t as difficult to talk with as he began to understand her personality more.
He felt bad for leaving the dishes alone, especially after being back with his family for so long. It felt wrong to not take care of the dishes himself rather than leaving them for someone else to deal with, but he knew the staff would probably panic if he came in to do his own dishes or at least he assumed by how punctual they were in making sure that everything was correctly done and never seemed to like anyone outside of the staff offering to take care of work.
Leo had tried it before and was shutdown rather quickly. He had also be ustom to taking care of his own dishes,undry, and other tasks after spending years in the UK with only himself and an assigned guardian to watch over him while he was there.
Samuel wasn''t that surprised when Lena followed him out of the room. But her behavior told him that there was something more going through her mind than she was letting on to him.
"Are you really intending to follow me all the way into my room?" He asked once they reached the stop of the stairs and it seemed as though the princess had every intention to do just that.
"Is it a problem if I do? After all, it''s my fianc¨¦''s space which makes it part of my space as well now." Lena replied as though what she was doing wasn''t that big of a deal. Samuel couldn''t argue with that though, technically now that their engagement was moving to be more official, it wouldn''t seem odd for them to be upying the same space even if they slept in separate rooms.
Rather than saying anything else to her, he turned and opened the door to his room, making sure to leave it open and hoping the princess got the point that he wanted it to stay that way even if there was no longer a problem with hering into his room as she liked.
"So you''re saying then that I cane into your room now whenever I want as well and that wouldn''t poise any problem?" He asked as he turned to face the princess who was now sitting on his bed.
"Of course. I never technically had a problem with it before, you just never asked." Lena pointed as she sat on the bed, leaning back and using his hands on the mattress to support herself.
"Though, what actually happens when you decide toe into my room, I can''t promise exactly what that would orwouldn''t be." It was a vague warning, but Samuel understood exactly what she meant by that.
"Are you implying that youe into my room like this because my room is a safe space then?" He asked
"Or rather because I know you wouldn''t actually try anything with me Sammy-boy and even if you did- it wouldn''t get you very far." The smirk had returned to her face as she said this and her eyes had turned a slight shade darker than before.
"Is that so..." He trailed off as he spoke and approached the princess. He wasn''t sure whatpelled him to move, but whatever it was made him want to prove the little queen wrong when she said so casually that he wouldn''t try anything with her.
"Are you sure about that?" He asked as he grabbed her hands and pushed her back so that she wasying underneath him and he was looming over her. His grip on her arms which were had been shifted so that they were pinned close to her body. However it wasn''t a very tight grip and by the way he was positioned even Lena could tell he wasn''t being serious about it.
Samuel would''ve been more annoyed at herck of reaction if it wasn''t for the fact that the way their upper bodies were almost touching he could feel that her heart rate was slightly elevated despite the calm look on her face.
"You know though, if you''re going to be serious about, your grip really shouldn''t be so soft." The little queen told him as she meet his gaze, her voice not even showing that she was fazed in the slightly by the shift in position.
"Are you saying that you want me to be more serious about this?" Samuel asked as he leaned slightly closer to the other''s face.
"No, I''m just giving some advice since it seems like you don''t quite know what you''re doing and if you''re intention is to prove a point, I rmend doing it more seriously." Lena replied. She could that the other wanted to kiss by the way he was looking at her, but he was being hesitant about it.
A part of her wanted to show him what happened when he tried to make a point in such a haphazard way without being serious about by flipping their situation around, but the other part of her was amused to see how far he would actually take it.
In order to entice him into doing what she wanted him to and what she knew he wanted to, she liked her bottom lip slowly with the tip of her tongue as a tease. She noticed that his breath hitched slightly when she did this but that there wasn''t much else of a change in his expression as he continued to look at her. The princess''s patience was going to run thin if he either didn''t kiss her or move position so that she could take control.
Doing a mental countdown in her head to stop herself from moving too quickly due to impatience, she only managed to four before he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.
It wasn''t the same type of rough kiss that she often gave him. It was a firm in the way that he pressed his lips against hers, but in a more sensual way that drew out the feeling of warmth that spread when their lips connected. The princess didn''t fully let him take the lead in kissing however and was the first one react by nipping his lip in order to get him to open his mouth for her to explore with this tongue.
Samuel wasn''t as timid as he used to be, but he certainly wasn''t expecting Lena to take the kiss as far as she had by pushing him to let her explore his mouth with her tongue. He didn''t object to this action as he still felt like he didn''t quite know what he was doing.
Unlike what he was anticipating, Lena wasn''t as forceful as she took control of the kiss even after she had taken it a step further. Her tongue and mouth were certainly in control of the kiss, but she didn''t make painful or forceful but instead kept it at the same sensual pace he had set when he first kissed her.
Neither one knew how long the kisssted but they only broke off when they needed to breath. Lena''s elevated breathing was more controlled than Samuel''s was but neither one was ready to break their gaze away from the other but at the same time didn''t seem intent on making a move to do anything else.
The only thing that broke them away from staring at each other and not moving from their current position was Lena''s phone ringing in her pocket.
Chapter 70 - Bed Thief
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Samuel let go of Lena''s wrists and took a step back so that the princess had enough space to look at her phone. ncing at her phone Lena saw that it was her father who was calling which meant that it was a call she couldn''t get away with ignoring because he probably needed something from her.
"It''s my father calling." She told him realizing that the other couldn''t see who was calling.
"Better not to ignore that. I need to take a shower anyways." He told her as he took a step towards the bathroom.
"You can stay here if you want or if you leave just make sure to close the door behind you." He told the little queen as he stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind himself.
Being alone somehow made him more self-conscious about what had just happened in the bedroom. Absentmindedly his tongue over his lips allowing him to feel how warm and swollen they still were. It wasn''t a situation that he was used to being in, but he didn''t feel as though he did anything wrong by his actions, nor did Lena seem to mind it.
ncing in the mirror he saw how flushed his face looked. It was just a kiss but why did his face make it seem like he was more turned on by it then he should''ve been? He had never really been in this type of situation before so he couldn''t really reason with himself as to why he reacted so strongly.
He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. It really wasn''t what he needed to be focusing on right then and there. He was there to take a shower ande back out. Hopefully when he did Lena would''ve left by then because of whatever her father needed or got bored and decided to leave for the night. In order to make sure this was the case, he decided that it couldn''t hurt to take a little longer in the shower than usual. It would help him topose himself anyways.
Much to his slight mixed disappointment, Lena was still on his bed when he came out. She had shifted position however so that she was resting up against the headboard. She had leg stretched out straight and the other was tucked up against her chest and acting as a rest for her arms that were supporting her head. Her eyes were closed, but Samuel couldn''t tell based upon her breathing if she was sleeping or just resting his eyes. He sincerely hoping that it was theter rather than the former. He didn''t know what he would if she actually fell asleep on his bed.
"Princess, I''m out of the shower and it''s getting ratherte." He told her, keeping his voice in a low tone so that he wouldn''t risk startling her if she was actually sleeping. He waited for a few seconds for a reply, but when she didn''t even stir an inch, he was left to assume that she had actually fallen asleep in the short (twenty-minute) time he had gone to take his shower and he wasn''t sure how he was going to be able to get his bed back.
Samuel wanted to be able to sleep as well, but he didn''t exactly feelfortable moving the princess as he wasn''t sure how she would react nor did he want to risk waking her up since it seemed obvious to him that she must''ve been exhausted if she fell asleep in such an ufortable looking position.
He decided to go for the second option which would either be to try and sleep in the chair in his room, which he doubted would work very well since he was much taller than Lena was or he could try and sleep on one of the futons or sofas in the greeting room for guests.
He knew that he could''ve probably gotten away with sleeping in Lena''s room if he wanted to, but something about that didn''t feelfortable to him even though no one else probably would''ve cared. To him without her being in her room as well it felt like it was an invasion of space. Unlike the room he had been given here which he''d only used for a handful of days, Lena''s room was one she''s upied for far longer and actually belonged to her since the house was her family''s.
Hence he decided that for his ownfortability he would make do sleeping out of a bed for a night. It wasn''t like it was a regr urrence or at least he didn''t think it would be one.
The next morning when Lena woke up, she could immediately tell that two things were out of ce- she wasn''t sleeping her room and her body was stiff from the position that she was in.
Her mind was still clouded with sleep so it took her a few seconds to remember what had happened the night before, she didn''t recall falling asleep. She winced as she opened her eyes and stretched her leg that had been tucked up against her chest. It had fallen asleep from being stuck in the same ufortable position for too many hours. Once she saw where she was at, she began to slowly remember what happened.
Scanning the room though, she could tell that it still wasn''t that light outside yet, but Samuel was nowhere to be seen in the room. Was he already awake or did he sleep elsewhere since she was obviously on his bed? Whatever the answer was, she knew that she needed to get up anyways. Her body was too stiff for her to be able to sleep anymore in it''s current state.
She stretched her legs over the edge of the bed for a moment or two before she attempted to stand up. Stretching her book as she stood, she felt some of the stiff muscle pop and stretch into a position that was less painful. She needed to keep in mind next time to fall asleep in a morefortable position.
Leaving Samuel''s room, her first intention was to go to her own room so that she could shower and change clothes. Even though she was still tired, she knew that she couldn''t afford to sleep anymore because there were a lot of other things that she needed to do and if she ever intended to catch up, she needed to forgo a little bit of sleep for a while to do that.
The shower helped her to feel better and she dressed into something more casual andfortable, a polo shirt and cks since she wasn''t going to have to head to the office in the morning. There were other things that she needed to take care before that plus she knew that if her secretary needed in regards to the financial issue that needed to be dealt with that he would have no problem giving her a call.
Heading down to the main part of the house, she was still curious to know where Samuel was or rather where he had decided to sleep for the night. The house did have guestrooms aside from the one that he had been given to use, but she got the feeling that he wouldn''t have known or inquired about it and slept elsewhere.
"Well, well. I see that the bed thief has decided to wake up early." The princess wasn''t surprised in the slightest to see Leo sitting on one of the sofa''s with his legs crossed and a book in his hands. He still was getting used to the time difference from being in the UK for so long that he was often awake or sleeping at odd hours as his internal clock worked to adjust to the time changes.
"Where''s Samuel?" Lena asked ignoring thement he had made since she was certain that he probably knew where the other was since he had evidentially been awake for a while.
"He''s in the kitchen currently working on breakfast with Ryan''s permission of course." Leo replied as he set down the book on hisp.
"I honestly didn''t think you''d be one for gettingfortable enough to fall asleep in someone else''s space." Hemented.
"It was because I was tired." She responded with an indifferent expression on her face. Late nights and little sleep time had gotten her used to sleeping in a variety of different ces, though rarely did she sleep in anyone else''s room except for her own.
"If you say so sister." Leo replied with a shrug of his shoulders though the look on his face said that he thought that there was more to it than just Lena being exhausted.
"Either way, you should apologize to him when you see him since he ended up sleeping out here on the sofa. Though they arefortable, I doubt he slept as well as you did." Lena made a nonitial noise in response to what Leo said.
Chapter 71 - Unexpected Visit
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Rather than waiting in the guest area with her brother, Lena decided that she would wait in the dinning room since she was certain that Samuel would be brining the food out once he was done.
While waiting she decided to look through her phone to make sure that she didn''t miss anything important as she had fallen asleep much earlier than she usually did. There were always a few little things that would need her attention, but it didn''t seem that after the call she had gotten, her father had made any contact with her again. Considering how early it was, the princess wouldn''t be that surprised if Zane hadn''te back home yet.
Looking at the time again and thinking back to what Leo had said, she wondered if Samuel did have a hard time sleeping well or if he was just up early because of the new schedule they were going to have to both be working with for the next few weeks. It was something that she could ask him when he was done cooking.
Not being ready to start anything yet and knowing that Samuel would probably be done soon, she stayed in her ce at the table and rested her arms on the table andid her head on top of them, closing her eyes as she thought about the best way to construct her own schedule for the next few days.
"Oh Lena. I didn''t expect you be awake already." by the tone of his voice, it was evident that he was surprised to see her awake and at the table.
"I could say the same to you." She replied as she opened her eyes to look at him. She noticed that clothes appeared to be covered in flour, from what, she wasn''t sure but it made her curious.
"You know you could''ve woken me up so you could''ve slept better as well." She told the other as she sat up. Samuel gave her an awkward smile when she said this.
"I know, but I didn''t want to wake you up since it seemed like you were really tired.Plus it wasn''t that bad to sleep out on the futon even though Leo was also there." He replied.
"Next time though, don''t worry about waking me up and just do it. You also need to be getting enough sleep since there''s a lot you''re going to have be doing these next weeks as well. You''re new schedule is going to be starting today." Lena reminded.
"And what are you doing that ended up making such a mess?" She asked pointing the flour that was on his shirt and pants. He nced down at himself to see what she was looking at as though he didn''t realize that he was covered in flour.
"Oh. I was working on making turnovers for breakfast. I probably used a bit too much flour when I was rolling them out. It''s nothing that brushing this off won''t fix when I''m done." He replied as he looked at this clothes.
"I''m surprised that you''re able to get away with making such a mess in there. Ryan doesn''t generally like anyone making a mess of his kitchen." The princessmented. At least that was how it had been when she was younger. She was allowed in the kitchen as long as she didn''t make a mess of things. There had been a few asions however that she had been removed for not using the flour the way flour was meant to use and Ryan couldn''t handle it because had too much work to keep an eye on her and he didn''t have nearly as many members of his team to help out.
"He said he doesn''t mind that much since I told him that I would be cleaning it up when I''m done, plus the mess is just concentrated to the area that I am working in." Samuel replied as he turned around to head back to the kitchen.
"They''ll be done soon if you want to have breakfast." He told her over his shoulder.
"You can tell them that they can bring the food to my office. There''s some stuff that I need to work on this morning." She replied as she stood up from the table. She may not have had to go into the office early that morning, but there was still a lot of work that she needed to get done. Plus she was sure that if Zane came back soon he was going to want to talk with her. Which wasn''t a problem to her as there was stuff she needed to go over with her father anyways.
Once she was actually in her office, she realized that she should''ve requested to have coffee brought to her as well. She needed something to help clear her head so that she could focus on everything that she needed to get done. After eight, everything was going to start getting busy and she still needed to carve out time to make a few extra calls rted to setting up the various pieces prior to the engagement.
Picking up the phone on her desk, she pressed the number that she knew would connect her with Ryan in the kitchen. She was going to start with one cup of coffee but she was fairly certain that she would need more before the day got too far along.
Since she only drank ck coffee, she wasn''t surprised that it didn''t take that long for the knock on her door toe after she had requested it. She told the person on the other side that they coulde in, but she was expecting it to be one of the other staff members, not Ryan himself delivering her office.
"To what pleasure do I owe this visit?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Although they had known each other for years, it had been quite some time since they had taken the time to hold a conversation.
"I just thought that I woulde and pay a visit for once since there''s someone else handling the kitchen right now and I don''t actually have to hover to make sure that nothing gets broken or burned down." Ryan replied as he set the cup of coffee of her desk.
"How have you been? I have been hearing about this whole engagement thing with Sam, but to think it''s progressed as far as you falling asleep on someone else''s bed? That''s certainly an interesting turn of events." He teased with a smile. The princess rolled her eyes at hisment.
"Leo really needs to learn when to hold his tongue better." She grumbled as she picked up the cup coffee, blowing on it before she took a sip. It was still a little bit warm for her tongue, but she enjoyed the taste of the dark liquid as it slid down her throat nheless.
"Oh, I didn''t actually hear this from him this time. This actually came from Samuel himself. His exnation for why he wanted to upy my kitchen so early in the morning when hardly anyone else is awake." Ryan replied as he took a seat in one of chairs set further away from her desk.
"The same thing would still apply to him as well." Lena retorted. It wasn''t that she minded that it was something that happened, but rather, she didn''t want everyone want to be hearing about the shift in her personality that could be traced back to this new person who hade around. At least not until everything had gone smoothly with the engagement and she was certain as to what her own feelings were.
"I don''t think it''s a bad thing. It wasn''t like he was giving you a hard time about it either. He talked about it very matter-of-factly. Perhaps maybe a touch concerned for how tired you are." Ryan rified, but it didn''t do much to make the princess feel better about it.
"Who knows, maybe he''ll end up being good for you. Still a while to go before the engagement is official though?" He then asked looking at everything was ced on Lena''s desk.
"Mostly just a bunch of small pieces that need to be put together and then my father will take care of inviting the guests. Some things still need to be decided." She replied as she looked at the calendar on herputer. She had put a lot of appointments on it already, but there was still a lot more she had to add.
"You''ll of course be expected to make something that would be fitting for the event." She told the chef who didn''t seem bothered by this.
"This is exactly why I have over the years continued to request for my crew to expand, precisely for events like this. Never thought I''d get to see the day when you get married though." Lena gave him a look that said ''nothing is final yet''
"What about you? You''re a few years older than me, shouldn''t you think about finding someone?" her question caused Ryan tough.
"Right with the little time I have. Maybe once I am able to train someone who can work as efficiently as me and would allow me to take some off I''ll consider it."
"Don''t wait too long otherwise you''ll end up getting too old for all of that."
"Nah. I still have another ten good years or so at least before I really need to worry." he replied, brushing off herment.
"I should be heading back to the kitchen now though. I trust Samuel, but those turnovers will need to be pulled out at the right time to keep them soft and I''m not sure he knows how long that is." Ryan told her as he stood up from the chair. He picked up the princess''s now empty coffee cup before he got ready to leave.
"I''ll also make sure that this gets refilled and brought back by someone else." He could tell that she was going to need more coffee to help her get through the day.
Chapter 72 - New Schedule
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Lena was able to work undisturbed for near half an hour after someone hade back in to deliver the fresh cup of coffee to her. She was thankful for it as she really did need more coffee to get her mind in proper working order.
The next person to enter office after that was Samuel who brought breakfast with him. Lena noticed that he was holding two tes, but he answered before she could speak.
"I thought that I could join you for breakfast in here since no one is up yet to eat aside from Leo?" Samuel told her as he held out one of the tes to her.
"You could''ve eaten out there with him. I am sure that he would''ve appreciated thepany." Lena replied as she took the te from him. The food smelled good and from what she could tell, there were both sweet and savory ones on her te.
"He probably would''ve, but I wanted toe in here because I know there are still a few things that we need to work out about this schedule and what''s going on." He didn''t want to tell her that his actually reason for wanting to avoid eating with Leo came from a previousment the other had made that morning in regards to still ''being avable'' if Samuel ever decided to change his mind and not go through with the engagement to his sister.
He tried to tell himself that it was probably just a joke to try and get him flustered or to ruffle his feathers, but there''s also something about the way that Leo said it that made him think that he wasn''t quite joking about it either and he didn''t want to take a risk of finding out if it was a joke or not.
"That''s right, and there are some people that I am going to be needing to introduce you that will be a part of this schedule as well. Not only do we have to make sure that everything is in order for the engagement, you still need to work on your ability to defend yourself." Lena took a bite of one of the savory turnovers first and was surprised that it tasted better than she had expected. Not that she thought Samuel couldn''t cook, but more that she had never tasted a turnover filled with anything other than fruit or something simrly sweet.
"Does that mean I should be expecting to be spending more time at the gun range?" Samuel as he started eating his own food.
"That, but also we''ll also be working on making you more capable of being able to physically defend yourself as well. Learning how to use a gun is most important, but if something happens to your gun and you can''t defend yourself in close range, that wouldn''t be an eptable situation."
"Do I take that to mean you have someone in mind to work with me or is that supposed to be you?" The princess shook her head in response to this question as she kept eating.
"It won''t be me. You''ll be working with someone who''ll help figure out what the best kind of style for you will be. sure I could train you, but not everyone can adapt well to certain types of defensive and offensive types of physical defense. Thus you need someone who''s going to be able to figure that out with you. It''ll probably take some time as well which is why I had put it down twice a week for now, but it can be changed if necessary." The princess exined as she set her te down.
"You''ll get the chance to meet them and talk before anything goes on. If it doesn''t work out, we can find someone else. I just picked someone I felt would be a good fit for your personality. I had considering appealing to the person who has trained me over the years, but I don''t think he would be a good fit for you."
? "What makes you think that?" He asked intrigued as to what type of person would''ve been in charge of training a younger Lena.
"Because he''s someone whose far harsh than you would easily be able to handle. He''s not of a gentle nature and expects a lot of people. Plus, he doesn''t treat those outside of the family group with the same level of patience and tolerance either." The princess exined.
"And he hasn''t just trained me, he''s someone that my grandfather found and hired for his skill so he''s worked with most everyone in the family for a generation and a half, except for Leo."
"His training was handled while he was overseas?" Samuel guessed. It would make sense considering how young the other still was when he left.
"That, but he also didn''t think he would work well with the younger Leo either. My brother was good at what he put his mind to, but he was more fixated and logical and analytical things when he was younger and didn''t want to put the same attention into learning things beyond what he needed to in terms of self-defense and fighting." She replied as she thought back on how they were growing up.
At the back of her mind, she knew that it was one of the reasons there hadn''t been as big of a protest to her making it clear that she wanted to seed her father rather than letting her younger brother do it. People object still of course, less to her or her father''s face directly but they couldn''t argue that she had more of the ambition and spirit than her brother did to do it.
The little queen never viewed as being apetition between her and her brother or that only one could be in charge. She thought of it more as Leo being better equipped and capable of handling the legal side of business while she dealt with the underground side.
"He wasn''t groomed to take over the same way you were?" She didn''t mind answering some of the questions, but the princess still didn''t like talking so much.
"It wasn''t that he wasn''t, but rather we had different interests that lead my father to leading us towards what he thought would be best suited for us. My brother could''ve been the one to take over if he wanted to be, but he indirectly rejected it over the years while he was in the UK. My father never took the option away from him however and I''m sure there are some now who still pressure him to make that decision even though he isn''t intent on it like I am." She finished off thest turnover on her te but didn''t feel quite feel enough. It would have to do for now though because she had too many other things to do.
"There''s a few hours still before that part of your schedule will start. Today we''ll also be resuming dance practice in preparation for the engagement party. Before that, why don''t you tell me what you thought about for college? I can''t say what my father would think about it, but if you''re intent on going, it''s a good idea to consider it for a future schedule." The sudden change in topic surprised Samuel.
"You mean that I could actually get the chance to go to college still?" The surprise was evident in his voice as he spoke. Lena rolled her eyes at this.
"It''s not like you''re going to be forced to be under lock and key the whole time once we''re officially engaged and then married and unable to do anything normal." She replied
"Though nothing is for certain and I''m not going to say yes because it''s not technically something I have say over. It would be possible through an online or distance learning n. Considering we''ll be engaged, it wouldn''t be allowed most likely for you to go to a university that would require you to be onsite."
"Because of all the people?" He guessed
"Exactly. It would be too risky at least in this area to go college." She confirmed.
"Then going overseas for college would be okay?" Lena gave him a nk look when he asked this. She couldn''t tell if he was being serious or joking by making such a far out suggestion.
"Little chickadee, perhaps if that is your suggestion for a solution or only option for going to college it would be better to keep you under lock and key as a house husband." She sighed seemingly annoyed. Not entirely an impossible request to fulfill, but one she would not only have to sell to her father butpletely rearrange her schedule for two to four years depending on how long Samuel Intended to be in college for.
Her morning was going to definitely require more than two cups of coffee and she hadn''t hardly started on what she needed to do for the day.
Chapter 73 - College Options?
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Joking or serious, the idea of being kept under lock and key was not appealing to Samuel.
"I wasn''t actually serious about asking to go to college overseas, although I have thought about it. I was mostly asking to understand what the boundaries of safety are considering in going to college." He exined defending the question that he had asked.
"The boundaries of what are safe and not are what I pretty much what I just exined." Lena replied, not seeming any less annoyed.
"It''s not an option to go to a university around here because of the risks, as I said before. You''d be a target for too many people and even if decided to attend with you, it would hardly decrease the risk. Certainly there could be some financial that could help better assure your safety in such a case, but you''d be too much of a target following the engagement party. Already, a lot of people are going to be trying to get close to you after that as it is." Samuel wanted to interject to ask question, but Lena held her hand to let him know that she wasn''t finished speaking yet.
"The other potential option would be that you could attend a university in another state. Somewhere further away where you wouldn''t be at as great of a risk, but still even in that situation, you wouldn''t be allowed to go on your own for safety purposes. Thus either I or someone else would have to go with you."
"Overseas could be an option, but it depends on where and why. You could see about going to university in the UK since Leo would be there and you''d need a sponsor from our family to go with you if you wanted to do that. That would generally be me and that would require a whole shift in schedule among other things." The princess didn''t miss the change in expression that passed over Samuel''s face after she suggested he could potential go to the UK with her brother for college.
"You don''t get along well with my brother?" The princess''s change in question caught Samuel off guard.
"It''s not that I don''t get along with him, he''s just a bit different to deal with than you." He replied. He didn''t know how to exin to what the real issue was without it potentially causing problems between the siblings especially since he wasn''t certain that Leo was even serious with thements that he made half the time.
"Of course we''re different, but between the two of us, he''s not as hard to deal with if you''re straight forward with him. But if he doesn''t listen, I can always discuss with him how not to harass my fianc¨¦ until he''s morefortable with everything." Lena''s offer was something that Samuel would keep in mind for the future.
"On the other topic though. I understand what you''re saying about safety and all that- it would be better for me to attend something long distance so that it decreases risks and all that. For the experience though, I would like to consider other options that would be not as dangerous but allow me to attend university physically." He partially understood the risks that Lena was talking about, but the opportunity to attend university physically was something the didn''t want to give up, if there was an option to do it.
"You''ll be the one who has to pitch it to my father then since it''s something you''re so serious about. I won''t reject if my opinion is asked, but I also wouldn''t approve of it in the say I have over it if I don''t think that it''s safe enough." The princess replied. College wasn''t something that she was particrly interested in. She felt like she had learned everything that as important to sessfully taking over her family from her father and what she had observed over the years. She didn''t feel that there was much that she would be able to learn from college, but at the back of her mind she got the feeling that if Samuel was adamant about it, her father would make her attending with him one of the requirements to make it happen.
"That sounds fair enough. Also though, back to what you had mentioned earlier- were you serious when you talked about keeping me under lock and key if this is something that bes an issue?" The princess gave him a mildly bemused look when he asked this question, had he taken her seriously when she said that? Her expression turned into a smirk when she considered the fact that he was probably taking her seriously because of the way that she had brought it up.
"We can talk about this moreter. We need to get ready to leave for dance practice though. After that, I expect the rest of the cake you said you brought with you." Lena told him as she fixed the tes on her desk so that they were positioned in a steadier location so that whoever came to pick them up wouldn''t risk knocking them over or having them fall in the meantime.
"The rest of it? You do realize that I have at least four pieces left, maybe more since I wasn''t the one who packed it." Samuel questioned, not sure that the little queen was aware of how much was exactly left. He knew that she enjoyed sweets, but he wasn''t sure that she could handle that much cake considering how sweet it was.
"It''s one of those days. "She replied as he held the door open for so that she could walk out first. She also needed to remember to put in the request for more coffee. She was going to need that too when she came back.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 74 - Dance Practice And Planning
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Dance practice went about the same as it had previously, minus the fact that Lena was not so harsh with where she put her feet even though she still insisted that she was one to take the lead in the dance. Samuel didn''t object as he had already expected this, though he had hope that she''d notice that he had been taken some time to practice when he was back with this family. They had an old family friend who used to run a dance studio before he retired.
Samuel had initially been willing to pay him to ask for help in learning how to dance better, but the man insisted that he would do it for free as he was just excited to have someone young like him who was interested in ballroom dancing. Most of the younger kids around his age apparently had no such interest in learning as they didn''t think it was something they would ever be using. Samuel had been of the same mindset as well until he met Lena. The princess''s stepping on his foot none-too-gentle brought him out of his thoughts with a hiss.
"While I appreciate that it''s evident you''ve been working to improve your ability to dance. I would also appreciate if you would stay present while we''re dancing and I''m trying to talk to you." Lena told him as with annoyed look.
"Sorry, I was just thinking how I never thought that this was something I would have to learn how to do even knowing about the arranged marriage." He apologized as he tried to put his focus back on what they were doing.
"Well now that you do, I suggest keeping better focus on it. It''s not something that you will be having to do often yet at least. In the future though, there''ll be a lot of events we''ll be attending that will require you to know such skills." Replied. She was mildly surprised that he didn''t seem to be having as much of a problem with following her movements even though he had been lost in thought while she was trying to talk with him.
"What I had been trying to ask you though was if you had a preference for the music or dance that we should focus on for the engagement party?" he frowned when she asked.
"Do we actually get to chose what we want to do?" He asked.
"Yes. There''s no dance that''s particrly traditional to the family in terms of engagement or marriage. The preferred choice of music is perhaps limited to what would be suited for this type of dancing, but the dance itself is up for debate." The princess replied as she led him through an underarm turn. This was one part where Samuel was still awkward about it. Of course, the height difference between him and her didn''t help as the turn was more awkward to do because of this.
"Is there something that you would want to do? You refer to me in a lot of this, but don''t you have your own ideas about what you might want to do?" He asked instead of giving her an answer. She made a noise in the back of her throat that sounded like an objection to his question.
"I refer to you because I don''t have any thoughts on the matter, and I don''t know if you do." She replied. It was true, there hadn''t been a time in the past where she had given much thought in what she thought having an engagement party or wedding would look like. Unlike her peers, it wasn''t something that she had much of an interest in.
"I get that there are a lot of girls my age who have every little detailed nned out about what they
want, who will be attending and how things will go, but I''m not one of those people." She rified.
"For me, I see it as something that happens as part of the process of getting married and the act of it happening is part of my family''s tradition. What goes into though has always been left for the couple to decide on."
"I guess that I would need some time to think about it then. I haven''t given it that much thought either because I didn''t know what to expect and I can''t say designing is my specialty."
"We have two weeks to figure everything out before we''ll be getting pestered about what our ns are and how we intend to go about everything." She thought that giving him an outline would him to think about it more seriously.
"But that isn''t actually when the engagement party will be taking ce, right?" He rified. He thought that they had more time than that and didn''t think that he would be mentally prepared if they were to be expected to have the official engagement party in only to weeks.
"No we have more time than that before the party itself will be taking. That''s just the timeframe to make sure that everything will be finished and setup the way we want it to be in time. We also have to get my father''s approval to make sure that it isn''t anything too oundish." The princess exined. Their conversation came to an end after this because Santi decided to intervene in their dancing to critique them as he felt that their movements were bing sloppy rather than as dignified as he was supposed to make sure that they were.
By the time that they had finished, Lena had somehow missed three different calls and a number of text messages. She had forgotten that she had muted her phone that morning because she wanted to be able to focus on other things for a while. The least important call came from her secretary letting her know that he had found a number of people he thought she would approve of to help her investigate the financial matter at work. She could look through thistter. A second call came from her father letting her know that he wouldn''t being back until the evening, but there were things they needed to discusster that night. The third call came from an unknown number that had left a nk voicemail.
Her initial thought was to ignore it and delete it, but a second thought made her reconsider this. The text messages were what surprised her most- Clive''s wife had given birth to their daughter. It was too many weeks too early, but he assured that both his wife and child were fine. The rest of the message came from other members of staff that were included in the group chat along with one from her father. She would have to think about paying him a visitter.
The princess had been looking forward to the cup of coffee she expected to find her office when she got back. However, she was lead to disappointment when she saw that tea had reced the anticipated dark, heavily caffeinated liquid and the note that had been ced under it didn''t help fix her food.
"You''re far too young to be drinking so much coffee Princess. Instead, try this tea, it''ll be much better for you - Ryan.
She would have to have a discussion with him about thistter she thought with a sigh as she picked up the cup. It wasn''t going to be as good as coffee, but she wouldn''t let it go to waste.
Chapter 75 - Clarice Seymore
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Samuel had taken a few minutes to rest his feet in his room after dance practice before he collected the cake that Lena had requested. He wasn''t sure where the princess had disappeared to after dance practice as she had ended up leaving before he was done and had swapped his shoes. Santi had asked him to stay back after he was finished practicing with Lena so that he could show the younger man how to better hold his form and look more graceful as he was dancing.
Samuel had expected to be able to find Lena in her office, but she wasn''t there when knocked or peeked his head inside. Regardless, he had decided that he would get the cake together anyways and leave it in her office since he was certain that was where she would being back to once she was finished with whatever had taken away her attention.
"Excuse me young man, I can see that you have your hands full, but I was hoping you could let me know if this is the Scarlet residence? I realize that I am a bit earlier than the agreed upon time but I wanted to make sure I would know where exactly I am going to." Samuel had to tilt his head slightly around the cardboard boxes of cake he was carrying to see the older rather tall and elegant woman who was upying one of the sofa''s in the guestroom right inside the front door.
"It has been a few years since I visited, but I presumed so since this appears to be the only estate in the area and I was told the door would be unlocked for me to enter when I got here, but I wanted to doublecheck." She continued on as Samuel looked at her rather confused. Even though it seemed like she was a expected guest, he wasn''t sure how to respond to her question.
"This is the Scarlet estate yes, but I can''t tell you where Lena or Zane are currently." He replied giving an honest yet uncertain reply to her question.
"You''re on a first name-basis with them I see. I guess that must make you the fianc¨¦, Samuel Foster was it." The woman''s interest seemed even more peaked now that she knew who he was. She stood up from her seat and approached him. She no more than maybe three inches shorter than him.
"That''s correct." He replied as he shifted the boxes of cake slightly so that he wouldn''t risk dropping them. Even though they weren''t all that heavy, they were still rather awkward for him to try and hold.
"Well since you''re the person that I was supposed to be introduced to anyways. Why don''t I help you take these to where you''re going and then maybe we can take a few minutes to talk?" The woman suggested as he grabbed the top two boxes off the stack, careful to not unsettle the rest.
"I was getting ready to take these to the princess''s office, but I''m not sure how she would feel abouting back to an unexpected guest."
"Oh, I''m sure she will be fine with it. After all, I''m not all that unexpected since I was invited toe here today in the first ce. Come along then. This cake looks rather tempting and if I have to hold it much longer than you did, I''m not sure I could stop myself from wanting to eat it." The woman joked as she began to lead the way. Samuel didn''t miss for a second that it seemed this woman knew her way around the house, had she been here before and he just never noticed her?
Reaching Lena''s office, she ushered Samuel inside as she closed the door behind them. Taking the boxes in one hand, she shifted a few things on the desk before she set the boxes down on the space she had made. Turning around, she grabbed the boxes from Samuel''s hands as well and put them next to the others.
"Now why don''t we sit down and take a few minutes to get to know each other before Lenaes back and we need to get all serious about everything?" The older woman suggested as she made herselffortable in one of the guest chairs and motioned for Samuel to join her in the other.
"I''m sure you''re wondering who I am anyways. Not like you need to worry though- I''m not going to bite or anything. Though I must admit, you''re far more adorable than Lena had told me you would be. Had she expressed that better, I might''ve made more time in my schedule to sooner." The woman rested her chin on her left hand that was being propped by her elbow on the chair of the arm as she looked at the other.
"Yes I am rather curious to know who you are and how you seem to be so familiar with Lena." Samuel replied as he decided to take a seat in the chair that was further away from the other instead of sitting right next to her.
"I see. I guess that must mean that she didn''t tell you who I am or what business I have here." The woman mused with a slight roll of her eyes.
"Always like her to leave out the small important details when she doesn''t think it is necessary to give them out ahead of time. No matter, the name is rice Seymore and I''m the one that Lena might''ve mentioned brining about to help you with physicalbat?" The woman''sment caused a look of surprise to pass over his face. Of course he hadn''t been told that the person who would be in charge of training him in physicalbat would be a woman.
Considering how elegant the woman looked in her dress jacket and pants with ck heeled boots, that was thest thing he would''ve guessed about this room.
"Indeed I can tell by your expression that she must''ve left out a few important details about the kind of person who would be in charge of your training. No matter, you''ll get to figure out what kind of person I am rather quickly."
"How are you rted to Lena though?" Samuel asked as he tried to process what he was finding out.
"Oh because I am part of one of the smaller families around here that falls under the protection and control of the Red Scorpions. I have known Lena for years. Back when she was so small that she wouldn''t have even reached your knee." She used her hand to indicate how tall Lena would''ve been.
"Honestly though, I was surprised by the sudden request from her. It has been a few years since west saw each other and I never would''ve guessed her reason for getting in touch with me would be something like this." As she spoke, her eyes were still going over Samuel as though she was still trying to take everything in about him.
"One of the smaller families controlled by Lena''s family?" Samuel repeated. He was interested to hear more about this, but he was hope of hearing something more from rice was shutdown when the woman waved him off.
"You''ll hear more about thatter I''m sure. I believe that I was told to keep the stories and information to things that would be okay for you to know. Though there are a few fun stories I''m sure I could tell you about Lena that she wouldn''t want to get out."
"You breathe one word about anything like that and I find out, you''ll be doing this job for free as a favor without pay." Both Samuel and rice turned their heads when they heard Lena''s voice as the office door opened. She looked rather unamused most likely due to what she had heard them talking about.
"Lena dear! It''s so great to see you after so many years." The woman practically jumped up out of her seat to give the young girl a huge hug. Lena didn''t seem all that thrilled about it, but she didn''t reject the hug other.
"Goodness. It really does seem that you haven''t grown all that much since Ist saw you what five, six years ago? I was certain you''d have grown a little bit since then." rice took a step back so that she could give the other a better look over. Lena''s expression hadn''t changed much though there was a twinkle of something different in her eyes as she looked at the other woman.
"I have, but apparently not by anything that is noticeable." The princess replied as she moved past the other woman to over to her desk. It took her a few seconds to realize that the cake boxes had been ced on her desk.
"I do hope you n on sharing some of that with me aspensation since I took time toe all this way to help you out." ricemented. Lena stayed quiet as though she was pondering this as she looked at the boxes of cake.
"You can have one piece, but only after we finish talking. Since you already met Sammy-boy, we can move to getting you two properly acquainted and on task." Lena replied.
"I did tell you that once she came it would all be down to business." rice sighed as she took her seat.
"Very well then though, we can go over everything."
Chapter 76 - Looks Can Be Deceiving
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"First though, where did you go?" Samuel asked still wondering where Lena had disappeared to.
"I had to ask Romeo for a favor and go speak with Ryan about not rejecting my request for coffee in the future." Lena replied as she took her seat back at the desk.
"Romeo still works here? I bet he hasn''t rxed any since thest time that I saw him." rice mused, she didn''t remember seeing the other when they were heading towards the princess''s office. In fact most of the staff she had seen around were unfamiliar to her.
"Of course he hasn''t, but then he wouldn''t be doing his job right if he became soft over the years." Lena replied.
"You''ll have plenty of time to talk with everyer. Perhaps stay for dinner if you don''t mind spending the whole day here."
"Doesn''t sound like half bad of an idea, but I will have to see if my schedule will let me. After all your adorable fianc¨¦ isn''t the only that I am looking after right now." rice as she shoot Samuel a smile.
"But on to more important things. How exactly is this supposed to go? I know you asked me here to help him out with finding out what fighting style would be best suited for him, but did you have something specific in mind or am I free to work as I please?" Now that she was talking business, rice''s whole demeanor changed and she seemed far more seriouspared to theid back person she was a few seconds ago.
"I didn''t have anything particr in mind. Sammy-boy doesn''t have much experience in anything so it''s going to all be from the basics up however you think would work best to train him." Lena replied with a shrug. She didn''t have much of an idea herself as to what would be a good fit for the other.
"What exactly does that mean?" He interjected in hopes of understanding how his training was going to be taking ce.
"It means, you and I are going to be spending a lot of time working together to figure out how best to teach you to fight. Don''t worry I am more than qualified to teach any rookie regardless of what they do or not know." rice grinned.
"I''m sure we will have a lot fun as well. I suppose I should let you know that I am very skilled in boxing, kickboxing, savate karate, jujitsu, Krav mag, among others. I am sure out of one of those we can find something that will be a good fit for you." Samuel was beginning to reassess his initial impression of rice, perhaps she wasn''t as harmless andid back as she had original.
"She did a lot of traveling when she was younger to gain that experience as well. Thanks to her family''s money and influence it hardly cost her anything of course. She just had to make sure she came back having taken the training seriously and learned something valuable from it." Lena further exined.
"She actually tried to convince Zane when she was younger to let here with me, but he refused. She is his little princess after all and he didn''t want to risk her getting hurt somewhere that he couldn''t easilye and be at her side if anything happened."
"It wasn''t like I was that defenseless even at that stage. I had already learned quite a few skills that would''ve helped me just fine if anything had happened in the first ce." Lena huffed. Samuel was rather enjoying listening to the two of them talk, it was one of the few times that he was getting to side a more animated side of Lena.
"Sorry, I''m getting off track again now. It''s rather hard not to though since it has been so long since I wasst here for a visit and there''s a lot to catch up on. I haven''t seen him yet, but I also thought that your younger brother was supposed to be back visiting from the UK." Lena nodded her head in an affirmation of this.
"He is. Where is right now, I can''t say, but he''s probably busy catching up on his own work after being gone so long. There has been a lot that my father has been asking him to take over while I am preupied with other things."
"I see. We''ll I guess I will have to track him downter to catch up as well. I wonder if he even remembers me since he was younger than you when we first met."
"Hard to tell, he tends to forget a lot of people if they don''t remain in his life for long enough of a time." The princess replied.
"Really though back on to the focus of training. How much time are you looking at giving me with him each week? I remember you mentioned a number but I can''t recall off the top of my head and I don''t seem to have it written down anywhere."
"I had put it down for two hours a week in his schedule, but it''s open for more or less depending on what you think that you''ll need. We have other things going on around this time of course, but some of them can be shifted around if necessary." Lena replied as she picked up the schedule on her desk and handed it over for rice to see. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a sses case. She needed reading sses for these times otherwise she would never be able to tell what she was looking.
"I see. You do rather look like you have quite the busy scheduleing up. We can work with the two hours for now. I''m not sure yet since we haven''t started anything how much time I will be needing to get him in good shape. This is something that can be reviewed after this week however." rice exined as she gave the schedule a thorough lookover before she handed it back to Lena.
"Plus since I am here early, I suppose maybe I could steal a few more hours with him since it''ll be the first day and I need to see what I am working with?" rice asked hoping that the answer would be yes.
"Certainly. I don''t really think we have anything else nned for today unless somethinges upter. I have to go to work at my business office today to sort out a few problems. I think that he should be fine though if he''s working with you."
"I guess I don''t really get a say in this?" Samuel asked. He didn''t per say had an objection with the way that they were discussing the schedule he would be working with, but he had expected that rice would at least be spending a bit more time talking directly with him about it.
"Of course you get a certain amount of control over, but I also understand you agreed to a certain amount of this when Lena previously showed you the schedule that you would be working with." rice replied, turning her attention to him.
"Most of today wouldn''t be spent doing anything too heavy anyways. When I talk about finding out what would work best for you, I mean not just physically working with you but discussing what your goals are and seeing what you''re capable of. That''s why it would be beneficial for me to steal more than just an hour of time today if I can. Evidentially we will also be taking breaks as needed. Time for stretching as well, but I will be expecting you to do that yourself once you get used it before Ie over in order to save those few minutes of time and to make sure that your body will be in the best shape for us to begin training."
"What if I don''t yet know what my goals are?" Samuel then asked. He had never really thought about what his goal behind training was beyond learning how to protect himself since that was what Lena mentioned as being important to her.
"Don''t worry about that, we can figure it out as we go." rice replied, waving off his concern.
"I also forget to check that we do have a training space for this, right? Somewhere that I will be work with him without other people interfering?" rice nced over at Lena when she said this. The princess reached into one of the draws in her desk and pulled out a key on a crimsonnyard. She tossed it to the other who caught it easily.
"We do still have the training room that is here. No one really uses it anymore so you''re wee to it and you can keep the key for now as well." She replied.
"Sounds good. Now I suppose before we get serious about anything, we should see about that cake. Can''t hurt to have a little sugar before we dive into everything." rice said as she put the key in her pocket.
Chapter 77 - Posture
The training room was technically more like a building that was off by itself a little ways away from where the main estate was located. It was ced opposite of where the farm side of the property was mapped out but still within walking distance.
The original goal when it had been made was to for it to be somewhere that was rather hidden as it was built to serve as a safe room as well. With only a front door and no windows on it, it somehow reminded Samuel of a warehouse.
rice unlocked the door and had to give it a sharp tug in order for it to open fully. It seemed as though the door was a bit stiff from not being used for so long. Flipping the light switches, the whole room light up. Despite not having been used for a few years, it was far less dirty and unkempt than Samuel had expected it to be.
The lighting was bit dimpared to what it could be, but rice figured that it would be an easy fix to request new light bulbs put in. She was actually surprised that they still worked after so long in the first ce.
"Hmm. It seems that when Ie visit next I will want to consider bringing my own equipment with me." She mused as she stepped inside with the other following closely behind her. The walls were made of cement but the floor had been made out of bamboo. Bamboo was a good choice for any room that would experience a lot of traffic or rough training on it as it was quite durable.
The room was mostly empty except for one side which had rows of mats and other equipment that Samuel didn''t quite know what it was, but he presumed as used in the past forbat training.
"These will do for now though. Probably could do with a good shaking off, but this one doesn''t seem that bad." rice spoke to herself as she rummaged through the equipment and other items until she seemed to find what it was that she was looking for.
"This should be soft enough for you until you''re used to learning how to fall without hurting yourself." rice spread out arge mat that looked like it was made from some type of carpeted material.
"Will I be having to do that often?" Samuel asked the other fixed the mat until it wasying out as t as possible.
"That depends on how quickly you learn. Some people it only happens a few times, but for others it can be tens or upwards of a hundred times before they figure out how to control their bodies." rice replied as she took her shoes off to stand on the matt.
"Come over here though. I can''t get started training with you if you''re standing all the way over there." She beckoned the other to stand closer to her. Since the mat wasrge enough to handle two people standing on it. Samuel followed what she did and took her shoes off before he stepped onto the map.It felt awkward standing so close to someone else''s personal space, but he didn''t say anything about it as the other gave him a good look over.He winced slightly when she nted her hands on his shoulders rather roughly.
"Your posture is far too stiff for this. You need to rx your muscles more or else you will end up hurting yourself. You also need to spread your feet and legs slightly more in order to nt yourself on the floor better." She used her own foot as she spoke to help adjust Samuel''s feet to be in a better position.
"Perfect. Now we can get serious about this." She pped her hands as she poke.
"What exactly am I supposed to be doing now? You haven''t actually told me how we are going to be starting."
"That''s because it''s going to be a learn as we go process. Since we already had a bit of a chance to talk before, we will just immediately jump into everything and see where we end up. First thing first, I want you to punch me. I assume that you have some experience with that you?" rice took a step back a she poke.
"When I was younger I did. But do you mean you really want me to try and punch you?" He rified. Even though she was a woman who was highly trained, there was still something about trying tond a hit on a woman that felt wrong to him.
"Of course I want you to seriously try and punch me. How else am I supposed to learn what you''re capable of." rice responded.She used her hand to motion him to start as she braced her own feet. He sighed feeling rather uncertain about the matter still, but since she was serious about him doing it. He shifted back to steps to give himself more space before he balled up his right hand and moved to punch rice. When he was younger, he didn''t get into too many fights, but when he did, he was known for having a rather heavy hit which came to be one of the reasons why hardly anyone bullied him or his friends.
He braced himself to feel the impact that his punch would have, but he was surprised that he never made contact as rice had caught his first before it even touched her face.
"My, my. You certainly do have some power behind that hit, but your posture is all wrong if your goal is to actually try and hurt me. You need to position yourself differently." rice told him as she let go of his fist and pushed him back.
"Now try again, but focus on rxing your shoulders more and on where you''re trying to aim, don''t just strike." She coached him as she shifted her position again. Samuel took a deep breath and focused on rxing his shoulders before he got ready to throw his next punch. He wasn''t prepared though for what happened next.
Much like the first time, rice caught his punch, but this time she pulled him towards her and used her opposite hand to grip the near the top of the neck of his shirt as she shifted her feet. Using the momentum, she pulled his arm up by the fist she had grabbed and pushed into him, sweeping his feet out from under him as she did this in order to throw him off bnce and onto the floor.
Samuel hissed when his back made contact with the floor. He hadn''t been expecting and didn''t quite know what had just happened, but he knew that he couldn''t get up yet because she was still keeping on hand on his chest to keep him pinned on the floor. The pressure she was using wasn''t much and even when she threw him while it stung, she hadn''t actually used her full strength to do it as her goal wasn''t to hurt him.
"I hope I didn''t end up hurting you too much, but you see you still didn''t listen after I told you that you needed to shift the way that you were holding your body and shoulders so I thought maybe a little shock would help." rice moved her hand off his chest and took a step back but didn''t attempt to try and help him stand up but instead let him do it himself.
"How am I supposed to know what I am doing wrong since this isn''t something that I have been trained to do before?" Samuel winced as he stood up. He definitely felt it in his upper back where it hit the floor.
"You learn through practice of course, that''s the whole reason why we''re doing this. The best type of practice is by training your body to remember things." rice replied as she came over to Samuel to help him change his position.
"I am of course going to take time to teach you how to properly hold your body and how to move correctly through my own movements as well as shifting your body when necessary. However, in order to help you be more aware of when you''re not getting it right, a little pain can go a long way in reminding your body subconsciously when it''s doing something wrong if every time you''re off or mess up- it''s met with repercussions such as what just happened." She patted his back when she said this.
"So that''s what you meant when you said that sometimes it can take people more than few times to learn how to do it right." He sighed as he rolled his shoulders.
"Yep! You do seem like you pick up on things quickly so I don''t think you''ll have deal with it often. Today though, we won''t be getting really serious though because I didn''t bring a right change of clothes with me and you need something less restrictive as well, but this will do for now to learn the basics.We''ll also get your breathing in order so let''s start over again but with something different this time." She told him as she took her original position back on the mat. Samuel could feel that it was going to be long hour or two going through this training. He just hoped it got easier over the days.
Chapter 78 - Finding The Right Person
Lena was actually happy that rice hade early and was going to be taking up Sam''s time for a while. It meant that she would have time to focus on other things that needed her attention, but that he couldn''t yet be aware of.
She had taken the time to ask Romeo investigate into the unknown number that had called her since she got the feeling that it was no idental phone call. She also asked him toe and fetch if her father returned earlier than he had expected to.
She also made preparations for James toe to her office to go over the people had profiled and thought would a good fit to resolve the issue of the missing money at work. She could''ve gone into the office, but she opted not to in favor of using the extra time it would''ve taken to drive there to work on a few other things that needed her attention. She really did need that extra cup of coffee. Ryan of course hadn''t seen it from her perspective and was determined to not budge from his decision to withhold coffee.
The princess''s answer to this work around was easy however. She just requested instead for James to bring coffee with him. A coffee that was dark and had extra expresso in it. She wasn''t likely to get much sleep tonight and thus needed the caffeine to get her through the day.
"You cane in." She replied in response to the knock on her door which she presumed was James. Instead it was Romeo.
"Sorry to bother you princess, but I already have some leads on that number, of course, I need more time to be certain, however I think that it is rted to the letters we have recently been receiving."
"You mean you think that it is the same person behind it?" Lena rified as her eyes narrowed in response to hearing this.
"Correct, or someone who is working closely with them. I cannot verify this however without a few more days time and reaching out to see who else recognizes this number."
"Make it quick, but take the time that you need to do it right. Also, find out how my number got leaked. While I don''t me you, it''s certainly an uneptable breach of security for this to have urred."
"You''re absolutely correct princess, should I also inform your father of this development?" He asked as rubbed his his thumb against his left hand in a nervous fashion. Even though the princess was responding calmly, there was reason to be nervous as she was evidentially displeased that someone she didn''t had somehow gotten her number. It wasn''t rare for numbers of the lower staff and members to be tapped by other groups in attempts to try and persuade them to shift sides or join them instead. This however, it was a huge breach of security that could prove in the future to be dangerous.
"No, I will take care of talking with my father about it tonight. We are supposed to meet about other matters anyways. I will just tie this conversation in with that." Lena replied with a shake of her head.
"I will take my leave then princess to further look into this matter and report back to you the moment that I find out anything else important."
"Please do that. And once you find out how it happened, I will deal with it personally if it anyone here." She told him with a hard look. Betrayal such as this wasn''t taken lightly.
"I understand princess." He replied before taking a step back and out of the way. He was aware that James was standing nervously behind him and thus didn''t bother closing the door until after the other had entered the office.
"James. I hope that youe bringing me better news than what I just had to deal with." She greeted him as he ced the requested coffe on her desk before taking a seat in the chair on the opposite side from her.
"I do think you will be pleased with the candidates I picked. They all have good records for not only getting the job done, but for their level of loyalty as well." James replied as he opened up his suitcase and pulled out the folder that had the profiles in it.
"I did a lot of background research on them as well to make sure that there was no inconsistencies with their work. They are good at taking care of what needs to be taken care of while being discreet at the same time." He continued to exin as Lena opened the folder and started to go through them.
"What''s the average price point for them?" She asked, looking over each one carefully. She trusted James judgement, but she also wanted to make sure that there wasn''t anything important that he might''ve missed.
"Depends on how long the job is. Usually around a thousand or more an hour if it''s a short job or over fifty thousand a day if it''ll take some time to handle. Genson though, he''s willing to barter for something of equal or greater value and in some cases he will do the job for free if he finds it to be interesting enough." James pointed to the profile that she had just stopped on. Genson seemed to have a rather impressive background history built up between being a former private detective and having extraordinary hacking skills. He also appeared to have spent some time as a con man which could be useful.
"What is his price if there isn''t anything that I am willing to barter with him on?" The princess then asked. Her mind was almost made up on the fact that he was the one she would be hiring. Of course she would have to meet him first to make sure that his personality was a right fit for the job.
"Hundred and fifty thousand for job if it takes under three days. After that he''ll determine the price point based upon each additional hour after that time. He''s also known though for charging for extra tasks that aren''t including in the initial job contract."
"He must either be a great conman or a pretty skilled man to request that type ofpensation." Lena mused as she continued to look through the rest of the profiles in case there was anyone else that caught her attention.
"Does he work in pairs ever?"
"If he approves of the person, he''d be willing to do it, but he won''t share pay. Thus you''d have to be willing to pay for both individually." Lena tsked when she heard this. Thest person that was at the back had also caught her attention for their record and the fact that out of all them, she was a female. Pulling out the two profiles she handed them to James.
"I want you to set up a meeting with both of them for me since you know my schedule. Preferably see if you can get them at the same time as I''d like to see how that would work. If not, see what you can do to make it happen sooner. Also, where is that other business paperwork that I asked you to have to me before now?" She closed up the folder and slid it back over to his side of desk.
"Oh, I apologize princess. I have it right here with me. I actually almost forgot about it. Everything that you asked for should be right here in order." the secretary replied as he pulled out a green folder and handed it to Lena.
"Did you also find out what the potential for acquiring it would be?" She asked as she ced the folder on her desk. She would look over itter that night when she had a bit more free time.
"Potentially it could high. I ask around and talk with a few of the employees. It''s certainly not doing poorly for a rtively new business, but it seems that the owner would be willing to sell if there''s a chance they could make arger profit off it than by keeping it." James replied as he put the other folder back in his suitcase before closing.
"Hm. I will go through this and look at the benefits of acquiring this business and give you a callter, be ready though to put some pressure out to see about requesting to purchase it with a fair amount ofpensation and them remaining the CEO if they agree to adapt to our expectations and standards."
"As you request princess, so shall I do." James replied as he got up from his seat to take his leave.
"Good and be quick about it. If anything elsees up, inform me right away so that it can be dealt with." She replied in approval as she picked up the coffee and took. It was probably too bitter for others, but she appreciated the crisp taste of it.
Chapter 79 - Shed Be Amused
Samuel rubbed his left cheek and winced slightly. He was fairly certain that a bruise would be forming there over the next. It was only his second training session and he''d not learned much yet except the right stretches to help rx his body and less so how not get pinned, tossed, and knock over by his instructor. rice was proving to be no pushover. She took her job very seriously.
He was certain that she must''ve talked with Lena about her training schedule because the time was suddenly shifted from one to two hours twice a week.
He figured it had something to do with the fact that rice felt that she needed more time to work with him since there was a lot for him to learn. He wasn''t sure though he could''ve survive that much time at once if he didn''t improve quickly
"Having a rough time in thend of training?" Looking to his left, Samuel spotted Leo who wasing from the direction of Zane''s office. As he got closer he motioned with his hand over his left cheek to indicate what he was referring.
"It isn''t that bad." Samuel replied despite his cheek throbbing in protest.
"It''s not easy by any means, but nothing is in ur beginning. I''m still learning something though and it''s getting me one step closer to where I want." Even if it only did feel like it was one inch at a time.
"And where have you decided it is that you want to end at?" Leo inquired as he stopped near where Samuel was standing at the bottom of the staircase. He was curious to know what kind of goals the other had set for himself.
"In three weeks I want to be able to solidly defend myself and how to fight back and by the end of six I want to be on par with Lena." Samuel replied. He felt confident that it would be possible to do though he didn''t miss the way that Leo''s lips twitched as though he wanted to smile when he heard.
"Does the princess my sister know yet what your goals are? I''m sure she''d be amused to hear that." He asked not entirely sure how serious the other was about the timeframe.
"No, but I don''t intend yet either. At least not until I met my first goal. Speaking of her though, do you know where she has been? I haven''t seen her at all today and I thought we were supposed to do something this afternoon?" The little queen had somehow disappeared earlier that morning after dance practice without so much as a word to him about where she was going.
"I''ve no clue myself. I''ve been working with father since morning and I can just say that she hasn''t stopped to ask or request anything while I was with him." Leo replied as he mused as to where she could''ve gone.
"If you''re not sure where to find her, you can always just text or call her to ask and good luck with that goal of yours." He didn''t miss the chance to ruffle the older boy''s hair as he walked up the stairs past him. He had to go change his clothes to something more formal as there was more work that he needed to.
Samuel knew that he meant it as a tease, but it felt slightly insulting as welling from someone who was slightly younger than him. He was very serious about his goal. He wanted to prove to the Princess before their engagement that he was more than capable of protecting himself physically even if he did still have to better learn how to handle a gun.
He was originally going to go up and take a shower before changing into clean clothes, but he decided to first peek into Lena''s office to see if she wasn''t there beforehand.
For the first time however, he found that the princess''s office door was locked and he couldn''t enter.
Even when he knocked on the door and announced himself, he heard no reply from inside. Did she usually lock it when she wasn''t using it? He had been under the impression that she didn''t since he had no problem entering her office before when she wasn''t upying.
It was potentially possible that she could be in her office as well and just not want to be bothered at that moment.
Not sure which the case might''ve been, he decided to text her before his shower just to see where Lena was. He remembered after looking at his phone that they were supposed to be going and getting measured and deciding on what type of outfits that they wanted to wear for their engagement party. Since it would take some time to make sure that everything was tailored correctly and fit, it was better to get it taken care of early on.
By the time that Sam had taken a shower and changed clothes, Lena had written him back to let him know that some things had needed her attention at the office but it was taking longer that she had expected to wrap everything.
She also told him that since Jeff was with her as she needed a driver, he could ask Romeo to take him in one of the other cars.
He hadn''t really interacted much with Romeo, but he was aware of which of the staff in the house after seeing him around and hearing his name enough time.
What he wanted to text back to the princess was that he would be fine waiting for her rather than going with someone that he wasn''t that familiar with, but instead he said he would ask to see if he would be willing to do the task.
Romeo might''ve been a very stoic and intimidating person, but Samuel was more then well aware of the fact that he wouldn''t even consider doing anything to him since he worked for Lena''s family. Didn''t mean it made it any easier to go up and talk to him however.
Chapter 80 - Business Partner
He was fake, he was annoying, and overly polite. He was taking up too much of her time and the princess had other things to be doing yet she was stuck in her office listening to his proposal for a business partnership. Perhaps she needed to rethink how much credit she had been giving James in seeming to understand what she was and not looking for in people she worked with.
Lena needed to leave soon and the man didn''t seem to get the hint when she nced at her watch.
James who was sitting nervously in the one of the chairs further back taking notes and sitting in to make sure everything would be okay must''ve felt the shift in tension as he nced up from what he was doing to watch what was going on.
He was perhaps in his mid thirties based upon his features. He was wearing A dove colored suit with matching pants and a ck tie. His amber was styled in what could''ve been assumed to be a tidy position once, but was sticking up towards the top which was probably an indication that he was a person who ran his fingers through his hair often. He had light green eyes that looked soft but held an undertone that spoke of something else. His smile was also something that Lena could tell was as stic as stic gets from years of practice despite the attempt to make it appear genuine.
The princess could also tell he was a man who had his nose broken more than once or twice in his life based upon the risen bumps on the bridge of his nose. He went by Marcus Klien, but Lena doubted that it was his actual name.
"Marcus while I appreciate the effort you put into the proposal and I do think it sounds like a possible deal, especially after I look further into it, why don''t you cut to the chase and tell me the real reason here?" Marcus stopped and turned his head to look at her from were he was lounging on the sofa. Again she saw the look in his eyes that told her he had an ulterior motive to just a business partnership in mind.
"Whatever do you mean? I thought that I made it quite clear when I came in and gave you my proposal what I was looking for out of this. You even have all that information right there in front of you." He motioned the folder that he had ced on her desk. His response made her narrow her eyes at him.
"I may be young, but I''m no fooling when ites to knowing when someone is hiding more than they''re letting on." The princess replied, her face was calm but her eyes were daring him to continue lying to her and see what would happen. The corner of Marcus''s lip twitched into an evenrger than perhaps should''ve been possible.
"I can indeed see why they would pick you to be in charge of this ce despite being so young. You don''t mince words and you''re pretty sharp as well." He uncrossed his legs as he spoke and took on a more serious position.
"The honest part is that I do want to have a business partnership with you. I''ve been hearing through a rumor mill that you intend to have big ns for where you want to take this business and I want to be a part of that." Marcus exined.
"But there''s also the fact that you have something I''m interested in and I''d like to observe and find out if it''ll flourish in this environment or not." He stood as he said thest part and approached Lena''s desk. James moved his hand subtly at the same time he did to a point where it was close to the gun he had holstered on his hip. He didn''t trust this man anymore than the princess did and he certainly wouldn''t let any befall her under his watch.
Lena noticed this and without shifting her gaze away from the man in front of her, she used her hand that was out of Marcus''s line of sight to give a subtle motion for James to stand down. She knew this man wasn''t here to do anything rash if he was telling her this.
"And what would that something be?" The princess asked causing the Marcus''s grin to widen.
"I''m sure that a smart little girl like you will be able to pick up on that quickly. Since I''ve evidentially overstayed I''ll be taking my leave now. Tata." He gave her a small wave before he turned to leave.
"I do hope that you''ll seriously consider my proposal. I genuinely think that we''d make great business partners." He said once again as he opened the door to her office to leave. However he was met by a wall that was Romeo. Surprised to find anyone on the other side, he took a step back to allow the other man to enter the office before leaving.
Romeo chose not to move right away and instead locked eyes with the other as he assessed him. Looking past Marcus he saw that Lena and James seemed fine and determined it was safe to let him past to leave.
"Princess is-" Romeo couldn''t finish speaking before Lena cut him off.
"Where''s Samuel? I thought you were supposed to be taking him to the retail store?" The noticeable agitation in her voice caught him off guard.
"He''s here waiting with Jeff, princess." He replied as Lena stood up from her desk and grabbed what few things she had out.
"He said he wanted toe check on you since you''re neverte for an appointment. He thought something might''ve been wrong." He further exined though it didn''t seem much like the princess was listening to him as she walked the towards the office door.
"We''re leaving, NOW." She ordered not caring to pay attention if the other two were actually following after her.
Chapter 81 - Bad Mood
Samuel and Jeff were both waiting in the car that Lena hade in that morning. Romeo told Samuel That it would be safer for him to stay there while he waited to see what was going on with Lena.
The car was parked in a different location that than when he hade with the princess to work a few days ago. The spot that it was parked in now seemed to be a more private area of the garage.
"Heads up, it seems like your princess might be in a bad mood." Jeff warned when he caught her, Romeo, and James walking towards the car out of the corner of his eye. Samuel had to lean forward in his seat to see where they were at, by he couldn''t deny that Lena did look rather pissed. Why was the question though? He didn''t think it could simply be because he hadn''t obeyed her when she said to go to the retail store and start without him.
Jeff had shifted into his more professional and lessid back form when he saw that Lena looked upset. There were few times that he had seen her look upset and he didn''t want to do anything that could trigger it into bing worse.
"Jeff, you''re safe to go home. Romeo will give you the keys to the other and he''ll be taking us since he''s here." The princess ordered, noticeable tension in her voice as she spoke. She then looked over at Samuel as she got into the car. She only felt mildly better seeing that he was indeed safe as Romero had said he would.
"I thought I told you to go ahead to the retail store and I would meet you there?"
"I was worried because you''re neverte for an appointment and I wanted toe make sure that you were okay." Samuel exined, keeping a level gaze with her. He couldn''t deny the fact that her aura due to her bad mood was rather intimidating but despite the harsh way she was talking, he could tell it wasn''t fully directed at him.
Jeff had silently left the vehicle while the princess was getting inside and talking to Samuel which just left Romeo in the driver''s seat who was waiting for the directive to go ahead and start heading towards their destination.
"I told you everything was fine. I just had a business meeting that rante thanks to an annoying client looking for a business partnership." Lena buckled her seatbelt and gave a nod of her head towards Romeo to let him know he could start driving before turning her attention to Samuel.
"It''s just from training. rice hit me a little harder than she had meant to one of the times when I didn''t block properly. It isn''t that big of A deal." He told her even though he still felt a touch of soreness in his cheek whenever he moved his face too much.
"I guess I should presume based upon that that progress is being made slowly?" The princess asked as she loosened some of the buttons on her ck suit jacket. There was no reason for her to maintain her professional image now that she was away from work.
"I can''t really say. It''s only the first week of training. rice doesn''t think that I''m making bad progress though and I''m already deciding on what goals I am wanting to aim for."
"And what goals would those be?" She asked rather interested to hear what he had decided on.
"For a short goal, I want to be good enough to defend myself and fight back in the next three weeks." He paused for a section before he said the second part. He was wondering whether she would take him seriously or not if he said it.
"For the more long term goal, I want to be on the same level as you before our engagement party." At first after he said this, the princess looked at him with a rather nk expression as though process what he said. It wasn''t long however before the corner of her lip twitched, but rather than smirking, Lena actuallyughed. It was a rather soft and lowugh like one would expect of someone who couldn''t believe what they had just heard.
"rice is certainly a good mentor, but I''m not so sure about that goal you have there Sammy-boy. Especially considering you don''t even know the scope of what I''m capable of." She smirked as she said thest part. At least it suited her better than the dark look that was previously on her face had.
"It''s not an impossible goal to have if I''m good at picking things up quickly." He reasoned ncing out his window to see that they were now getting closer to the part of city where the retailer was located.
"Perhaps. But if we ever actually did spar, I think you would be quick to change your mind about that." The princess replied just as she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. Somehow she wasn''t surprised to see that it was a call from her father. James must''ve reported to him what happened since Romeo wouldn''t have had the chance to.
She decided to decline the call rather than answer it and texted her father to say that everything was fine and she would talk with him about itter that night since she was busy with her fiance. It wasn''t like it was anything that he needed to worry himself about anyways. She could handle herself just fine.
She would though need someone to look into who that man really was and how much trust she could put into him because right now her gut was saying she couldn''t trust him farther than she could throw him and nothing good woulde out of a partnership.
"Are you that much stronger than rice is?" Samuel''s question brought her out of her thoughts and back to the present.
"Hmm. I couldn''t actually say anymore. It''s been years since we''ve seen each other thus I''m sure a lot has changed. It perhaps would be interesting to ask her for a sparring match while she''s here." Lena couldn''t honestly say which one of them would end up being stronger.
rice certainly had years upon years more experience than the princess did, but Lena had also put a lot of time and effort into everything that she had been learning. It would be an interesting match though the princess wouldn''t openly admit that she would most likely be on the losing side of it.
"A match I could watch right?" Samuel then asked.
"Perhaps if it does take ce you can, it could be considered as part of your training." Lena confirmed.
"The schedule would be flexible for that. Also, I''m d that you seem to be in less of a bad moodpared to before." Samuel''s unexpectedment made the princess realize that her bad mood had pretty much subsided.
She was still annoyed over the situation that took ce and the thought that if anything had gone different Samuel might''ve been in trouble.
"That''s because I told you it was due to an annoyance with having to deal with an annoying person looking to create a business partnership with thepany." Lena replied. She wasn''t one to give away too much. Plus she already knew that her father was going to have a lot of questions once they were home.
Samuel wanted to ask another question about what had happened when he noticed that Romeo was pulling into the parking lot of a building called "Decorama Boutique". Just from the outside look of the building Samuel could tell that it was somece he would like never be able to afford to visit on his own dime.
"We can talk moreter. Right now we just need to focus on getting this taken care of. Even though they had time to shift the appointment for us, they can''t put their other customers off too much either." The princess told the other as she undid her seatbelt. This was one of the few times that her influence became beneficial as they were willing to put of their other appointments for a short period of time.
"They''ll measure you first and then they''ll probably ask what kind of ideas you had in mind for the design. Being honest about what you think would be good. It''s for our engagement party afterall and we can afford it." Lena finished speaking as she stepped out of the car. Samuel wasn''t far behind her, but he was definitely more daunted over the prospect of having to go inside.
The things that caught him off guard were usually worth some amusement to the princess and that was what was making her now give him as nudge in the lower back to get him to move forward. He could be in awe of everythingter when they had the time for it.
Chapter 82 - Engagement Outfits
The boutique wasrger on the inside than Samuel was expecting and was sectioned off into two different parts. To the right was where the women''s section was setup and to the left was where the men''s location was setup. This meant that they ended up having to split off when they were inside. Lena didn''t have problem with this as it wasn''t her first time being inside a boutique such as this. She already knew how everything worked and what was expected of her.
Samuel on the other end was slightly overwhelmed by being guided over to the men''s section and seeing therge selection that there was to chose from. It was as though boutique was trying to include any kind of style, color, and brand that anyone could desire into the store.
"Now I am sure you have already gone through this, but I am told that you have never been measured for a suit before and we''re going to have to do some work to get you fitted?" The man asked as he looked up Samuel up and down as though trying to eye what his size might be before he got his measuring tape.
"That''s right. I have never actually been to this type of ce before." Samuel replied as he continued looking around in an attempt to take everything.
"Well then, I am sure that you will be in for quite a treat then. That is if you enjoy trying different styles out." The man said as he came up with the measuring tape.
"Now I need you to stand with your arms stretched out as long as they possible can be to your sides and your legs a touch apart so that I can make sure this is as urate as possible." The man instructed as he assisted Samuel in shifting his arms and legs into just the right position. It felt a little awkward, but he focused on the clothes around him rather than the man in front of him collecting his measurements.
"Despite your height, you''re not much out of the normal range that we''re used to dealing with here. It shouldn''t be that hard to find something that will fit you well without needing too many modifications." He told Samuel as he wrote down his sizes.
"Now, do you have any ideas as to what type of outfit that you would want to be wearing or style? I''ve been told this is for an engagement party and you''re the fianc¨¦."
"Honestly I have no clue. This has kind of been a lot ofst minute things and we haven''t yet discussed what kind of theme that we want to go with. So I guess some suggestions and insight would be good."
"I see. So you''re looking for a bit of professional input to decide what direction you want to go in with the engagement party." The man mused as he put his left hand under his chin in a thinking poise as he looked Samuel over.
"Do you know what kind of colors that you look good in or have a preference for?" He then asked as he turned towards a clothes rack where some of the dark suits were located. He started rummaging through them as he waited for the other''s answer.
"I guess maybe something in jewel tone? I tend to like greens and blues most." Samuel replied after thinking about it for a few minutes while the other picked out a few outfits that he thought would work well. Prior to this, Samuel had never really spent a lot of time thinking about the type of clothes that he wore. Certainly he cared about looking professional when he needed to, but he never really thought about style or color scheme much.
"I think then I have some perfect ideas for you. Do you happen to know what your dear will be deciding to wear?" The man asked turning around with an armful of different suits. It looked like far too many more than Samuel really wanted to spend his time trying on."
"I don''t think that she honestly knows that much either." He replied honestly since Lena had never mentioned to him what kind of outfit she would be looking to get. One of the reasons that it was harder for him to make a decision- he didn''t want to pick something that wouldn''t go with the outfit that he got.
"I see. Then we will do our best with what we have and pick something that you like for now. If it doesn''t meet the bride-to-be, then we will go with a backup n. Nothing that will be hard that hard to handle. Now take these and try them on. I need to see how they look on you to make sure they fit right and then you can decide what color you like." He said as he lead Samuel towards the changing room that was located to the back.
"If none of these work for you. I can bring some more up front or you can look around yourself if you see something you like and need more time to decide." He was told before the door to changing room was closed and he was left alone with all of the suits that he needed to try on. There were about six in total and he wasn''t really sure he had the bandwidth to try them all and potential have to find something else.
The colors weren''t bad choices. It was ranged from ck and dark blue to an emerald green and a slightly lighter shade of blue along with a dove gray suit. The first one that caught his eye was emerald green suit. It was his first time seeing one in such a majestic color. He decided that it would be his first to try one as it was the one he liked the most. He wasn''t sure that it was going to fit with whatever Lena picked, but even if it didn''t, it would perhaps be a choice that he could mark to buy at ater point in time as he was certain he would be needing more suits in the future. He just hoped that everything he tried on fit so that he didn''t have to worry about looking for different sizes along with potentially more styles if none of them worked out.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 83 - Not Picky
Lena didn''t have any idea in mind of what she wanted to wear for the engagement party. She had been too busy to give it much thought and thus ended uping to the boutique with no idea in mind of what would look good or what kind of theme they should got with since Samuel didn''t have any ideas either.
There was no problem in terms of style, color, and size. It was just an issue of picking the right color and style that would fit for their engagement party. The woman who had been assigned to help her pick out what outfit would look good was trying her best to help out, but with Lena not having anything in mind, she wasing across as a touch difficult to work with even though she was saying that she wasn''t that picky. Unlike Samuel, she already had been previously measured for what size would be the best fit for her.
It also didn''t help that she was still partly distracted by what had happened earlier at work. Marcus was definitely someone that she needed to keep an eye on. The fact that he mentioned that she had something that she had something he was interested in didn''t sit well with her.
"How about this one? I think that might match well with your hair and isn''t a form fitting but not too much. It''s also not as long as some of the other dresses we have here." The assistant asked as she held up a rose gold knee-length chiffon dress. It looked elegant but not contain as much of the flow and frills that a number of the other dresses did. Lena tilted her head as she stood up from the seat she had taken to get a better look at it. She couldn''t deny that the color was nice. It stood out but wasn''t too bold which was something she would appreciate. The rose gold probably wouldn''t look that bad with her hair either. It was a bit long for her short size, but it wasn''t anything that a little bit of altering couldn''t fix if the length bothered her.
"I will try this one, but can you tie my hair back for me first, Jill? I think it will get in the way with the zipper." The princess requested as she took the dress from the assistant who name''s she gained from the nametag she was wearing.
"Could you also find a simr dress in a dark blue and ck?" She then requested as the assistant carefully tied her hair back, making sure that it was not too tight.
"Absolutely. If you want to go back to where the changing room is located, I will bring the other dresses to you. Are you also looking for some jewelry or shoes to go with it?" Lena closed her eyes as she thought about it for a second. All the little things that she hadn''t had time to consider.
"Sure, I''ve never really worn rose gold though, so I trust you to find something you think that wouldpliment it as well as the other two dresses if I decided to go with something different." She told the young woman before heading off towards the dressing room.
Despite always being referred to as a princess, she didn''t much like dresses or anything else that princess were usually thought to wear and style themselves. She always leaned more towards clothing that were simr in style to what men wore. Considering her position of power, she felt that it was better fitting for her and made people take her more seriously than if she worse a dress or other froufrou style outfits that a lot of girls her age seemed to enjoy. Plus they were just a hassle to take care of. For events such as this, she understood the importance of keeping to more traditional apparel however.
The Rose gold dress did fit her well and she rather liked the way it looked on her. The only issue was the fact that even with her hair pulled back, she couldn''t easily reach the zipper herself which meant that she was going to have to ask the assistant for help so that she could see how it looked once it was fully zipped up. Another annoyance.
"Jill, can you please help me with zipping this up. The zipper is a little lower than I expected." Lena asked as she stepped out of the dressing room. She was caught off guard stepping out however as Samuel was standing towards the front of the room. He was wearing an emerald suit with a ck tie. He looked a touch lost and uncertain as to whether or not he should''ve been there, but the princess couldn''t deny that he looked far more charming in the suit than he did in his normal clothing.
"I''m sorry, let me put these dresses down and I will take care of that for you. Would you like the zipper ced higher as one of the altercations for the dress?" Jill asked as she hurried to help Lena get her dress zipped up and made sure it was in ce properly.
"Yes. I will also need the size to be shortened a bit either. I want it to end at my knees and as you can see, it misses the mark by more than a little bit." She replied as she indicated to the way that the dress went down almost to her ankles.
"I can get both taken care of for you. Are you thinking about sticking with this dress?" Jill asked as she stepped back from the Lena who was double checking the dress in the length mirror that was provided.
"For now. I need to discuss it with my fianc¨¦, but if that is what he intends to wear, I don''t think that it would be a bad fit." She tilted her head in the direction of where Samuel was standing as she spoke.
"Give me a chance to go and talk with him and then I''lle back to give you your answer." She told the assistant as she started to walk over to where Samuel was standing.
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Chapter 84 - This One
"What do you think of the outfit?" Lena''s sudden approach caught Samuel off guard as he had been trying to see where she was at, but hadn''t caught her from the direction that she approached in as it was in his blind. Turning to face her, he took a moment to take her in before he replied.
"I think that it looks good on you, reallypliments you hair." He replied, his expression as he looked her over told her that he was being earnest in his response.
"Do you think that I would look too mismatched wearing this next to you in that outfit?" He then asked concerned that maybe the emerald green suit he had picked wouldn''t be a good choice with the rose gold chiffon dress she was wearing.
"I couldn''t chose between this and a dark blue suit and was rmend that Ie ask you and see what you had in mind to wear.". The princess looked him over thoughtful as she considered whether the suit he was wearing would be a good fit with her own dress. She didn''t think it would look bad, although she could tell that she was also going to have to get his suit modified as it looked a touch too baggy on his rather thin frame.
"I don''t think that it would be a bad mismatched fit. I think that it would even go with the wedding rings. Once we go to get them adjusted we can double check and see if they are a good fit." The princess replied with a slight nod of her head. A small smirk appeared on her face when she saw the way that Samuel was staring at her. She was certain that he had heard what she said, but he also seemed really absorbed in starting at the dress that she was wearing.
"What, you like what you see that much?" She teased, shifting her hair back slightly so that it was more behind her rather than resting over her shoulder.
"I was thinking that it I don''t often see you with your hair like that and it''s a rather nice look for you." Samuel asked, feeling a little awkward after he realized he probably had been staring at her too long. He wasn''t lying though, it was a nice different look for her from the normal way she let her hair just flow behind her.
"I don''t generally keep my hair pulled back because I don''t generally have a reason to." The princess said as she ran her hand over her pulled back hair. She also didn''t generally bother as she felt like it was a hassle to take the extra step to do instead of just letting it be.
"Well I happen to think that it suits you, especially in that dress. Maybe you would be willing to keep it like that during the engagement party?"
"Making requests now are you? I could be imagining it, but it seems like someone is getting more confident in being straight forward about what they want, little chickadee." The princessmented a touch of amusement in her voice. Perhaps it was the fact that they were going to be getting officially engaged soon that was bringing out the confidence more in him.
"Is it bad to make such requests? You did say that I would have part of the say in how the engagement party went since it is ours." He replied, he didn''t think that he was being too forward in his request since he saw something that he liked.
"Not at all." The princess replied as she turned away from him to head back towards the dressing room.
"I''m just amused in how much your confidence is growingpared to that shy, timid boy that I met just over a month ago now." turning her head to look at him, she smirked slightly.
"Perhaps I have underestimated the person you are hiding under that veil of shy trepidation." she disappeared in the dressing room to change while Samuel stood there slightly surprised. He didn''t think that he was behaving that much differently from before? Maybe the princess was acting that way because he was getting morefortable around her and his normal personality wasing out more because he didn''t feel like he needed to monitor what he said?
Lena didn''t feel the need to try on any of the other dresses as she determined that the rose gold chiffon dress would be good for the engagement party. She would just need to get it altered. Jill had also found her two good pairs of shoes she thought would fit with the dress along with a ne and earring set while the two had been talking. She had also told Samuel not to worry about checking the other suit out, she felt that the emerald one was the one that suited him best and he should stick with it.
"If I had known that you were going to be so quick to go and change, I would''ve taken a picture beforehand. I think my parents would''ve liked to see what we would be wearing." Hemented as they head out to the car.
"We can do it when wee back to try them on again after they have been modified." The princess replied as she got into the car where Romeo had been patiently waiting for them.
"Is everything finished princess and time to head home?" Romeo asked as he started up the car.
"Actually no, I would like you to take me to the hospital that Clive and his wife are staying in. I would like to pay them a visit and see how they are doing before heading home." She replied as she put her seatbelt on.
"As you wish then." He confirmed before setting the car to be navigated to the hospital. Looking out the window, he noticed that there were a lot more people out than there had been when they first entered the boutique.
"I have a question out of curiosity." He told Lena turning to look at her, she nced at him to let him know he had her attention but didn''t turn from looking out her own window.
"Do a lot of people not know who you are outside of the business world. I mean like how you put, from the underground side. Do people not know who you are affiliated with?" He asked, fumbling with his words as he tried to think of the best way to ask the question.
"You''re trying to ask whether or not the general public know that I am the soon-to-be sessor of the Red Scorpions?" Lena rified to which Samuel confirmed as the question he was trying to ask.
"The answer is yes and no. Some people do know because we technically "own" this whole area around. Not in the sense that we control everything that goes on, but if anyone wants to connect with the underground side of things, they go through us." She exined.
"So of course people know who I am, but they don''t make a big deal out of it because we aren''t thugs in the sense that people feel the need to cower around us or keep a wide berth. I''m not that well known yet either though to the general public yet being only 18. That will probably change though once we have the engagement party. My father on the other hand is one with the reputation that turns heads."
"What kind of reputation?" Samuel then asked though he presumed that it was one that exined the intense aura he seemed to have about himself.
"Let''s just say that he used to be far less tolerable and generouspared to the person that he is now." The princess replied. She didn''t say too much about it partly because she didn''t know everything herself and partly because she didn''t feel that it was her ce to tell her father''s story.
"Speaking of the business though, there is some work that I need to take care of tomorrow so I won''t be around much. I asked rice toe in for an extra day of training since tomorrow is a light day." This news caught Samuel off-guard.
"I thought that I was going to being with you whenever you had to go into work so that I could help with the finances?" He asked feeling confused by the sudden change.
"Most of the time you will be, but tomorrow what I need to do is something that I need to be able to focus on without any extra distractions. Plus I thought that you said you have this goal to be my equal by the time of the engagement party? Extra training will help you get there faster." The princessmented diverting the conversation away from why he wouldn''t being with her.
"Plus, I think my father will be around tomorrow as well so maybe you can talk to him about going to college." She suggested though she wasn''t certain what kind of mood her father would be in tomorrow or that night in fact since they would be talkingter.
Chapter 85 - Hospital Visit
As they got ready to pull into the car parking lot, Lena noticed a familiar car parked further up in the lot.
"Well it seems like we weren''t the ones who decided toe and pay him a visit." The princessmented as Samuel looked out her window to see what she was referring to.
"Who does that car belong?" he asked. He wasn''t yet familiar with any of the other cars except for the ones Lena used.
"Uncle Julian." She replied as she undid her seatbelt.
"You cane in if you wish to Romeo since you''re well acquainted with Clive as well." While perhaps not best friends, Clive and Romeo did get along rather well seeing as they were two of the oldest staff members in the house and frequently used their off time to drink together when they didn''t need to be on call.
"Thank you Princess, I would appreciate the opportunity to visit and see the new little one." He replied honestly as he got out of the car to follow after them. With him tagging along, he made sure to follow behind them, but move up front in order to open the door to the hospital for the two of them.
Lena took the lead once they were inside and Samuel just followed closely behind her since he wasn''t certain what direction he should head in.
"Excuse me, can you tell me what floor Clive and Candice Benson''s room is located?" Lena asked as she approached the reception desk.Although she didn''t think that it would be too hard to find, she didn''t feel like spending the time searching for it when she could get directions.
"Certainly. One second. Can you tell me what your rtion to them is first?" The nurse asked as she began to type on herputer.
"Extended family." The princess replied. It was not probably the answer the nurse was expecting because she nced up after hearing this as though she was caught off guard with how different they looked for extended family.
"I see. Thank you. Well if you take that elevator over there and go to the fourth floor it''ll be the fourth room on the left. I believe they already have other visitors so please make sure to knock and not over crowd the room. The wife is still recovering and too much excitement or noise isn''t good for her." The nurse warned. Lena gave two small nods of her head as a way to say she understood but didn''t bother thanking the woman for her directions.
Samuel did thank her however and apologized on Lena''s behalf briefly before quickly following after the other two so he didn''t end up getting left behind. Romeo had held the elevator door for him since he saw that the other was only a few seconds behind them.
Once they reached the fourth floor, Lena didn''t have to guess which room belonged to Clive and his wife as she noticed that Julian was standing outside one of the room down the hall appearing to have stepped out because he needed to take a call.
Based upon his expression it must''ve been a rather important call as his face was set in a very serious expression and he was talking in a low but fast tone of voice. He wasn''t so distracted however that he didn''t see his niece approach with Samuel and Romeo in tow. He nodded his head at her and indicated with his free hand that she was safe to go inside the room.
Julian wasn''t the one that hade to visit Clive and Candice, inside the room Lisa and Zoe were sitting chairs near the bed talking with Candice. They stopped and looked up though when Lena tapped on the door to announce their presence.
"Lena!" Candice greeted warmly while Clive stood up to show his respect to the princess, she was quick to tell him not be so formal considering the circumstances.
"You know that you didn''t have toe and visit."
"I know, but I wanted to. It''s first child after all and you''re dealing with a number of unexpected factors. So of course I am going toe and pay a visit to make sure that everything is okay." Lena replied as she came to stand closer to the bed. Lisa and Zoe were still remaining quiet as they looked at their cousin.
Lisa fourteen and Zoe was thirteen. At first nce one would believe that they were twins as they shared the same tinum blond hair and doe brown eyes. The only difference was that Zoe''s hair was much shorter than her sisters and she was less effusive. She dressed more like a tomboy and preferred to stick to herself and spend time outside while her sister was more social and enjoyed reading to learn more about the world around her along with any skills she could gain in cooking, sewing, embroidery and so forth. Things that her sister had no interest in.
Samuel hadn''t yet spent much time with Lena''s other family members and wasn''t yet sure what to make of the two even though it seemed like everyone in Lena''s family got along fairly well.
"Well the little one is still in the NICU for now. It''ll probably be another two or three weeks before we can take them home." Candice replied. Because of how prematurely the baby had been born and the impact that it had had on her health and energy, Candice hadn''t even been able to go and visit her newborn daughter.
"Have you decided on a name for her yet?" Lena then asked as she shifted further into the corner near the bed so as to not be in the way of where her cousins were sitting.
"We decided on Eve Anna Benson." Clive replied for his wife with somewhat of a proud look. The middle name came from his mother who had passed in the recent years. He and his wife had both decided that they would use that as part of their daughter''s name once they found out his wife was pregnant.
"It''s a beautiful name." Shemented as Candice reached out to take her hand.
"What about you dear, are you getting excited the closer you get to your own engagement?" She asked causing the other to nce over at Samuel who was still standing near the entrance of the door, evidentially feeling out of ce since he wasn''t quite family the same way everyone else in the room was or near enough to be.
"You could say that. There''s still a lot of work that needs to be done, but we are getting closer to having everything in order for it. Plenty of time for you to have recovered by then to join us as well." The princess replied as she squeezed the older woman''s hand gently. Turning her head she looked over at Clive and Romeo
"Why don''t you two step out so that you can talk? I thought that you came here for the chance to see the little one not just stand there looking awkward." Lena used the question as a way to give them permission to step out of the room even though they technically didn''t need it, she felt that if she didn''t say anything they would just keep standing there even though she was certain that they wanted to talk. Both of them thanked her before they stepped outside of the room. They both could be heard talking in low voices as they walked down the hall.
"You know you can sit down as well if you want. You''re not out of ce by being here and I''m sure it''ll be morefortable than standing near the doorway." The little queen told Samuel as she pointed to the empty chair that was on the opposite side of the bed from where Lena and her cousins were.
"I don''t really mind standing. Plus you might decide that you want to sit down as well and I wouldn''t want to take the chair away from you." Samuel replied as he didn''t shift from his position near the entrance of the door.
"If I want to sit down, I can just ask them to bring in another hospital chair. Also if I so desire, that''s also what yourp can be used for. So sit down." The princess replied as she waved her hand for him to sit in the seat. Herment made him slightly lesspelled to sit down rather than encouraging him especially when Candiceughed at Lena''sment. It was something that was totally normal for couples to do, but somehow with the princess it just felt awkward to be in those type of situations.
When Lena kept her gaze fixed on him however, he reluctantly took the seat on the opposite side of bed and put his hands on hisp not really certain what to do after he was sitting down.
"Lena, is that how all fianc¨¦s should respond when you tell them what to do?" Zoe, her younger cousin asked looking up at her quizzically as she waited for an answer. Lena''s lips twitched at this question.
"Yes it is. Unless of course it isn''t how you want them to be. In almost all cases though you should find yourself a fianc¨¦ who''ll listen to almost everything you say without protest unless they have a good argument." she exined to her niece ncing over as she spoke to see that Samuel looked even more awkward than before. Perhaps he still had a ways to go before he would exceed her expectations.
Chapter 86 - Second Family
They had only been there for about half an hour after Clive and Romeo had left to apologize and say that something came up and that he needed to leave. Candice thanked him for stopping by and said good-bye to the girls who were reluctant to leave with their father but listened when he exined very clearly that they weren''t allowed to stay there without him.
From Samuel''s perspective it seemed as though Julian was maybe more firm with his kids than Zane was with Lena and Leo. On the other hand, he couldn''t imagine with Lena''s current spirit that anyone would have any easy time getting to listen.
"I''m sure that the hospital food isn''t doing much good for either of you so I''ll make sure to send Jeff byter with some real food as I don''t imagine that you would want to leave the hospital before your daughter is ready to." Lena told Candice who shook her head.
"I don''t think that I could handle being away from her with how fragile a state she is in. Even though the doctors say that she''ll be okay and that there is nothing to worry about it, it does little to ease my mind." She replied as she looked towards the hospital door. Clive spent a lot of time visiting Eva in her ce and telling how well their daughter was doing, but she knew that she wasn''t going to feel truly reassured until she was able to see and hold her daughter herself.
"If you two are thinking about having kids, it''s definitely better to do it while you''re still much younger. You''ll have better energy to deal with problems like this and also less risk to your health." She looked at both of them as she spoke.
"Thinking about having kids? Even you must know that my father wouldn''t ept me taking over if I wasn''t nning on having kids in the next five years. Part of the tradition of being the first born. Though my brother will expected to have a son as well to carry the family name. We''re supposed to at least have one kind by the time I''m twenty three otherwise there might truly be an uproar." Lena scoffed as she said thest part. Samuel wasn''t sure if it was rted to the expectations that were put on her by those around or the fact that she wasn''t that thrilled over the idea of having children. It was something that he would have to ask her about at ater time.
"While I do see the young Sir there around the house on asion while I am busy. I wonder if he''s always this quiet or just because he doesn''t know what to do with himself?" Candicemented when she saw how quiet Samuel was still being with it just being the three of them. He looked less tense than before, but he hadn''t inserted himself into the conversation at all, choosing to let Candice and Lena speak instead.
"The little chickadee is just an awkward and quiet one, though he can be straight forward when he wants to be." Lena replied as she moved away from the wall to go over to the side where Samuel was sitting. Her initial intention had been to sit on hisp just for the satisfaction she knew that she would get from his reaction. She however didn''t the chance to do this as Romeo and Clive returned to that moment at time. Based upon the reaction on Romeo''s face she could that there was something up.
"I''m sorry princess, but a meeting has been called and your presence is requested at the usual ce." Romeo apologized looking between the princess and the other two in the room. She sighed when she heard this. It wasn''t quite unexpected by the way that Julian had been behaving when he left, but it was still an inconvenience as she was hoping to be able to take the rest of the day light.
"Very well. We''ll stop by the house to drop my fianc¨¦ off first." She replied as moved towards the before.
"Thank you for allowing us the time to visit. Please don''t forget to send me the pictures when it''s allowed." She looked at Clive when she said this part.
"As you request, princess. Do you need me to be on stand by for anything?" He then asked to which she shook her head.
"No, it''s not likely to be anything that serious. Right now your first priority should be on being here with you wife and making sure that your family is safe. If anything changes, you''ll be alerted." She then motioned for Samuel to follow as she walked out ahead with Romeo.
"What''s this about?" Samuel asked once they were outside of the hospital room.
"It''s about family matters you''re not allowed to have knowledge of yet." The princess simply replied as he pressed the button to go down the elevator.
"You will learn about itter, It''s just not something that I can talk with you about right now." She rified already knowing that he wasn''t going to happy to hear that answer again.
"And that''s why I can''t go with you?" He then asked once they were inside the elevator. Lena didn''t say anything at first making him think that she wasn''t going to answer his question.
"No, you''re not going with me because you''re not ready yet." She replied right as the elevator hit the first floor and the door opened up. That was all the little queen said until they got out into the car and she had instructed Romeo to head home first.
"When I say that you''re not ready, I don''t just mean physically. I mean mentally as well. When you start to learn about everything going on that you don''t know about, it''s going to be an adjustment for you and you''ll need time to process it."
"The way you talk about it makes it sound like I am preparing myself to learn about something terrible after we get officially engaged." Hemented quietly causing Lena to look over at him.
"Do you think me or my family are nice people?" She suddenly asked as she looked turned to look at him, watching his expression to see what his reply would be.
"I''m not sure what you mean by that question, but from my interaction with you and everyone I would say you''re nice enough. I mean some of youe across as rough around the edges, but I don''t think that if you were nice I wouldn''t have witnessed what I saw at the hospital." He replied.
"With Clive, that''s because he and his wife are life a second family. Not just Clive himself, but his family has been working with ours since his father and grandfather''s generation. They''re like a second family for us, his wife included. So of course we''re going to be kind to them." the princess replied.
"But what you think is based upon a perspective that is built up from what you know about us, not anything to do about the parts that you don''t know." She looked out her window as she continued speaking.
"If you knew everything, you might change your mind about certain things or think differently. We''re not thugs, but we certainly aren''t the nicest group around either. Things have only really changed since my father has been in charge, but there''s still a lot that most people wouldn''t agree with."
"But either way, I am going to be getting married into this type of family, right? So somethings I guess I will need to figure out how to deal with even if I don''t agree with them." He was trying to approach the situation from a more objective perspective even though he had the feeling that there were going to just be some things that he wasn''t going to like or agree with like Lena said.
"That''s one way to look at it. But until we''re engaged and you''re allowed to find out more- for now you just get to be good and stay at the estate where it''s safer. I''ll text you when we''re done and I''m on the way back." The princess told, pausing for second as thought of something before speaking again.
"Actually I do have a request that you could fulfil while I''m away. Be a good fianc¨¦ and make me a tiramisu cake." She requested.
"Tiramisu, are you nning on being gone long enough for it to have set by the time that youe back?" He asked confused.
"I honestly can''t say. We don''t hold meetings like this that often, but they can either be short or lengthy depending on the reason that they are being held. I won''t even know everything myself until the meeting starts." She answered. She could probably call her father to find out, but she was sure then that he would want to take about what happened at work that day which she still wasn''t in the mood to talk about.
"Either way. Even if it doesn''t sit for the required about of time, it''ll still be good to eat when I get back." She told Samuel.
Chapter 87 - Out Of The Loop
Even though he had something to keep himself distracted after Lena had dropped him off at the estate. Samuel was still feeling a touch frustrated about being kept out of the loop on what was going on even in situations such as this. The problem came back to the fact that he didn''t understand why he couldn''t learn about anything now since he had already made it plenty clear that he had no intentions of stepping away from the family and had all the intentions of going through with the engagement and getting married.
This feeling increased when he realized how quiet it felt in the house. Had almost everyone else been requested to attend this meeting aside from him? What about the younger children in the family, were they allowed to go as well? He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he thought about this.
The frustration wasn''t going to do him any good, but there was no one that he could really talk about the matter with. Lena couldn''t do anything about and Zane refused to shift the rule even after he had been told his intentions to go through with everything. He wouldn''t risk talking with his family or Roger about it out of concern that it might put them in danger or something since he wasn''t sure what was going on. Though, he did owe his parents a call which he probably had the time to do tonight since he wouldn''t be with Lena that evening. For the time being, he was just going to change clothes and focus on making the cake. It would be a distraction at least.
Ryan was more than happy to help him get everything that he needed in order and support him while he worked on the cake. Tiramisu was one of the few things that Samuel didn''t have much experience with since the ingredients tended to be a bit more pricy than what his mother wanted to spend on making sweets.
"You know if you keep on having such a sour face about whatever is going through your mind, you''ll end up affecting your cake." Hemented as he stood leaning against the counter while watching Samuel whip eggs in a bowl. Samuel nced over at him while keeping his attention on the eggs in the bowl. He had to be careful if he didn''t want to overmix them.
"I''m just feeling a little bothered tonight by the fact that even though I''m engaged to be part of this family that there are a lot of things that I am still not privy to even though I don''t personally feel that it makes sense not to tell me in considering my rtionship with Lena."
"So you''re mopping because you think that you''re the only one who doesn''t really know what''s going on around here?" Ryan surmised causing the other to nod his head as he stopped the mixer to check the eggs.
"You''d probably be surprised to know then that there is a lot that goes on that I''m not that much in the loop as well. Considering I''m just the hired cook around here, most of that stuff isn''t relevant to me thus no one bothers to tell me." What the cook said caused him to turn around and look at him.
"Really? I had assumed that all the staff here were told what as going on since in some ways it would impact them even if they weren''t directly involved in events."
"Nope." Ryan replied as he stepped away from the counter so that he could see what Samuel was doing and offer him some help.
"I''m just here to make sure that everyone is feed and I keep the variety of meals I can make in good order. Same with the rest of the cooks and many of the other servants here. The only exception to that is those who directly linked to the family though not rted by blood and those who work as bodyguards or protection detail." He exined.
"Sometimes though if I can bribe the princess with something especially sweet she has let me in on a few of things that are going on, but it has to be done carefully otherwise her father wouldn''t be thrilled to find out that unnecessary people are getting involved in things that they don''t need."
"Do you think that this would be enough to bribe her?" Samuel jokingly asked as he continued to work on assembling the cake. Ryanughed at his question.
"I doubt it. I don''t think though that she''ll be very open to let me in on anything any time soon either. I offended her the other day by limiting her caffeine in take for her own health." Samuelughed when he heard this.
"Does she actually react in such childish ways to such things?" he asked. Ryan thought about it for a second before he replied.
"I''m not sure that I would say her response to certain events is childish, but rather she has learned the things to say and do in order to get her what she wants." He rified.
"Sometimes yes, she will threaten with certain things if she thinks it''s the right way to correct a response that she doesn''t like. Though I haven''t known her to ever go through with any of the threats she has put forward unless it''s for a really serious infraction. Otherwise she just says it to get people to listen to her." He continued to speak as he helped Samuel line up thedy finger cookies in as neat a fashion as possible with in the pan.
"Our rtionship is a bit different too though because I''ve known her since she was younger and back when she wanted to spend a lot more time in the kitchen. I guess you could say that even though I work here, it''s more like we''re friends as well."
"Are you close with the rest of the family as well?" Samuel then asked to which Ryan shook his head.
"Not really. I get along with Zane, but that is simply because he was the one who hired me when I was younger because he thought I would be a good fit. I get along well with the kids, but mostly because I''m known as the person who cooks good things and generally won''t say no to a request if it''s eptable. The rest of the family I don''t know that well." He answered.
"What about Lena''s mother? I''m not sure that it is something that I should be asking about, but I saw a picture in her officer that looked like it had been taken when she and her brother were much younger and there was a woman standing behind them, I was wondering it was her mother?" Ryan made a hmm noise as he thought about this while continue to put things in order for the cake. He tasted the coffee to make sure that it would be rich enough for the cake.
"I honestly don''t know anything about her mother or who that might be in the picture. Those are things I don''t butt into because when I came here it was just Zane, Lena, and Leo. Whatever happened with her mother is something that you would have to ask her about or perhaps Zane." Ryan rmended. He didn''t mind being noisy about current events that were going, but when it came to matters of the past, he preferred to let them rest as he didn''t want to dig up anything that wasn''t any of his business knowing or that could potential be a memory that one didn''t want to relive through.
"While we''re here though, I think what we should really be talking about is your and the princess''s engagement party. Since it''ll be up to me and my team to provide the food which I imagine will be a lot, I would kind of like a heads up if you have gotten any ideas about what you might like or think would fit with any decided upon themes?" Ryan inquired, watching as Samuel poured the coffee over the cookies. He did partly wonder if Lena would be more forgiving towards him if he added extra coffee to the cake.
"We haven''t really decided upon a theme." He answered honestly once he was done pouring the coffee.
"All we have decided on is that Lena''s dress will be rose gold and I will be wearing a emerald suit. Other than that, neither one of us really have any idea about what we want."
"That''s a start at least. Rose gold and emerald is abination that I can work with. I might have to order a few things in terms of ssware, silverware, decorations and such. I can figure out the best kinds of food that would go with that color theme, of course you and the princess will have final say though I don''t think she''ll care about as long as there are sweets." Ryan had turned around to get the small notebook he kept in one of the kitchen draws for moments like these when he had things he wanted to write down right away before he forget them. Rose gold and Emerald wouldn''t be a bad theme to work with.
Chapter 88 - Again?
After they had finished making the cake, Samuel stayed around to listen to Ryan ramble off all the different ideas he thought might look good with a rose gold and emerald theme. He was amazed by how quickly he was able toe up with so many ideas in such a short period of time but also overwhelmed since he was going to have to decide which one he liked bestter when he could talk it over with Lena.
With nothing left to do and not in the mood to eat since it was still rather early in evening, he decided to head up to his room and text his parents to see if they wanted to talk since he hadn''t had a lot of time to catch up with them since he came back beyond a few texts each day.
Somewhere during the time he had finished speaking with his parents and the princess hade home, he had fallen asleep without realizing it. He probably wouldn''t have woken up at all except for the fact that he had be aware of a shift in weight on the bed which caused his senses to be alert along with bringing him to a more conscious level.
Based upon how light the shift in weight was, his mind as best as it could determined that it was most likely to be the princess since he wasn''t aware of anyone who woulde into his room that weighed as little as she did.
He had the urge to reach out and wrap his arms around her, but without opening his tired eyes which weren''t very keen on opening because they wanted him to sleep more, he wasn''t sure how close she actually was to him.
"You tempt me with the photo of the cake and yet here I find you sleeping even after I messaged you to let you know that I would being back." Lena''s voice was soft as she spoke. Did she think that he might still be asleep? His body would''ve preferred for him to still have been asleep, but he wasn''t going to be able to now.
Samuel was about to make a noise and open his eyes when he felt the shift in the weight on the bed again. He kept still as she tried to determine what the princess was doing without giving away the fact that he was awake. The way that she moved was so soft and quiet however that he had a hard time being able to tell whenever she moved.
"Unsuspecting chickadees who don''t act awake when they''re really awake end up getting in trouble." Samuel wouldn''t have known that the princess had shifted so that she was positioned right above him if it wasn''t for the fact that he felt her breath gently tickle his face as he spoke. This action and sensation was enough for him to snap his eyes open. This wasn''t what he had been expecting from him.
He didn''t have much of a chance to move however because the moment that she saw that he had opened his eyes to look at her, she used both her hands to each of his with her legs straddling his waist. She made a tsk noise while smirking as she looked down at Samuel who despite mostly being fully awake at this point still didn''t have the proper control of his muscles to move as he would''ve liked.
"I did try to warn you by being nice, but it didn''t seem like you were going to wake up on your own if I didn''t take things a step further." She told him as he looked up at her a little confused and uncertain as to what she was nning.
"That isn''t true. I was just getting ready to let you know I was awake before you did this." Samuel defended himself. He wasn''t exactlyfortable with the current position but he wasn''t doing much to try and move Lena either.
"You say that but if you were going to do it, you should''ve been just a few seconds faster." The whispered thest part as she leaned over so her face was closer to his ear. Her breath tickled his ear and made him shift his head slightly.
"So you have no one to me but yourself for this."
"That''s not true. You didn''t even hardly give me a chance to say anything before you moved." He moved his left hand slightly and in response the princess tightened her grip on it. It didn''t hurt though she certainly did have a firm grip.
"I did you give you time, three minutes to be exact and I can say this because I counted the time down." She responded as she nipped the top of his ear slightly before flick the tip of her tongue against. Perhaps she should swap body wash or shampoo to whatever her fiance was using, she quite liked the smell of it.
Samuel shuddered in response to this action and shifted his head further away from her.
"Three minutes isn''t a lot of time for someone who''s sleeping." Samuel again defend his position as he tried to deal with the fact that Lena now had her face buried against his neck and her hips had shifted so that the way she was straddling him put her in a position where she was almost sitting on his waist in an awkward way.
"I guess then as part of your training maybe we should work on you learning to wake up quicker for your own safety." The princess murmured back. She could feel as Samuel tried to move his hands again and in response she tightened her grip again.
"Plus this is good for you. I told youst time the situation was reversed the you needed to not have such ax hold on my wrists, now you can experience firsthand what I mean when I say you should learn to tighten it." She moved her head back away from his neck so she could look at his face as she said thest part trying to gauge his reaction. Samuel was about to say something when Lena decided at that moment to lean down and kiss him. It was by no means a gentle kiss like the ones he had snuck in giving her before. This one was more intense and the power in it expressed how she was feeling at the moment in time.
Samuel was experiencing a different sort of feeling then the princess, but it too was mostly in part due to what the princess was doing to him.
He didn''t mind kissing her back, it was something he was gettingfortable doing. But he was once again confused when she nipped his bottom lip which he thought meant likest time she wanted him to open his mouth to her, but instead she pulled away from him.
"Not this. I''m interested in something far sweeter that I have been waiting quite a while for now." Lena told him as she held his gaze, not missing the sh of disappointment that went through his eyes when he heard this.
"It Isn''t thatte yet though, is it?" Samuel asked not actually quite sure what time it was. He hadn''t had a chance to look at his phone.
"Actually, it is. After 11pm now in fact. Haven''t even had dinner yet and you''ve been sleeping this whole time away." The princess replied as let of his wrists to roll slightly in order to move off him and out of his easy reach.
"I didn''t think that I had been sleeping that long. I guess that the cake should be set right now. You could''ve asked Ryan for it." The princess gave him a look as he shifted so he could stand up that said that wasn''t an option.
"If I did that, what would be the point of having a fiance then?" She replied as she leaned back on the bed making herselffortable.
"If I''m gone for a few minutes am I going to have to worry abouting back to you having fallen asleep and stolen my bed again?" He asked in a teasing tone.
"Again? You make it sound as though it has been more than a one time urrence." The princess scoffed at him.
"I won''t fall asleep though because there''s something I want and whenever there''s something that I want, I''m not likely to sleep until I get it." By the look in her eyes he could that she was being serious about it.
"Right then, I''ll trust you not to fall asleep and I''ll be right back with some cake."
"Make sure it''s arge piece otherwise, I''ll not be pleased." She told him, raising her voice enough so that she knew he would hear her even as he left the room. She truly would be disappointed if he didn''t back a big enough piece. She needed it after today.
Chapter 89 - Free Time
Lena was happy after she had gotten her cake, but rather sticking around after they had eaten, she had left saying there were still things to do before she slept, but that Samuel should sleep since the next day was going to be busy for him.
He honestly would''ve rather gone with her to the office regardless of what it was that she needed to be able to focus on rather than being stuck at home, even if it was for extra training. He liked the change in his schedule.
Perhaps though if this was how it was going to be, he would try and take the chance to talk with Zane about what the option for him to go to college in a few years would be. Samuel still had goals that he wanted to seed at after all and he didn''t think that marrying and bing a member of the Red Scorpions would conflict with them.
What bothered him more the next morning was the fact that the princess wasn''t even there for breakfast. She had already apparently had to leave ording the kitchen. He had been hoping that they would at least get the chance to have breakfast together as there was somethings that he wanted to ask her about, but now they would have to wait untilter.
Zane had decided to join them for breakfast that morning, but Samuel didn''t try to start a conversation with him because he didn''t quite seem like he would be in mood for it. He seemed rather focused and tired that morning as though there was something weighing on him. Though, he then noticed that Julian seemed to behaving in a simr manner. Lisa and Zoe were either choosing to ignore or were used to the atmosphere at the table because they were talking between themselves as though there wasn''t anything off going on. Zoe would asionally nce at Samuel when she didn''t think that he was looking. He wasn''t quite sure what that was about, but he wasn''t going to ask her unless she decided to speak to him.
After breakfast was over, he knew that there would be a bit of time before rice would being over. It was still early in the morning and he knew that she wouldn''t work with him right after he ate because their training wasn''t the right kind of exercise to help out his digestion.
He didn''t want to talk with Zane just yet either since the other seemed like he wouldn''t be in the mood for such trivial things. Thus, Samuel decided instead that he would go and spend some time outside. It might''ve been a touch warm that day, but it felt to him like it would be a waste to not go outside and enjoy at least a little bit of the morning sun. His schedule had him realizing that he didn''t spend as much time outside anymore as he used to back when he was living with him family. There was always something to do outside when he came back home from school.
Plus, he knew that there was still arge amount of the property that he hadn''t explored yet, but was interested to learn more about what was located where. Lena had exined to him before after had asked that although most of the family did eat their meals together, they didn''t all live in the estate together. Julian and his family lived elsewhere on the property. As did other members of the family. It was convenient for everyone to live so close in the case that something happened, but they also liked to keep their own space since they were married and had kids.
Samuel felt in a way that it was a waste for everyone to not live under the same roof since they evidently had the space for it in the estate that Lena, Leo and Zane upied and he was fairly certain that most of other rooms were empty despite the staff and other members that lived there with them. It felt like a waste to him that the space wouldn''t be used for that.
It did make him wonder how it would work out when he and Lena got married. Would they still be living together with Leo and her father in that estate or would they be moved else where to their own ce once they were married? He wasn''t sure that he would be able to handle living in such arge empty house with it only being the two of them and a few members of staff. He thought that it would be toorge and lonely like that. Even if they had kids, he didn''t imagine that they would have enough to fill all the rooms if where they lived was simr in size to where he was currently staying.
His mind was taking away from these thoughts when he came over to the stable area where the horses were. He hadn''t been back around them since the first time he left. He hadn''t really had the time even though he had wanted toe and visit them again. What surprised him though was that Leo was in riding with the horses. He wasn''t sure which horse he was on, he just knew that it was Abyss or Goldie. This one appeared to be a painted horse. One that was perhaps on the younger side based upon it''s size.
He seemed to be quite enjoying himself, though he wasn''t going out as far as Lena had gone the time that they rode. He seemed to prefer to stay in the closer part of the pen. Samuel wondered if it was due to the fact that the horse he was riding seemed to be a bit rowdy. They didn''t seem to be attempting to buck Leo off, but there was some sudden movements they were making that seemed to not be by Leo''s directing.
Samuel had been watching him for a few minutes before Leo actually noticed that he was there. When he did though, he shed him a smile and after a moment he brought the horse back closer in.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 90 - Honeymoon Idea?
"Are you liking what you''re seeing?" He asked as a tease when he came up close to the fence by where Samuel was standing. Once they stopped, the horse lowered it''s head to where he was on the outside of the fence and sniffed at him before ring it''s noise. Samuel wanted to pet it, but he was worried that it would spook them since the horse seemed a bit on edge as it was.
"Quite actually. I''m curious to know what the name of this beautiful one is." He replied as the horse lifted it''s head and shook it. Leo patted it''s neck which caused its ears to go back.
"Tomboy. Quite a fitting name for the amount of attitude she shows. You might think that she hasn''t yet been properly broken in with her behavior, but she just likes to show off more than actually try to hurt anyone." He replied.
"Though, I was more hoping to hear that you were more enjoying watching me ride than looking at this majestic creature here. Rather wounded to hear that she caught your attention more than I did." Leo sighed. Not sure what else to do, Samuel just shook his head at the other''s antics.
"I''m sure you''ll find someone here who will appreciate that hidden charm of yours." Samuel replied as he held his hand out for Tomboy to sniff, but instead the horse tried to nibble his fingers through the fence to which Leo clicked his tongue and pulled the reins slightly to get her to stop.
"Remember, we''re working on not biting the things we''re interested in." He told the horse who didn''t seem to care much for what he was saying.
"As to yourment, if I do find someone. It''ll probably be over in the UK rather than here. I''m probably not going to be staying here for the long haul." Samuel was rather surprised to hear this.
"I thought that you wereing back for good from what Lena had said?" he rified to which Leo shrugged his shoulders.
"I don''t know that it feels the same being here anymore. Of course I love being around my family and I missed them every minute that I was in Ennd, especially when I was younger, but after being there for so many years, I got rather used to it over there." He replied.
"Plus if I continue my education over there, there would be a chance for me to expand us outside of the US at that point. Perhaps more so on the legal side, but it is something that I know my father has been considering for some time but I''m the only one in the family who has the connections to make it a reality."
"Wouldn''t be hard to be away from everyone again?" Samuel then asked. He had thought about traveling overseas when he was younger, but he never thought he could actually go through with it because he didn''t know if he could handle being so far away from his family.
"I''ve done it for six years, not like there would be much of a difference if I went back now." Leo replied.
"It''s not like anyone couldn''te visit me either. In fact, you and Lena coulde for your honeymoon if you''re thinking about doing something overseas." He suggested.
"I can''t really say about, we haven''t actually talked about the wedding, we''re just still working on what the engagement party is going to look like." Samuel gave a lightugh. He wasn''t ready to think that far ahead in their rtionship when they had so much to still do at the current point in time.
"It''s worth considering. Especially when you think about the fact that you aren''t really bound by money barriers." Leo pointed. He had never really thought about it that way before. Obviously based on what he saw he knew that the princess and her family wasn''tcking money. If they were, they wouldn''t have been able to afford everything that he saw. Samuel had never really thought about it though from the perspective that marrying Lena meant that he would have ess to that money as well or that with the money he wasn''t technically limited in what they could do for their honeymoon or in general for that matter.
"There''s that, but it would be up to Lena as well. I wouldn''t want go somewhere that she wouldn''t find enjoyable as well."
"Aww, aren''t you such the thoughtful fianc¨¦." Leo cooed in a teasing tone not missing how Samuel seemed to be flustered by this. He was trying to be considerate, yes but that was because he thought that was how this type of rtionship should work, not for the praise.
"Honestly if I was you, I wouldn''t worry about it too much. Knowing my sister, she would be fine wherever you decide to go. I don''t think she cares much about things like that as long as the choice isn''t some ce troublesome, dangerous, or mundane. Ennd would have a lot of interesting sights to see."
"Maybe, I''ll talk about it with herter, probably after everything with the engagement goes smoothly and she starts asking about what should be done with the wedding." Samuel replied, he would also need time to think about what it was that he wanted to do.
"Right now though I need to leave. rice will probably be here soon and she wouldn''t like if it I ended up beingte for our training because I got distracted."
"Training again today, I thought that you were getting the day off after yesterday?" Leo asked, pointing to the bruise that was still noticeable on the other''s cheek.
"Lena said that it would be a good distraction while she''s at the office today. It''s not like it''s that bad either. The morning training I get in between now and the engagement party, the quicker I will reach my goal." He reasoned.
"I see, well let me get this one put up and I''ll join you in about five minutes. I''m interested to see how this training is going." Leo said as he began to lead Tomboy away without waiting for Samuel''s reply though the other wasn''t certain that he wanted anyone else there watching while he was still trying just barely getting the hang of keeping up with the pace of training that rice set for them.
Chapter 91 - It Has Been Some Time
If you enjoy it- please don''t forget to review and join discord server. Link for server in synopsis
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? Samuel quickly realized after the first time that Leo had decided to stick around to see how his training went that he wasn''t fond of having other people around to watch. Comments, sounds, and movements out of the corner of his eye caused him to get distracted from what he was supposed to be focusing on and cost him additional pain with how rice was teaching him.
rice of course didn''t mind the extrapany. After numerouspetitions and learning to train in packed ces, having other people around never bothered her one bit. In her mind it added to the excitement and in addition to that, she believed that it would help Samuel learn to focus better in future when he might in a situation where he needed to deal with distractions that might affect the way that he could respond and protect himself.
Her only other rule was that if anyone was going to be around to watch that they shouldn''t be giving advice on what to do unless they intended to participate in the training. Leo learned to notment fairly quickly, but only because the one time he did rice pulled him into the training which he wasn''t that thrilled about.
It had been a good year since he did any training and this made him a touch out of practice. Leo never really felt the need to keep up with it since he never needed to use it in Ennd. No one really knew who he was and thus he never really had to worry about anyoneing after him or seeing him as a valuable person to kidnap or otherwise. Thus, he determined it wasn''t necessary to stay on top of the training except for when he felt like it which was hardly ever.
Even though Samuel had asked him to note back because of the distraction it poised for him, he continued toe anyways because he said it was interesting to watch and it was important to have someone else there as moral support, he didn''t want that type of moral support however.
On this particr Tuesday however, Samuel didn''t have to worry about training as it was the day that he Lena, and Zane were supposed to be going together to get the rings refitted so that they could start wearing them. Samuel thought that it was a bit odd they were using those before they got married rather than actual engagement rings, he didn''tment though as he wasn''t certain if that was another one of the traditions in their family or not.
He had thought that riding with Zane would prove to create an opportunity for more conversation, but he was proven wrong when it turned out that Zane was just as quiet as the princess usually was which just made it more awkward for Samuel who was stuck sitting between them.
He still hadn''t taken the time to ask Zane about going to college. He had wanted to do thatst week when he knew the older man was at home and he didn''t have anything to do after his training with rice, but because of the other''s mood, he decided to put it off since he believed that there would opportunities in the future for the subject toe up.
Jeff was the one that was driving them to the small jeweler in the city who would be helping to get the rings properly adjusted. Apparently, it was the same ce that Zane had some odd twenty years ago gone to originally get the rings crafted. It had been his decision to go back to the same ce since he trusted that the person who had made them would be best person to adjust them without causing any damage to the original product.
Compared to the boutique that they had gone to, this ce seemed far less upscale and rather like some ce based upon the size and collection had only by sheer luck managed to scrape by and stay in business over the past twenty years. Part of that which was never spoken was due to the fact that Zane had paid far above market price value to have the rings made that the owner had enough rent to cover quite a few years without having to worry about how much sales he made each week.
This was of course because to Zane the rings were something that although simply enough to make were priceless to him and thus he didn''t mind putting extra money into someone''s pocket for going to the trouble to fulfilling the request that he had made.
Zane was the first one to step out when the car stopped, stepping to the side, he left the door open so that Samuel could get after him. He thanked the older man for the action though the other didn''t seem to think anything of it.
Once outside of the vehicle Samuel became aware of how different the air was now that Zane was with them than it had just been when it was him and the princess who had gone to the boutique. It really did seem like people were much more aware of who he was than who his daughter was. He paid no heed to it of course and made his way to enter the store. He was really indifferent to whether or not people were paying unnecessary attention to him. He had no business with themon people today and thus didn''t really care about how they were reacting to him.
"Is it always like this when you go out together?" Samuel asked Lena in a low voice causing the princess to nce at the people who had stopped to stand around and watch.
"Sometimes. I have gotten used to it though so I don''t really pay much attention t to who is around unless there is a reason to." She replied as she followed her father into the store leaving Samuel as the thest person to enter after them.
The man who was in at the counter looked to be in histe sixties. He was dressed in a dark blue polo and ck dress pants. He didn''t have much hair left and he was bent over slightly as though he was suffering from a touch of arthritis. Perhaps from standing behind the jewel store counter for so many years. His age and pain didn''t stop him eyes from bing bright when he saw who had entered the shop. He knew who Lena was, but he hadn''t been anticipating that Zane would being with her to get the rings taken care of.
"Sir Zane! It has been quite some time since west spoke. I knew that your daughter would be paying me a visit, but I never imagined that you woulding as well." The man greeted warmly. Zane offered him a small smile and a handshake in return for his enthusiasm.
"Indeed it has been quite some, that''s exactly why I decided toe back here today. What about twenty years now since Ist stepped foot in here?" Zane mused as he looked around the store. It seemed rather well stocked still but in a way that said it was regrly replenished rather that business had died down over the years.
"I''m d to see that you have still managed to stay in business after all these years." Hemented to which the man nodded.
"That was all thanks to you though. Without your generous donation I don''t think that I would''ve been able to get past those hard times when the recession hit." The man replied.
Lena was standing patiently behind her father while he caught up with the man, waiting for when he would ask to see the rings and take care of getting them properly fitted.
Samuel on the other hand was taking the opportunity to look around. It was his first time in such a store and he was rather interested in the unique designs and disys that were set up. He didn''t really have anything in mind that he was looking for in particr, he just didn''t want the opportunity to pass him by if he did happen to see something that he thought might be fitting for them.
Even though they had the wedding rings which he thought were quite beautiful and fitting for them, he still felt that it was wrong to not have another ring. Something to wear while they were engaged. That way they could really save her family''s rings for when they got married.
Nothing was sticking out to him though and he was aware that even if he did find something, he would have to ask Zane if he would be willing to put down the money for them. He didn''t mind this, but he didn''t want to take such a thing for granted since it wasn''t his money after all and he and Lena weren''t yet officially engaged.
At the same time that something finally did catch his attention, he was called back over my Lena so that the man could see how the ring fit on his finger and see how much he would have to adjust it.
Chapter 92 - Promise Ring
If you enjoy the story please don''t forget to vote, review and join the discord server. Link is in the synopsis.
Things are going to start picking up in the next few chapters which I hope will make the story more enjoyable
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What had caught Samuel''s attention was a disy of promise rings. That wasn''t anything particr fancy about them. They were made of sterling silver and had an option to include the birthstone with them and an engraving. He didn''t get a chance to see the price before he was called over but he couldn''t imagine that with their simple design that they would end up costing too much.
The fitting of the ring took far less time than he had expected it to and was surprised that the older man was rather efficient with the work he did. In return for the kindness that Zane had shown him so many years ago, he was even willing to do the job for free since it wouldn''t take him much trouble to get the rings adjusted.
Zane had turned around to follow Lena out the door after getting an appointment toe back in about a week to pick up the rings as he said they would most likely be done by then. Zane turned his head over when he felt a sudden soft grip on the back of his sleeve. He was surprised to see that it was Samuel who had stopped him leaving after his daughter.
"Go ahead and out before us." He told Lena who had turned around to see why the other two weren''t following after her. She nodded her head but didn''t say anything even though she gave Samuel a look that said she knew something was up.
"Is there something that you wanted while we were here?" He asked the other.
"Would it be asking too much if I did?" Samuel replied not really sure what the other man''s reply would be.
"That depends on what you''re looking to get and how much it would cost." He replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was rather surprised that the young man was asking him for something when they had hardly spent any time interacting since had returned to the estate.
"I don''t think it should cost too much. It''s one of the promise rings over here. I was hoping to get it for Lena as something she could wear in ce of the wedding ring until we actually get married." He exined as he pointed to the disy case that he was talking about.
Zane walked over to the case to get a better look at the rings he was talking about. They did look simple yet beautiful at the same time. He knew that his daughter probably wouldn''t object too much to something as simple as this.
"Did you want to get her birth stone to go with it?" He asked looking over his shoulder at Samuel who had moved closer to further look at the disy case since he didn''t a chance to see all the avable designs before he had been pulled over to get the rings fitted.
"If you think that she would like that. I didn''t know if she would prefer something in a ruby color more though." Samuel replied. His eyes were set on one that took an odd heart shape. He thought it might be one she liked the most.
"How much would getting one of these with the birth stone and having an engraving done cost?" He asked the man standing behind the corner who came over to see what they were looking at.
"I see you have a fine eye, young man. These are actually quite popr recently. It wouldn''t cost more than two hundred. Which design are you looking at in particr?" He asked as he opened the case. Samuel pointed to the heart shaped one that had caught his attention.
"Indeed a fine choice. You can hold if you want to get a closer look and see if it''s what you''re looking for." He said as he grabbed the ring out and handed it to Samuel. Despite it''s simple look, it somehow felt heavier in his hand than he had imagined that it would. Getting a closer look at it however, he knew that it was the one he wanted to get.
"This one will definitely do." He replied as he handed the ring back to the man after looking it over for a moment or two longer.
"Very well. Do you know what you would like to have engraved on the inside of it?" He then asked, which Samuel did, but it was something that he wanted to write down rather than say out loud, especially with Zane standing there.
"Do you have a piece of paper and pen I could borrow to write it down on?" he asked, hoping that the answer would be yes.
"If you think that this will be big enough." The man replied as he handed Samuel a small sticky note sized notebook which he usually used to take his orders.
"It should Samuel replied as he took the pad and pen and carefully wrote down the message that he wanted engraved on the inside of the ring. He didn''t want to pick something that seemed overly sweet or affectionate as he didn''t think that Lena would like something like that as she evidentially wasn''t much of a romantic from what he could tell. Instead what he opted for was ''I will kiss you everyday''. It was partly a promise and partly a joke based upon the fact that she requested a good night kiss from him most every night still that she was home in the evening. Finishing writing it, he handed it back to the man who read over it to make sure that it was legible. He smiled after reading it.
"What color should the birthstone be?" He then asked looking between the two as he wasn''t sure who would have the answer to this question.
"Tourmaline." Zane replied knowing that Samuel most likely didn''t yet know when his daughter''s birthday was. He also reached into the left pocket of the pants he was wearing to pull his wallet out. Considering he had seen the work that jeweler had done before, he didn''t think that there was a reason to wait to pay him until after the product was finished. Seeing that the other man was ready to pay, he smiled at the head of the Red Scorpions.
"I hope that this time you will refrain from over paying me so much. I still have more than enough money fromst time that I don''t know what I would do if you gave me anymore." Zaneughed at this.
"Very well. You may pay with the card yourself and charge what you see fit for the service. When did you say again that you would have it finished and ready to pick up?" He asked again, making sure that neither he or Samuel would forget what the date would.
"I will call and let you know, but for a job such as this, it should take more than a week or one and a half. The longest part will be getting the birthstone in, but I will make sure that everything else is finished up before then." the man replied as he rang the card up before handed it back to the other. With this they were finished and ready to head back outside where Lena was waiting somewhat suspicious and impatient to know what they were doing inside that they didn''t want her to know about.
"I can pay you backter for it." Samuel offered once they were outside of the store. Zane nced back at him when he heard what the other said.
"Don''t worry about it. It hardly cost anything. Besides, you''re almost family. Part of this money will soon be yours and since I can tell that you''re think before you spend, I don''t think that there''s any reason to be pay me back." He replied as he walked over and opened the car door. This time Lena had decided to take a seat in the middle thus making it so that Zane and Samuel would sitting on either side of her.
"Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?" She asked once they were both in the car and buckled up.
"Perhaps, but if there is, it would be a surprise anyways." Zane replied to the princess who didn''t seem thrilled about this answer.
"Sometimes, surprises can be good things." He told her as he nced over at Samuel who was being quiet. He was certainly not going to say anything to her so long as he wasn''t forced to.
What he didn''t tell Zane was that it was his intention to give to Lena as a surprise at their engagement party. It would mean that he would have toe up with a convincing argument for not using the other rings before then since they were supposed to serve as a symbol of their engagement prior to the wedding. Perhaps that was something else that Zane would be able to help him with if it came down to it.
Chapter 93 - Odd Call
The ride back somehow felt heavier, especially since Lena was annoyed over the fact that neither one of the men wanted to tell her what was going on. She didn''t like surprises or secrets, but in this situation it seemed like neither one of them was going to budge and tell her what was going on.
She had considered calling the jeweler to find out, but she doubted that he would say anything if they asked him to stay quiet about it. She opted for tsking and leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed to ignore the other two in the car with her. This was short lived however when Samuel suddenly spoke.
"I also forgot Lena, my mom asked yesterday if it would be alright for me to give you her phone number. She said that there were some things that she wanted to talk with you about." Hearing this also caught Zane''s attention. He was always the one that made contact with Samuel''s family prior to their children meeting, what did she want to talk with his daughter about?
"Sure I don''t mind, did she say what she wanted to talk about in particr?" The princess asked. She didn''t mind talking to his mom since she had been so nice to her when Lena had been there for his birthday party, but she wasn''t sure why all of a sudden she wanted to talk with her.
''"She didn''t but I would imagine that it might be rted to the engagement party. Since it was over text I couldn''t ask her directly or hear the way she asked to know if something was going on." He replied. It didn''t seem odd to him, he figured that the reason was that she wanted to discuss how the engagement party would with the princess since there were certain things that Samuel still didn''t even know about.
"You can give it to her and tell that she''s fine to call any time in the evening that she wants to." The princess replied. Zane wasn''t that convinced that it was something that simply though.
Perhaps it was just his paranoia kicking in with everything else that had been going on recently tied with what had happened in the past, but in his mind it didn''t seem right that Samuel''s mother would want to talk with Lena about that rather than asking him directly as they had about other things in the past.
He would have to wait and see though if it turned out to be anything that should be worried about. Perhaps there was so more background work that he needed to do to make sure that everything was in fair order prior to the engagement party.
"I will let her know that." He replied as he pulled out his phone to text his mother right then and there to let her know. He knew that if he didn''t do it right then that he would probably forget to do it until the next time that they texted which could be hours since today was supposed to be another busy day.
"Are you going to the office today?" Zane suddenly asked as he looked over at Lena.
"Do I really want to? No, but I probably should. There''s still some work left to be taken care of. It can''t hurt to spend about half a day in there finishing some stuff up." She replied. Ideally she would head home and spend the day there, but Genson and Olivia, the other girl she was considering to hire would being by in two days and there was still some stuff that she wanted to get taken care of prior to then.
"Do I get toe along this time or am I supposed to wait back at home again?" Samuel inquired, hoping that the answer would be that he could join her since he presumed that whatever she had been focusing on before should''ve been done by now.
"I suppose so. Technically your schedule wasn''t set up for you toe to the office today, but then again, neither is mine." She responded with a shrug.
"Worst case rice can juste to the office and you can use one of the backrooms to continue training." It was partly a joke, but Lena had nothing against it if Samuel ended up needing something else to distract himself with than continue to go through thepany''s entire budget.The princess had been keeping her word and had brought some back for him to look over when his schedule wasn''t packed thus there were slightly less left at the office to go through.
"I think that I would rather take the day off. I don''t mind training with her, but doing so so often ends up making my body stiff." Samuel replied. He was slowly getting used to the different aches and pains he felt both from the consistent practice and the number of times that rice had thrown, knocked down, hit, and kicked him.
When talking about it, it sounded rather harsh but in reality, rice wasn''t as rough on him as she could''ve been. Part of it was because he was such a beginner and the other part she joked was because she didn''t want to upset the princess from damaging her fianc¨¦ too much. She was certainly not as hard on him as she had been with Leo the one time that he had seen them spar. Though Leo was by no means a push-over himself despite being out of practice.
"Jeff can drop both of you off at the office first and then I will have hime backter after he drops me off." Zane spoke loud enough that he knew Jeff would be able to hear that instructions were.
"Still busy?" Lena asked. It was the first time in a while that she had seen her father working this much. She wasn''t so much worried about him as she was worried about everything he was doing and what he wasn''t telling her because she was supposed to be focusing on the engagement party unless there was something serious that required her attention as well.
"Just a few things left to wrap up. After this week, everything should be back to normal again." He replied as he pulled his phone out. He would need to call Julian as well since he was working on the other half of the problem that they had been dealing with.
Working at the office was quiet affair as it had been the first time that the princess had brought her fianc¨¦ to work. She wasn''t as surprised this time by how efficient he was in going through the numbers. The extra practice had been helping him get it done at a faster pace. With how quiet he was, Lena sometimes forgot that he was in the office with her as she focused on going through documents and files that needed her attention and signature. Unlike the work that Samuel was doing, hers only ever seemed to increase in size rather than decrease no matter how much she did.
Samuel was distracted from his work when his phone suddenly started to buzz in his pocket, a sign that he was getting a phone call. Presuming that it was his mother most likely calling after he had texted her Lena''s number, he didn''t bother looking to see who was calling.
"Hey mom." he answered the phone, but was surprised by the rather deep sounding chuckle that met him on the other end of the phone.
"How sweet, you two must call a lot for you to automatically assume that was who would be calling you." The deep voice replied. Samuel was about to say something, but the voice continued on the other end of the phone.
"I would rmend being quiet for a moment and letting me speak before you say or do anything. I think that I have some information that might be of interest to you rted to your mother. It''s about her past which I''m sure she hasn''t told you anything about." The voice which he presumed to belong to a male paused for a second.
"Where are you right now? Rather I suppose I should ask are you with your princess right now?" This person knew Lena? That caught him off guard.
"Yeah, we''re at work right now." He replied a touch hesitant causing Lena to nce over at him aware that he was behaving a bit oddly.
"I see, well is there somewhere more private we can talk? She said that it would be alright to talk with you, but I would like to have a more private conversation first." This all felt a bit suspicious to Samuel, but he couldn''t deny that his interest was peaked by knowing that this man somehow knew his mother. Was he a friend or rtive?
"Let me ask." He put the phone and mute and moved it away from his ear so he could speak with Lena.
"Is there a more private room that I can speak with my parents in? They wanted to talk with me about something important?" He asked Lena whose expression said she still thought something was up.
"There''s a breakroom two doors down, you can use it just make sure that you lock the door behind you that way no one else can enter while you''re in there." She replied motion with her hand to indicate which direction it was located.
"Thank you." Samuel said as he stood up from the sofa.
"I will be back in just a few minutes and I will get the rest of these finished." He told her before he left the office.
Chapter 94 - Who Are You?
"Sam~, you''re certainly taking your time to get back to me. I hope you haven''t changed your mind." He heard the other voice say in a somewhat sing-songy tone of voice before he took the phone speaker off mute.
"I had to ask Lena and move to the room she rmended. How do you know my mother?" He asked cutting straight to the point causing the other to chuckle.
"I see much like your princess you don''t like to mince words when there is something that like you to know." He chuckled.
"In due time I will tell you, though I think that it would be better if we met up at ater point in time. This will be a rather long conversation to have over the phone or texting. Plus I think that it would be nice to sit down and get the chance to get to know each other."
"If you''re not willing to tell me what I want to know, I can just ask my mother instead." Samuel replied, he wasn''t sure if he should trust this other person yet and he wasn''t about to meet with someone he didn''t know.
"Tsk, now don''t be that impatient. I can tell you right now that if you take this to your dear mother not only would she be unwilling to tell you anything, she would do everything to shutdownmunication between us. I already tried to reach out to her being the reasonable person that I am and left her a message on her phone she never called me back" The other person exined.
"Haven''t you ever wondered why you never got to know her side of the family? never heard anything about us or from us?"
"She always said that her parents had died when she was younger and she was never close to any of her other rtives." There was a pause after Samuel had said this.
"Hmm.. I suppose that is one way to look at it. She certainly did cut ties with her family when she left, so you could say that they were dead to her. In all truth though, they weren''t dead when she left." came the reply.
"She wouldn''t have any reason to lie about that though. If there was something bad going on between her and her family, I''m sure she would''ve told me when I got older or talked with my father about it."
"Everyone has their secrets, Sam." He replied back somewhat less effusive than he had been talking before.
"I mean, doesn''t your princess keep things from you that you would rather know about because of rules in her family? So why do you think it would be impossible for your dear mom to not do the same?" Samuel could kind of see the point that the other person was making. It was possible that his mother was hiding things that he didn''t know about. He had never actually asked her much about what her family was like as he was concerned brining up such a topic would be painful for her.
"Alright... but why should I believe you still? Since I never heard about you, you could just be lying to get something from me that you want." Samuel countered wanting to know how much this other person would be willing to tell him?
"Fair enough. I will give you a few things to help assure you that I''m not just bluffing you. I won''t lie that there''s something that I want out of this, but that cer when we get to know each other." The voice replied.
"So for now, you can just call me J. I know who you are, your Samuel Foster, 18 and currently engaged to the beloved princess of the Red Scorpions. Your father is Jacob Foster and your mother who is my rtive is Evalyn Foster formerly known as Evalyn Genesis, but thatst name is fake. I''ll tell you about thatter when we met. I also happen to know that your marriage to the princess is arranged because your parents fell into some debt and made an agreement with Zane to get out of it." J exined, pausing to allow Samuel to process everything that he had just been told before continuing.
"You have two other siblings, a touch younger than you though I''m sure they''re quite adorable. Another more personal thing I can say that I know about your mother is that she had a diamond shaped birthmark behind her left ear. I''m sure few people know about that. Perhaps it is something that you inherited as well. Is that enough to make you believe that I''m not bluffing about knowing your mother from the past and who you are?" He asked.
Samuel didn''t reply at first. He was thinking through everything that he other had just said. He wasn''t wrong about the birthmark that his mother had, though few people did notice it as she mostly kept her hair down which made it hidden from view unless one was trying to see it.
"I don''t know." Samuel replied honestly. He felt conflicted currently. He couldn''t deny that the things that J was telling him was believable or at least give him some ground to believe him on, but he also felt that it was oddly timed with the fact that he was getting ready to be engaged to Lena and there was so much around that that he didn''t know about.
"You can have some time if you need to think about it, I can be a patient person when it is needed though I wouldn''t like to have to wait too long if you want to continue this conversation."J replied.
"Though for now, I would prefer that you keep it to just between us. Don''t even let the princess know until you''ve decided what you want to do. I would hate too many people to get involved and muddle the situation up since this is a more personal family matter."
"You make it sound like you have already talked with Lena before now." Samuelmented picking up on this from the way that J was talking about the other.
"Oh, I have. We met at her officest week. Of course, I never told her about any of this, it was just for a simple business rted matter. She is a bit on the over protective and uptight side I would say from our conversation, but I don''t think that she''s a bad choice for you." J exined sighing at the end after a pause.
"How about I text you backter and we can finish talking about this or you text me when you have made your decision about the matter since you should have my number now? It''s up to you like I said before, but I do think that what I have to tell you is something that you would be highly interested in." He suggested waiting as Samuel chose to remain quiet on the other line.
"Alright. Right now, I don''t know if I will get back in touch with you or not. I''m still not sure I believe what you have to say or that you''ve given me enough to believe you by. But if I do chose to get back in touch with you, it''ll be three days from now and I will be the one to contact you first." Samuel finally replied. He didn''t know if he was making a stupid decision to go through with this, but he knew that before hemitted to anything that he needed time to think about it all.
"Fair enough. I think that I already know what your answer is going to be, but regardless I look forward to hearing from you again Sam. Keep my number saved regardless, you never know when you might need to reach out to me." J replied, ending the phone call without waiting for Samuel to reply.
Now that the call was over Samuel was going to need to take a few extra minutes to breath before he went back to Lena''s office. He felt pretty certain that she would be quick to pick up on the fact that something had happened if she saw his current expression and he didn''t want to worry her, at least not until he knew if there was something to be worried about.
Was this J being honest though or was he doing this to get something he wanted? He didn''t know what he would possibly be able to give him however. Lena and her family was the one with all the influence and power, he just happened to be the one marrying into her family.
This about his past though... had his mother doing something bad in the past or being involved with the wrong people? His mother who was always so passive, sweet.. could she really have somehow gotten involved with the wrong type of people? Wouldn''t that have been something she would''ve told her father at least? Or if not, what reason did she have to keep her family and past hidden? All that questions that were going through his head were making it hurt and causing him to feel even more confusion. He definitely needed time topose himself before he went back to talk with Lena. He also needed a good excuse that she would believe.
Chapter 95 - Full Mind
Samuel hoped that by the time that he walked back into the office that he looked more like his normal self then he felt he did when the call had ended.
"Is everything okay with your family?" Lena asked he was sitting back down in front of the financial documents that he needed to finish going through.
"Yeah, it was just about the dynamics of who would being to the engagement party and about how they didn''t think that my grandparents would be able to make it due to their health. My aunt and uncle were consideringing though." He exined, hoping that it sounded like a usible enough of a life for the time being.
"I don''t mind if your parents or siblingse, but I would prefer if your aunt and uncle weren''t here. I don''t like them very much and I doubt that they would anything beneficial to the event. They would only be interested in something to brag about most likely." Lena told him, a slightly annoyed look on her face when she said this. Buying his uncle''spany was something that she would have to talk with him about soon.
"I''m surprised that you were able to tell that my much about my aunt just from meeting once." Samuel said in response to herment.
"Observation is a good skill for survival. Plus, the type of person is isn''t really that hard to read." Lena replied brushing it off as though it was something simply.
"It''s ultimately up to you and your parents whether or not you want them toe, but I just want my preference for the event to be noted. I also don''t think that there''s any benefit from having too many of your family members from the outside attending the event that don''t need."
"I''ll bring it up to my mom the next time we talk and see if there is something that we can work out so that they won''te. If not, I''ll just ask her to tell them that only my parents had been invited and no other family members." He told her as he tried to get back to focusing on the work he needed to do in front of him. It was a little bit difficult with all of the thoughts that were going through his head.
He really wanted to ask him mother about what was going on or if she really knew who this J was, but he felt conflicted after what he heard. His mother had always been so open with him about almost everything, both his parents had which is what made it hard for him to believe that she would hide such a big secret from him and maybe even his father.
But what if she denied it if he did ask but then he found out it was true? In a way, for Samuel that would feel even worse than if he came to her about it after finding out if it was something to worry about or not. It wasn''t like he could call her right then and there to ask about it with Lena being around.
Whether it was true or not, it was still a family matter as far as he was concerned and not something he wanted to involve the princess with until he fully found out what was going and either talked with this J or his mother and got rity about what was going on.
The only thing that he could really do for the time being was to focus on the work in front of him and decide in three days whether he was going to chose to continue talking with this J or if he would ask him mother about it.
While Samuel was absorbed in his thoughts and only partly paying attention to the work that he was trying to do, he was also unaware of the fact that Lena was keeping an eye on him. She could tell that there was something more going on with her fianc¨¦ than what he was telling her. Her initial instinct was to badger him about it until he told her what was going, but she decided against it as simr to what her father had been dealing with, she didn''t know if it was paranoia that something bad was lurking around the corner with everything else that they had been dealing with recently.
The meeting that had been held sote after they had left the hospital from visiting Clive was due to two of the men working with her family had been killed on opposite sides of their boarders and a supply had gone missing somewhere in-between all of that. The most vexing part of the situation was that they had no leads as to who was behind it.
It was job that had been done to make a point, but it had been done so well that there were no clues or marks left that would indicate who would''ve been behind the attack. Which was why Julian was so frustrated when he got the call while at the hospital. His usually connections that could help out in these situations were drawing a nk as well.
It had been years since anyone dared to kill in or near their territory. Since Zane had taken over the number of killings that used to happen had decreased significantly. Mostly because he changed policies and reasons as to what counted as an eptable motive or consequence to kill rather than serve a different type of punishment.
Lena intended to maintain the route that her father was taking as she didn''t have any objections about. She would take someone''s life if it was absolutely necessary, but she didn''t agree that transgressions within the main or lesser families should be paid with a life. There were other options that were just as effective for teaching people what happened if they stepped out of line.
"I found some more spread sheets where the numbers aren''t matching up. These are more recent though. Which I guess would indicate that whoever is behind this feelsfortable enough to continue it over thest few months." Samuel''s voice interrupted her thoughts and brought her attention back to what was going on at the office.
"Are the numbers just as bad as the other ones were?" She asked holding out her hand to look at the papers he was bringing her.
"Some of them are. Others are much smaller numbers, but there still doesn''t seem to be any kind of pattern as to who might be behind this." He replied as he handed her papers he had marked up so that it would be easier for her to see what he was talking about.
"Hopefully I will have a solution to finding out that problem next week." The princess told him as she looked over the money. Even though she was certain that the problem would be solved soon enough, she was still annoyed by the amount of money that had been stolen in the meantime. Most of which she would be surprised if she could easily get back.
She knew that if she didn''t get it taken care of soon enough, her father would step in to try and create a solution to the problem which she didn''t want yet because it would indicate that she was losing a percentage of the power she had over thepany. Although it wasn''t umon for businesses to deal with this type of problem, she didn''t want to affect the amount of power she had in thepany or how people treated her because her father was getting involved again. She still had a lot of work still to do to make the rest of the board trust that it was right to put a woman in charge of thepany.
"What kind of solution?" Samuel asked thinking that it was something that she could perhaps talk with him about.
"I found two people who I think would be a good fit to join thepany and keep an eye on what''s going on around here. They both have hacking skills as well which woulde in handy if needed to find out who has been moving money around." The princess replied as she set the papers down.
"You''re going to trust someone from the outside toe in and deal with this?" He asked rather surprised to hear this. He knew she had mentioned before to James her secretary that she wanted to find someone who could help deal with the problem, but he had been under the impression that it would be someone from within the family, not an outsider.
"Of course, but only because they are reliable ande with good rmendations. We have our own process for finding and hiring the people that we need in order to do odd jobs. I still have to interview them first but that will happenter next week." She replied standing up from her desk.
"For now though, we''re going to leave here and get something to eat. We haven''t been here long yet, but we didn''t get lunch either and we probably won''t be home untilter for dinner."
"You mean going out somewhere to eat?" Samuel asked slightly confused, the princess had never taken him out to eat anywhere before.
"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" She asked as she grabbed her phone to make sure that Jeff was back already from dropping her father off before they left the office. If he wasn''t, they would have to wait longer.
"No, it''s just you haven''t done it before." Samuel replied with a slight shake of his head.
Chapter 96 - Pluckemin Inn
Jeff was on his way back when Lena contacted him which meant that they had to wait about thirty minutes before they could go to lunch.
"Do you have any preferences?" She asked Samuel asked she continued to sign off on documents. Part of what was causing her work load to build up so much was she was still dealing with a lot of transfer or power and epting the change of work contracts with clients and smallerpanies that her father put together before he handed it off to her. It was a lot of work to make sure that everything looked to be in order and nothing had been any contract changes that hadn''t been previously discussed.
"Not really. I don''t know what good ces are to eat in this area, but I''m not very picky when ites to food." He replied as he swapped pages on the notebook he was working with.
"Alright, I will take you to one of my favorite ces to go then. They''re a touch more upscale than what you''re probably used to dining at, but they have a decent menu that has never disappointed me yet.
"Isn''t it a bit early in the day to be eating at some ce like that?" He knew that it waster in the afternoon, but his family had never eaten anywhere expensive unless it was for dinner to celebrate a special asions. Lunches were eptable to spend a lot of money on.
"It''s fine. It''s not like anyone is going toin at us because we chose to eat somewhere more high end for ate lunch. It''s not that odd within my family anyways." Lena said blowing it off. It was something that Samuel would have to get used to anyways. In the future when it came business deals on either side of work, they would be spending a decent amount of time eating at higher ss restaurants while going over business deals. Part of one of the reasons why when he father was really busy that he didn''t eat dinner at home a lot, he was eating out during those times.
"And before you worry about it also, you''re outfit will be fine for the asion as well." Lena said, wanting to assure him before he began to worry that he didn''t have the right clothes on.
"It''s something you''ll get used to andter on we can worry about fixing your wardrobe if necessary."
"What is the name of the restaurant?" Samuel asked, he figured that he could at least look it up ahead of time to get an idea of what to kind of vibe to expect.
"It''s Pluckemin Inn." Lena replied not looking up from what she was doing. Upon hearing the name, Samuel did have to look it up. He had heard of that Restaurant before.
While it certainly wasn''t one of the most expensive restaurants, it was still far out of the price line that his family would''ve been able to afford.
"Don''t you generally need a reservation to get a table?" Samuel asked. Most higher ss restaurants generally required a reservation made in advance. Had Lena done that before today when he didn''t see?
"Usually, but the owner has provided my family was an open spot for whenever we wish to dine there. You could say this is in return for some help my father provided them with in the past." The princess exined. It was true, her father had helped by bing a frequent customer not long after it had opened and encouraging other members of the within the group to eat there as well.
This was one of the more legal supports he provided as he didn''t want people to get the wrong impression of the restaurant if they knew the kind of people the restaurant was catering to even if it wasn''t a purposeful decision.
"Does your father or rather family I guess help everyone out like that?"
"Mostly just people they think deserve it or have helped out some way in the past. A way of repaying gratitude or showing respect." Her phone buzzed as she finished speaking indicating that Jeff had arrived and it was time for them to go.
Putting away everything that she needed to for the time being, she made sure that Samuel followed out ahead of her. She could finish answering any of his questions during the short drive to the restaurant.
The Plukemin Inn had much more of a high ss feel than Samuel had anticipated even after looking up the restaurant. This made him feel rather out of ce having hardly any experience in this type of environment.
Lena wasn''t bothered at all by any of it and he tried to take that as a cue that he shouldn''t let it get to him either, despite the fact that some people had turned to look and see who had entered.
"Last name miss?" The waiter standing behind the guest list asked.
"Scarlet." The princess replied already knowing what the response would be upon hearing thest name.
"I see miss Scarlet, thank you." He told after checking to see that her name was in the book.
"Where would you like to sit today?" He asked grabbing two menus as he waited for her response.
"The second floor would be nice today." She replied. Usually she would ask where the her guest would prefer to sit, but since it was Samuel''s first time at the restaurant she presumed he might like the second floor better since it tended to be less crowded.
"Right this way then, I have a seat towards the back that I think would suit your tastes." The waiter replied as he lead them around and up the stairs that lead to the second floor.
"What can I get you to drink first?" He asked leading them towards a table that was located further in the back away from the rest.
"Two iced lemonades." Lena replied as she took her seat. Samuel followed suit rather quickly as the menus were ced down in front of them.
"Very well. I will be back with them shortly. Take all the time you need in ordering." He told them before leaving to fetch their drinks.
"Order whatever you like." Lena told the other once it was just the two of them. She already had an idea of what she wanted, but enjoyed looking over the menu to see if anything had changed since thest time that she had been there.
"Okay." Samuel replied, opening up the menu to take a look at what they had. He couldn''t deny that they had quite a variety of food to choose from though he was only have paying attention as he was still taking in the view of the restaurant.
The light walls contrasted well with the bricks to give it a rather nice feel despite being a touch darker. Most of the curtains were open which allowed for a view of the outside though they weren''t seated close enough for Samuel to look out the window.
The tables and chairs were spaced evenly enough apart that there was room for plenty of guests without making anyone feel as they were sitting too close to each other.
Samuel was also interested in the way that they had wine bottles disyed. He hadn''t seen anything like it before.
Although she was ready to order by the time that the waiter came back with their drinks, she told him to give them another five minutes before they would be ready. She wanted Samuel to have a little more time to decide what he wanted to eat.
Samuel wasn''t really sure what to order. He just knew that if he didn''t order a real meal, Lena would probably just order something for him.
When we the waiter came back, the princess had Samuel give his order first.
"I would like to try the fish and chips with a side of roasted red potatoes." He told the waiter who quickly took down his order before turning to Lena to see what she wanted.
"Plucky burger with a side of fries. Extra onion." She replied, handing the menu over to the waiter who took it from her before grabbing the other''s.
"We will have that out for you as quickly as possible." He told them before he left to go and get their order in while tending to other customers.
Once the waiter left though, Samuel wasn''t sure what to do while waiting for their food since Lena wasn''t the best person at small talk and seemed even more quiet than usual thest few days unless they werepletely alone together.
He figured it had something to do with work or family matters, but not something he could yet be a part of. He would''ve liked to know so that he could understand what was going through her head. Now that he was keeping something from her however, he felt less like he had the right to ask about things that were not yet his business to know about.
Chapter 97 - Becoming Reality
A/N quick to note to say that I will be releasing another new privilege tier next month. 10ch/45coins. It most likely will not be up on the first day of the month, but I will try to have it up and running by August 3rd. Thank you again for all your support for the story.
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The taste of the lemonade even felt like it was of a higher quality Samuel noted as he took a sip of the drink, looking around at the other guests. Seeing the people talking casually and dressed simrly to him and the princes helped him rx some.
"If it''s something that''s really bothering you, I can arrange to have Jeff drive you back over the weekend or some time in the next week so you can it over with your family." Lena''sment brought his attention back to the girl that was sitting across from him. Her face was rather nk as it usually was, but he could tell by her eyes that she was trying to analyze what was bothering him.
"It''s not that big of a problem. I will just call my motherter and we can talk about it over the phone." Samuel replied as he took another sip of his drink, hoping that the food woulde soon so that there would be a distraction aside from talking.
"I''m just thinking about a lot of other things too."
"Like?" She asked, leaning back slightly in her chair as she nced towards the stairs to see if the waiter was on his way back yet. It had already been over ten minutes since they had put their order in.
"The engagement and the fact that it is really happening. It''s one thing to talk about something that''s going to happen, but another to really realize it''s going to be a reality soon." He replied, ncing at his left ring finger where he knew that the ring would soon be sitting.
"Is it something that you''re still notpletelymitted to? Or is it that the reality of something that''s been decided for eighteen years ising true?" She rified. It wasn''t that she didn''t understand what the other was feeling, she just wanted to know what was affecting him.
"It''s not that I''m notmitted to it, though I am still bothered by all the things that I don''t yet know that I will have to get used right after that. I guess it''s just that it just never felt real until we started getting everything in order for it." He replied.
"It''s not likely anything will really change by us getting engaged though. Pretty much everything will be the same except that our family and the rest of the smaller families will be aware of the intention for us to get married and it''ll be public to them." The princess replied, pausing what she was saying when she saw that the waiter wasing back with the food. She knew to be careful of how she was talking because of all the people that were around. She thanked the waiter and waited to finish speaking until after they had left.
"Aside from that, everything else will be the same. I''ll be me and you''ll still be the same little chickadee that you have been since I met you. We''ll just be closer to being recognized as a couple."
"Who says that I will be the same by the time that we get engaged?" Samuel asked, he had ns for some things to change before that point, or at least prove to her that that he was not the same as when we first. She smirked at hisment as grabbed one of her fries to it, pointing it at him she replied.
"Because we both know that you can change certain things but at the bottom of everything, if I do or say the right thing, you will still be just as easily flustered as you did when we first met." she ate the fry as she finished speaking while Samuel started on his own food.
"I don''t think that''s true. I''m starting to understand you better so certain things don''t catch me off guard as they used to." He replied in defense of his behavior. It was true that certain things still did catch him off guard, but he was getting better at understanding the way that her personality worked so it became easier to know when to expect her to say or do certain things. Except for when he was sleeping, that would probably not change.
"If you''re thinking that a challenge over this type of thing is something that you would probably be able to win at, you would be wrong. You need a few more months before you could even begin to predict the way that I might chose to behave in situations." The princess replied as she continued. As expected, the food once again didn''t disappoint her. She would be certain to leave a good tip for the food and decent service.
? "Not in terms of training. rice says that I''m doing well. I don''t think that I will have a problem being on your level by the time that we''re officially engaged." He argued back. That much was true, rice did think that he was improving rather quicklypared to what she had been expecting. Though only in certain areas.
He had training tomorrow and now that she was getting used to what worked best for him and what his strengths were, she was beginning to work out a n what direction to take his defense and fighting skills in that would be the most beneficial to him.
"You can say that, but you haven''t even seen what my skills are. I doubt rice is even aware of what I have been practicing over the years. At some point we still do need to do that spar. I just need to find the time in my schedule to fit it in among everything else." the little queen told him as waved down the waiter to request for a refill to their drinks.
"I may not know them yet, but I think that I could pick it up rather quickly if I had time to watch you." He thanked the waiter as he refilled his ss.
"A true expert never reveals all their cards. Even if you did watch us spar, I doubt that you would learn enough to be able keep up with me if it was between us. I learned quite a lot over the years and learned also what best skill to use depending on the situation while keeping other hidden." She responded. She may not have been able to travel the same way that rice did, but she learned whatever she could while stuck at home with her father. He had no problem brining in people to train with his daughter so long as he was aware of what was going on and made sure beforehand that there wasn''t anything to worry about from any of them.
"Why don''t you tell me though what you think of the food and this ce. If you perhaps think that it is good enough to be included in a rotation of ces to take lunch again in the future." She asked changing the subject. Samuel waited until he was done taking his next bite and take a small drink of his lemonade to reply.
"The food is good. It''s different from what I am used to eating when I would go out with my family, but it isn''t bad. I think that it would take me a bit to get used toing here often though. It''s a nice ce, but takes a bit of an adjustment to get used."
"If you think that this ce is a bit much, you may be more taken aback by some of the other restaurants that we will be visiting in the future." The princess told him as she finished the rest of her food.
"This kind of restaurant is good for casual lunches and family meals, but we usually hold business meetings in ces of much high ss than this. It''s all part of the package thates with taking over the family. You will have time to adjust to everything though over time." She intended to get dessert left, but she was waiting until Samuel had finished the rest of his food before she called the waiter back over to order it. She couldn''t leave this ce without dessert.
"Is learning the proper etiquette to eating in such ces going to be a future part of training then?" he asked.
"I don''t think that there is any reason for it, from what I can see you have perfectly fine etiquette that there is no reasons to make any adjustments to it. At most I might rmended getting used to the type of clients we deal with before you involve yourself too much in the conversation." The princess told him as she waived the waiter down to request dessert when she saw that the other was almost done eating.
"Since we''re doing things reverse, people are going to probably give you a critical eye since you''re an outsider and they''ll be wanting to know if you''re qualified to be a part of the family or not." When the waiter came over, she changed her attention back to him.
"Two coconut and banana mille-feuille please, and then we will be ready for the bill." She told the man who wrote down her order and thanked her before leaving to take care of it.
Chapter 98 - Not Sweet Enough
The mille-feuille were amazing although for Samuel it was something that was almost too sweet for the size. He was also partly surprised that Lena had gotten one for him. Not exactly that he thought she was that greedy, just more so that he knew how much she enjoyed sweets. Perhaps her one and only weakness.
He also noticed that it was one of the few times that she seemed genuinely happy with something. While she ate the majority of it rather quickly, the first few bites she always took her time with as though trying to savor and discern between all the different vors that were present before she truly began to enjoy it. It had him wonder what happiness she associated with sweets that made her enjoy them so much.
The princess was happy that she got the sweet before she left as it was exactly what she needed. There was tiramisu left at home that she could''ve had when they finished at the office, but she knew she probably wouldn''t be in the mood to eat something so sweet that night knowing they would be back to the estate ratherte and still need to eat dinner.
She took care of paying for the bill and made sure that Samuel wasn''t allowed to see how much it cost. She didn''t want her fianc¨¦ to worry about such trivial thing as how much a lunch out cost when it would hardly damage her pocket.
The rest of the day after returning to the office continued in the same manner that it had before they left for lunch. They both worked in silence unless there was something Samuel needed to rify or something off he noted financially. Aside from this, the only other time that talking happened was when James came into the office to tell her that Genson had called and asked if they could move the appointment up because he had something elsee up suddenly.
The princess wasn''t thrilled to hear this sudden need for a change, but after looking at her schedule determined that it could happen if Eva was also able to make the time change. It was evident that she still needed someone to look into what was going on after all.
After their trip for lunch, Jeff decided to hang around and used the employee lounge to stay in while waiting for the two to be finished for the day so that he could drive them back.
They didn''t end up leaving until after eight in the evening because Lena had too many things that she couldn''t keep leaving unattended. Even after all the paperwork she signed and the few phone calls she made, there was still more that she needed to do and decided to take back home with her, and that was only the legal side of matters. The day after tomorrow she determined would be a good day to discuss her idea of buying at Samuel''s uncle''s business to be a part of her expansion. She would of course still allow him to be the CEO of it since she had no actual qualms with him, it was his wife that she wasn''t fond of.
The princess ended up having to call Jeff on his cell phone to alert him that they were ready to leave as he ended up taking a nap while waiting for them. He didn''t want to be too tired when he drove them back as it was a near hour drive and already ratherte at night.
The first part of the drive wasn''t bad as the city was well light up and allowed for plenty of lighting to see other cars without the need for the headlights toe on yet. The city was rather beautiful at night with the way the lights shone at different levels based upon the height of the various buildings. Samuel hoped that at some point they might get the chance to explore the city at night or in the evening to enjoy how beautiful it was and maybe even look around at some of the smaller shops hidden corners. Those shops always had something interested to sell or show off that couldn''t be found elsewhere.
Lena seemed rather indifferent to the sights that they were passing by. She was watching out the window, but her eye said she was thinking about something else rather than actually paying attention the scenery.
"I guess I am really not sweet enough for you, am I?" Samuel''s sudden oddment caused her to turn her had and look at him rather confused to what he was talking about.
"You don''t seem as happy when you''re around me as you are when you''re eating something sweet like the coconut and banana mille-feuille. Or even like you said the other day, you wanted something sweeter than me." He rified figuring that she would understand what he meant if he said it that way.
"You''re saying that you think that I don''t enjoy yourpany as much as I enjoy sweets?" She asked to which he nodded his head.
"Well it''s true that there is something better about sweet foods. Their vor is almost always consistent, they are reliable when ite to lifting the mood and creating a high due to the energy thates from sugar and unless someone steals them, they don''t tend to go anywhere." Lena replied.
"Butparingpany in such a situation between something that is inanimate with animate is rather a difficult thing to do. True, I do prefer sweets to a number of things and they are better than the sweetness thates from other people because it''s a consistent level of sweetness in things such as cakes pies, and other desserts, with people not so much." She further exined.
"I suppose than that would mean I wouldn''t yetpare to the other people than you have been with?" Samuel asked watching her face to see what her expression would be or if she knew what he meant by that. Perhaps she had forgotten thement that she had made to him when they first met, but he hadn''t.
"Goodness, you really don''t forget anything do you Sammy." He was surprised that Lena chuckled in response to his question as though she found it amusing. He was also always surprised that herugh was an octave deeper than he imagined that it should''ve been based upon her looks and height.
"By other people I presume that you''re referring to potential partners or other guys that I had been with aside from you?"
"Well you did mention something about that when we first met." He replied back, still confused as to why the little queen hadughed at him over a question he was seriously wondering about.
"I did say that, but I said to what extent that I had been with anyone else to. Of course, I didn''t say anything specific at the time as I wanted to gauge what your reaction would be." The princess confessed, taking a pause before she continued speaking.
"I''ve only ever gone as far as kissing one, well two other guys in the past aside from you. Both during high school and both were quickly dropped when they thought that they had a right to try and move things further without discussing it with me." The princess exined, a slightly amused smirk on her face. She knew that Samuel had most likely expected her to confess to the fact that she had taken things further than that, but truth was both events happened out of curiosity with no desire on her end to go any further into any type of rtionship.
"Kissing?" He asked rather taken aback by her response. "I always thought by how confident you were that you had probably taken things further than that." He told her causing her to make a tsk sound in response to what he said.
"Absolutely not. A person doesn''t have to have experience in order to have confidence in anything, they just have to know what it is that they want and to consider how they want to get it." The princess told him.
"They may have wanted things to go beyond that, but I wasn''t looking for a rtionship, never have really been interested in one. The first was slightly more understanding of where I wasing from, the second one ended up with a broken nose because he didn''t seem to understand when I exined to him that I didn''t want a rtionship and I wanted him to leave me alone." Hearing that sounded exactly like something he could imagine the princess doing if some one didn''t listen to her.
"In your case, I don''t happen to dislike yourpany, but I am still getting used to having someone else around me so much. When something isn''t part of the n you imagine for yourself, it can take a bit of getting used to when things change."
It sounded very much to Samuel like what he was trying to get used with realizing how close their official engagement was getting to bing a reality.
Chapter 99 - Decision
The next two days went by pretty much as the day before had. Except him and Lena had no where they needed to be in the morning which meant that he had training with rice.
The longer they had been training, the more time she ended up spending at the estate. She refused the princess''s offer to move in to is if the guest rooms for the part of the week she was training Samuel, but she did enjoy the chance to catch up with everyone.
She was another one that Samuel determined was close enough to be considered family to them even though she hadn''t been around for a few years.
Samuel was actually starting to enjoy training more as it got beyond him just trying to hold his own and make sure his form was right. He was not close enough to being able tond a hit back yet, but he could hold his own for more than a few seconds.
rice was honestly surprised. She had good students in the past, but it had been a while since she had one who could improve so quickly over such a short period of time. It was a good sign he had potential though it was probably going to be more focused in specific fighting styles rather then diverse like she was.
Training was the one time Samuel also tried to not let his mind wander during. He knew that he had to make a decision soon as to whether he wanted to talk with J or not.
He had still been texting with his parents since the call he had gotten, but he hadn''t called them because he knew that he wouldn''t be able to refrain from asking his mother about J or what was going on.
The thought that his mother was hiding something still weighed very heavily on him. Depending on what it was, he didn''t know what kind of affect it would have on their rtionship.
Was it worse than be pushed into an arranged marriage with a mafia princess? If it was, that worried him.
Samuel winced when rice managed tond a hit on his shoulder and push him back. At least that time it was his shoulder and not his face.
"That was close, but your timing was off by a few seconds." ricemented, taking a step back to let the other adjust his position.
"Next time you can''t keep your focus, it won''t be a soft touch like that. Anybody who''s intention is to hurt you isn''t going to wait if you lose your focus for a second." He knew she was right, but he also wasn''t at the level where he could react as quickly to actions as she could.
"Right sorry, my focus is bit off today." He apologized as he took a deep breathe to help recenter himself. Focusing on his breathing was one of the techniques that rice had him working on.
She said it was necessary to help him better focus and rx his body so that he could move more freely without letting his emotions or other distractions throw him off.
"Why don''t we take a five minute break so that you can fix your focus and just breathe?" She suggested as she rxed her own poise.
She didn''t mind training him when he was distracted, but she noticed his great potential came out when he was fully focused.
It only happened three times when they were training so far, but each instance that Samuel was perfectly focused on his goal of improving his self defense and working on reaching Lena''s, his ability to keep up with her movements and react was amazing. It was by no means perfect and wouldn''t be enough to defend himself yet if he needed to, but he had potential that she didn''t see often.
"Okay." Samuel replied as he went to go and sit down in one of the chairs that had been brought in. rice had added a few things to the training room to allow for afortable resting ce for when they took breaks or wanted to talk before training.
rice had him working on focusing his breathing and tuning other things out in the morning and evening regardless of if they had training or not.
As she had exined to him it was something he couldn''t just pickup as they were sparing and working together, he needed to do it in different environments to learn how to do it when dealing with arge array of sounds.
Morning was easier for him to keep up with than evening as by the time night fell he had too much on his mind to be able to easily focus.
"What has got your focus off today?" She asked handing him a water after he had a few minutes to recenter his breathing with his eyes closed for better focus. Though it didn''t really help much this time.
"Everything?" He replied. He knew the one major thing that was bothering him but it was true there was a lot of other little things he needed to focus on as well.
"You aren''t getting cold feet about the engagement, are you?" rice teased as she sat down in the chair across from him. He shook his head at this question.
"Not at all. Although I did get her a surprise I''m hoping she''ll like for the engagement party."
"Oh? What kind of a surprise would that be?" She asked generally interested.
"It''s a promise ring, something until we get officially married that she can wear." He replied. rice''s eyes light up when she heard this.
"Aww. Aren''t you such a sweet one and you even managed to get it without her finding out too." He felt his cheeks heat up in response to her reaction.
"I''m hoping she''ll like, but you can''t tell her. The only other person who knows about it is her father and that''s only because I needed to ask him for the money to buy it." He exined. rice didn''t purposely let secrets slip, but she sometimes would offhandedly mention things that she forgot others didn''t know.
"I won''t say a thing to her about it and I''m sure you''ll manage to keep it a secret until your engagement party." She reassured the younger man.
"But that isn''t the only thing on your mind, is it? Because that''s a lot to be distracted by for the mistakes that you''re making." rice had worked with enough students and spent most of her life around people to learn when people were hiding something.
Samuel looked down at the water bottle that was in his hands. Of course that wasn''t all that was on his mind. It was J, Lena, her family what they had going on that he didn''t know about, whatever was going on with his family, and trying to figure out how he fit in around all that
"It''s family stuff too. Trying to figure out who shoulde and how that would work." He replied, taking the cap off the bottle to drink.
"I don''t mind that Lena says she doesn''t want my uncle and aunt toe. I''m kind of disappointed my grandparents won''t be able to make, although it would allow them to help watch my younger siblings since I''m not sure it would be safe for them toe considering how the event will be." He exined to rice who listened patiently.
Samuel paused after saying this, taking another drink as he considered what to say next.
"I''m also realizing that I don''t do well with people keeping big secrets from me." He told rice, looking up at her as he continued speaking.
"I understand in some situations that there are important or personal reasons to keep them,but I don''t think it''s right to keep secrets when it could impact other people. But, I''m not sure hoe to approach such a situation or what I''d do if I found out it was something serious and it ended up changing the perspective I had of them." rice made a hum sound as she listened to what he said.
"Is it something that you won''t be able to let go of until you found out?" She asked. Samuel was quiet for a second as he thought about that question.
"I don''t think so. Not if it''s something big or that mighte outter." He replied back.
"Doesn''t that give you your answer then? If you can''t let it be or forget about it because it weighs on you, then why not just deal with it?" She rmended.
"It''s better than festering about it and losing your focus when you should be working on getting ahead. What am I supposed to tell the princess if I end up hurting her adorable fiance because he loses his focus one too many times and I can''t keep being soft on him?" He knew that she was joking when she said this, but she also had a point.
Samuel didn''t think he would be able to forget about whatever J thought he should know because it involved his mother. The one of two people he had full trust in. He would ask J about it and see if he was telling the truth or not. Then he could talk with his mother afterwards and hear what she had to say about it.
Chapter 100 - Standards
After training, Samuel decided that he would text J and tell him his decision since he would have a break when he went to go and take a shower.
He didn''t expect that J would respond to him quickly but he was surprised that by the time he had finished showering and changing clothes that there was a message waiting for him from the other.
''Good boy, I knew you would make the right decision after taking some time to think about it.'' He was going to reply to that text when the other sent him a second one.
''I think considering the situation that texting for now would work best. Let''s take some time to get to know each other before we immediately get everything else.'' This second text message made Samuel frown. He didn''t really care about getting to know who this J was, he just wanted to find out what his mother was hiding from him and if so what was it.
He texted back asking why he couldn''t just tell him what he knew first and then they could continue talking after that. It seemed like a reasonable route to take in his opinion. There was a minute or two pause before he got the response.
''Because I get the feeling that if I tell you what you want to know from the start that you won''t bother staying in touch with me after that.''
''It''s not like I won''t tell you what you want to know, I just want to take some time to get to know each other beforehand. Quid pro quo''. Was that really what this J wanted out of this? To get to know him? He asked why before put his phone in his pocket.
It was only the afternoon and there was still other things he needed to do for the day. He wasn''t sure if Lena was nning on going to the office today, but he wanted to see if she was around and as what was going to be going over the next week.
He knew that they would need to go back to the boutique soon to try on their outfits again after she had gotten the call saying that they were finished making the initial altercations and wanted to make sure that they didn''t need to make any further changes.
He was hoping soon that Zane would tell him that the promise ring would be ready to pick up. He would then need to figure out how to go and pick it up with Lena finding out. So far, he had never gone anywhere without the princess apanying him. Though he had also never asked about the protocol for such a situation either though.
Lena wasn''t in her office that day though. She had been spending too many afternoons in her work office and she wanted to work somewhere morefortable and thus had decided to set up on the second floor deck. She usually preferred the sunroom during these times, but since it wasn''t too hot, she decided sitting outside would be a nice change.
It was located on the right side of the second floor which on the opposite of where her and Samuel''s room was located. It wasn''trge in size but it was big enough to house have a beige futon, a white and blue stripped hammock was hanging on the furthest side and a ck deck table with chairs had been ced towards the center. the wood that had been used to make the deck and for the rails and awning had been colored a light shade of burlywood. It was a pleasant color that didn''t stand out too much but made sure that it kept the heat out.
Since it was something that she had asked to have madeter on, she was the only one who had a key to the deck as she considered it her own personal space. Though it was not used as often as the sunroom was. Because of this, she had to tell Samuel where it was located which was a touch confusing for him because the door that lead out to the deck was not any different than those of the other rooms on the second floor.
"What were looking for me for?" Lena asked, not looking up from herputer. She had emails she needed to send and the rest of her schedule for her month to figure out.
"I brought the rest of the tiramisu because a little after lunch time, but I also wanted to see what was nned for the uing week." Samuel replied as he set down the piece of cake near herputer but not too close.
"Things and more things areing up." The princess replied as she nced at the piece of cake. She needed to finish what she was working on before she could eat it. Samuel decided to take the seat across from her with the other piece of cake he had brought. He couldn''t deny that it was a rather nice ce to enjoy the weather.
"Are you nning on going to the office?" He asked after a moment of silence due to the princess being focused and him wanting to take in the sight of everything.
"I probably won''t today. There''s is something that I wanted to talk with you about in regards to that though." She replied after a moment of silence following her finish sending the next email.
"Something work rted that you wanted to talk with me about?" He asked somewhat surprised since he didn''t think of himself as having much of a hand in the work that Lena did aside from what he had been doing to help on the financial side.
"Yes, it''s a little bit family rted for you but I wanted to put everything together before I brought it up to you." She told him as she closed herputer and grabbed one of the folders that had on the opposite side of herputer. She opened it up and looked through it to make sure it had all the correct information inside of it.
"In this is a proposal I wanted to send to your uncle''spany to ask if he would be willing to sell it to me for the amount of money listed her." The princess told him as she opened the folder to the page that showed the amount of money and what the proposal would be.
"To rify, I would be taking over thepany, but aside from changes in policy and working to align their mission for what I am working towards, nothing else would change. I don''t intend to fire employees or remove your uncle from the position of CEO. The goal would just be to work on expanding this business and within that to provide arger opportunity for hispany to grow independently." Samuel heard what she said but was quiet as he read over the proposal to better understand what she was talking about.
"Why would you want to buy hispany though?" Samuel asked after he had finished looking over it. He understood the most of what the proposal was saying, though there were a few terms and words he wasn''t familiar with. Lena shrugged slightly as she took the folder back.
"Partly because I know that the transportation is hard to stay in especially for smaller business such as the one that your uncle runs. He might be doing well no, but it won''t be long before other biggerpetitorse through and make business hard for him which would either force him to shut down his business or sell it for a fraction of the price that it might actually be worth." Lena exined, pausing for a second before she told him the other reason that she wanted to do it.
"The other reason is because I don''t like the way your aunt looks down on other people, especially your parents simply because her husband, your uncle happened to be more fortunate than your father was."
"You would go that far over something like that? My aunt has been like that for as long as I can remember that I''ve just gotten used to it. It isn''t that bad since my family spends less time around them now that she is busy with her own daughter." To him and his parents, it was trying at times to deal with his aunt, but they got ustom it and learned how to navigate it for the brief times that they had to share the same space such as birthdays or other holidays.
"As I mentioned before, I''m not that fond of people like her. It''s one thing to treat people on the outside that way, but another way to treat your own family that way." The princess responded as she put the folder down.
"If anything, she should be more encouraging of her husband to reach out and help his brother get into a better position rather than keeping everything for themselves. It''s not like they don''t have enough to share." The more that Samuel heard her talk about family, the more he was beginning to realize that was where her heart was.
She might not have made much care for those on the outside, but she had a different set of standards for those she considered to be family.
Chapter 101 - Close Family Is Different
"You care a lot about the way family treats each other." Samuelmented a slight smile on his face as he picked up his cake.
"Only close family. It''s differentpared to distant rtives or those that one doesn''t know that well." The princess replied.
"You can''t always trust close family either, but the way I grow up, immediate family and those who are close enough to be in that circle are the only ones that a person can really trust. Family you aren''t close with and don''t grow up around are different. Because you don''t grow up around them, you don''t know what to expect or what they think of you and vice versa." She further exined as she began to eat her own cake.
"That''s why the only people I consider family are the ones that live here. I don''t care for any of my other rtives."
"That makes sense in a way. I grow up in a family that kept tradition with having family gatherings during holidays and special events even if we didn''t all get along because I was told growing up that was family was supposed to stick together no matter what." He the princess who gave him a rather distant look when he said this.
"I can say that I agree with that to a certain degree, but I would also say that there are reasons and times where that wouldn''t apply. Having disagreements or not seeing the same way on inconsequential matters are one things, there''s always going to be something that family isn''t all going to agree on. It''s another thing though when they don''t treat you right or overstep boundaries for no reason except for their own benefit or because they can."
"I guess that you would say my aunt falls into that second category?" He asked, taking another bite of the cake. The coffee taste had be more pronounced now that it had had more time to sit and absorb all the different vors.
"You catch on quick." Was the princess''s reply as she finished the rest of the cake. It made her want to have coffee now.
"If you don''t think that there''s anything wrong with the proposal, I was nning on sending it to your uncle this week and giving him the weekend to think it over before contacting him next week to see if he would be interested in setting up a meeting." The closer it got to the engagement party, the more busy she would get. This was one of the many things that she wanted to get done ahead of time so that she wouldn''t have much weighing on her during that time.
She already had a feeling that her father would be making her take a few days off around that time whether she wanted to or not iming that she should enjoy that time since such an engagement only happened once in life. She didn''t quite understand it much, but she had hear father recount his engagement countless times when she was younger.
For her because of the way that everything was happening unlike with her parents, it didn''t quite feel like it was that huge of a deal. Certainly something to celebrate in their eyes because it was an unexpected event and some thought that Samuel was a good fit for her.
Plus, she was also thinking about that within a year of them getting engaged officially, they most likely would be nning the wedding and getting married. If she had a choice between the two, she would prefer to save the time off to have an extended honeymoon than break it up between two times.
"I can''t say how my uncle would respond to this sudden proposal, but I don''t think there''s anything wrong with it. It looks like more than A fair deal to me." Samuel replied as he sat back in his chair and looked back in the direction the deck overhung. It was beautiful sight from where he was sitting, but he was certain that the scenery from over the edge of the deck was even more beautiful.
"The sunroom is still my favorite one to use, but it isn''t bad out here when the weather is nice. During the winter it''s cold most of the time though." Lenamented when she noticed how much Samuel seemed to be enjoying the sight of everything.
"Have you ever slept out here in the hammock sy night?" He suddenly asked, taking note of it for the first time.
"No. I only use toy in on asions when I want to read." By the tone of her voice, he could tell she was trying to understand why would someone want to do such a thing.
"It''s an enjoyable thing to do when the weather is nice and it isn''t too noisy. It can be rxing to sleep outside like that." He had done it a number of times at home with his parents. Fall and Spring were his two favorite seasons to do it during because it was neither too warm or cold outside for him.
"You can sleep in the hammock as much as you want. I personally prefer my bed as it''s softer, more stable, andfortable." She said in response to hisment. She had never felt it wasfortable enough to sleep in no matter how much she had used it. The swinging back and forth messed with her senses too much.
"If you''re not nning on using it often, I might take you up on that offer when I need somece more peaceful to sleep." He told her as he stood up from the chair so he could finally go over to the edge of the deck and see how much he could see.
"You can only sleep on it at night if someone is aware of it. Otherwise I feel it would be safe enough." The princess warned him.
She didn''t think anything would happen to him as it had been years since thest time anyone outside of the family had managed to get close to the estate.
"I would let you know before I told anyone else." The sight over the railing was rather beautiful. Because of the way that thend sloped, he could see rather far from where he was standing.
"Do you stay in touch with any of the other extended family you have?" He asked after a few minutes of silence. He had too much on his mind still as he looked out over the property ahh Lena was back to working after she had finished her slice of cake.
"No. Mostly because I wasn''t close with them in the first ce and haven''t felt much of a reason to stay in touch." The little queen replied honestly. She didn''t feel the need to wastemunication on people she wasn''t that close with.
"Most of them decided that there were other things that they wanted to do away from the main family or wanted out of everything in order to be able to pursue other work or business avenues without having to refer back to my father for final say on certain things. It doesn''t bother me though, it''s just the way everything turned out." She replied.
"Would you talk or change your rtionship with them if any one of them tried to get in touch with you now?" He then asked, turning to look at her. It was starting to get a bit warm without the cover of the awning.
"That would depend on their reason for contacting me.If it was simply because there was something they wanted or needed from be or the rest of my family- that isn''t a good enough reason to get me to talk."She didn''t have patience for those type of people. Family or not, the rtionship had to work two ways for her to invest in it.
Samuel had hoped that without directly having to tell the princess anything that if he asked such questions in regards to her family, it might give him an idea of how to approach the situation with J.
He assumed at least that the other had to be family because of the way he talked about his mother, but he didn''t know what type of family.
Could the rtionship between them be mutually beneficial if he tried talking with the other the way he wanted? He wasn''t sure yet because he didn''t know what the other''s real motive for reaching out to him was.
Watching the other, the princess wondered if there was something on his mind that was leading him to ask such questions about her family.
To her it still seemed like he had something on his mind that he wasn''t talking about and she wasn''t so sure that it just had to do with the engagement.
He was going to be close family soon once they were engaged and married even though they weren''t rted and she expected that if anything was bothering him, they would talk about such things. She just had to figure out how to get him to tell.
Chapter 102 - Bet
J was rather disappointed that after a few texts Samuel had stopped responding to him and hadn''t bothered to answer the few questions that he had asked about him. He was hoping to have an interesting conversation to distract him during the drive, but s such was evidently not going to happen.
He sighed as he put his phone down. At least Sam seemed to have an interesting personality which he presumed would continue to not disappoint him over time. So long as they did stay in touch.
The scenery that passed by in the car while beautiful did nothing to lift his mood as he thought about everything that was on his mind.
He was pretty sure he had the younger man hooked by bringing his mother into the equation. After all what child wouldn''t want to know something major that their parent/parents were keeping from them if they were really close?
If he was in the same situation, he knew that he would want to know what was going on, either directly from the source or his parents.
He tired to cut that route off and thankfully he didn''t even have to lie about it. The reaction that came from the little call he had given to Sam''s mother on his birthday proved that she didn''t want to rekindle any kind of rtionship with him or them rather.
It was just a matter of waiting and seeing how everything yed out. He would have another connection to stay in touch with the other anyways even if he didn''t want to keep in touch with him.
"Julian Scarlet." He could deny that he liked the way that the name rolled off his tongue. The younger not so quite harsh brother of Zane Scarlet.
Though not quite as heavy of a reputation as his older brother, he had still been quite sessful for himself over the years. Managing to carve out his own space in the family despite not being the one to take over.
He had a business meeting with this younger brother which he hoped would go well barring any suspicions from him. At least he had his driver to take him there rather than doing it himself.
He couldn''t deny that he was rather envious of the fact that the two Scarlet brothers seemed to get along so well. He hoped that would''ve been how he and his cousin turned out when they got older considering how close they were. Somehow though their ideas, ideals, and goals for the future somehow became pr opposites as they grew older which lead to them parting ways and only staying distantly in touch.
It was no fault of J''s of course. His cousin just wanted to approach everything from a harder route than what he was interested in taking.
He preferred a more soft-handed approach and only using force when it was absolutely necessary to get his point across.
The only reason he was going through with the silly bet his cousin suggested was because he saw opportunity to turn things around. If he won.
Currently he felt like he had a strong chance of doing that with the quick progress he was making.
The ''give the enemy no information'' rule his cousin set forth made it hard though to know what level of progress his cousin was at.
Knowing how the other operated however, he was certain that they would not take as direct approach as J chose to. Underhanded was their preferred method to approach a situation to win.
He sighed again as the thought about this. Life was so much easier at a younger age when his parents took care of everything and he didn''t have to be so responsible.
"Sir, do you perhaps need a pick-me-up today?" His driver inquired, noting how he was sighing more than usually when though it hadn''t been a bad day as far as he was aware.
"Not quite yet Charles, perhaps after this meeting we can consider it, but right now I have to be on point in order to make sure that I don''t mess anything up. It would be a horrible opportunity to let go to waste." J replied. His driver was as observant and kind as always.
He should remember to give him a raise next month as a reward for his loyalty.
If he could be sessful in cinching the business deal, he''d have one foot halfway they the door that would give him opportunity to approach the princess next without raising her suspicions. She was a rather sharp he knew he''d have to watch himself around.
The girl took after her father in that way, he knew that much because he''d always kept a close eye on the Scarlet family when they started taking over more territory. J needed to know if they could be enemy or ally before he decided what to do next.
In the end it worked out to his benefit anyways. If he hadn''t been watching them, he would''ve not been the first one to hear about the arranged marriage and decide to do some digging to find out who this Samuel was.
Hiswork wasn''t the best, but his people gave their best effort to deliver what he wanted from them and in return for that they were well rewarded. Appreciation and rewards were what kept people around after all.
His phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket and the gloomy expression was lifted slightly by a smile. Perhaps this one woulde through for him if given a chance.
"Charles, I definitely we should n a small celebration if the meeting tonight goes well." He told his driver as he typed out a quickly reply on his phone.
"Where should it be at, sir?" Charles inquired knowing he would be the one to set the appointment.
"At my favorite bar would work perfectly." J replied, a grin now on his face. Maybe one step closer to winning this bet. He just needed to proceed cautiously.
Chapter 103 - Ambitions
After talking with Lena for a while longer about family, Samuel decided to text J back, for now at least.
He thus far had only asked him basic questions about himself and didn''t seem too prying. The princess had a point when she said it can be difficult to deal with distant familypared to close rtives one grows up with. Or At leaost Samuel assumed that J must''ve been family by the way that be spoke.
Worst case Samuel figured was if he asked too many questions that be didn''t want to answer he''d just ignore him and block the number.
Aside from answering the questions that the other asked which were rted to hobbies and interests, he asked the questions back to see what kind of reply he would get.
He wouldn''t have a lot of time to talk with the other anyways since the engagement party wasing up.
He also hoped today would be a good day to talk with Zane about what would going to college for him look like. He didn''t think that the other would contradict what the princess had told him. He also didn''t think though that it would hurt to inquire about other options.
His phone buzzed on his way to Zane''s office letting him know that J had already replied to him again. Maybe he was a bored person without enough to do in his life and was just looking for someone to bother.
Reading the texts, he was surprised by the detailed reply he got exining that the other had arge range of hobbies from reading and movies to fencing and other sports. J''s next question was about his ambitions and he decided to ignore that until after he talked with Zane. His ambitions might change depending on what the other said about college.
Zane was in his second office. Samuel had never heard of someone who had two offices at home before.One of the many servants around the house exined to him where he could find it, but when he got there, he saw a man he didn''t recognize standing by the door.
He was about the same height as Samuel but a few years older with slicked back ck hair. He had a pair of dark red rectangle sses on that didn''t seem to quite fit his face right. He wasn''t quite as built up as Romeo was, but it was easy to tell by his stance and alertness that he would have no problem defending himself or anyone else.
His facial expression was nk as he regarded Samuel, but this also wasn''t as intimidating as the one Romeo usually had on his face.
"Can I help you young Sir?" He asked, his was an octave deeper than Samuel would''ve imagined it to be based on his looks.
"I was told that I could find Zane here in his second office?" He half replied, half asked.
"Indeed. He''s on the phone right now though and has asked for no disturbances until he is done which should be in the next five or ten minutes." The man told him, ncing at his watch.
"Do you wish to wait or do you want me to let him know that you came to see him?" He then asked.
"I don''t mind waiting if he''s going to be done soon." Samuel replied, choosing to stand by the opposite wall of the other.
"Not to be intrusive, but are you new here? I''m starting to get familiar with everyone, but I don''t remember seeing you before?" He asked the other man. He didn''t respond for a moment s he surveyed the younger man before replying.
"Not new to working here or being part of family, but to this estate, yes. It''s only a temporary shift until Clive is able to take his position back." The man replied. It seemed like a number of people had been moved around with Clive being at the hospital with his wife. Samuel could only guess it was because he was one of their most efficient men.
He always dide across as reliable and trustworthy when Samuel interacted with him.
The next few minutes passed in silence as they both stood waiting for Zane to be done. When the other did turn around to knock on the door to announce Samuel''s presence, he had no idea how the man guarding the door knew Zane was off the phone. Stepping to the side he motioned that it was she for the other to go.
"What do I owe this visit today to?" Zane asked, curious what the other wanted since they still hardly spoke.
"I wasing to ask about opportunities to go to college. Lena said that it would be best to talk it over with you before I made a decision." Samuel replied as the door to the office closed behind.
"Before we talk about options, why don''t you tell me what your reasons are for wanting to go to college?" Zane asked as he motioned for the other to sit down.
"Originally, I wanted to get into college to be a mathematician because I enjoy. Now, though after working with Lena at the office on the financial side and learning more about that, I would be interested in going to college to study business economics or financing." Samuel replied.
"You have ambitions." Zanemented noticing the determined look in the younger man''s eyes as he spoke.
"Is that bad?" Samuel asked not sure how to interpret the other''s tone.
"Not at all. This family wouldn''t have gotten as far as it did without being ambitious." He replied with a smirk.
"I''m willing to listen to where you''d be interested in going, but ultimately it would be decided between you and Lena since it would also affect her." He told the other.
"She has never mentioned before to me about going to college, but she might change her mind depending on what you choose to do." At least Zane was open to the idea of it. Samuel would just have to convince Lena if they could agree on what would be safe or not.
Chapter 104 - Nightmare
e now Lee, if you don''t hurry we''ll end up beingte to making dinner and you know how your father will get" everything was dark, but she would know that voice anywhere if she heard it again. Plus, there was only one person who ever used to call by that nickname- her mother.
"I know that you want to stay out longer to y, but it''s getting dark, we''lle back tomorrow I promise." Of course, it would be this scene. If the princess ever had a nightmare about her mother, it would always be this one. Subconsciously she knew that it was dream even as she listened to the events y out, but to her conscious- it felt as well as the day everything had happened.
Lena felt herself being jolted out of sleep right before the worst part of the nightmare it hit. Her eyes snapped open. she had expected that the person who had woken up her up would''ve been Samuel, but she was surprised to see her brother leaning over her, a slightly concerned and confused expression on his face.
"d to see you finally decided toe back to thend of the living, it seemed like you were having quite a bad nightmare there." Leomented as he took a step back to give Lena space. She had fallen into such a deep sleep that she had forgotten where she was until she looked around.
She then remembered that she had been in the sunroom and decided to take a nap before dinner as she was getting a rather bad headache from all the work that she had been doing. She closed her eyes in order as she took a deep breath to calm herself. It had been a year since she had that nightmare. She could only think that it was due to talking about family with Samuel that brought it on.
"Are you going to be okay?" Leo asked when he noticed how quiet the princess was being despite being fully awake now.
"I''ll be fine. It was just a bad dream." She replied, she paused a second before looking up at him.
"Thank you for waking me up."
"It''s no problem. I would''ve woken you up sooner, but I wasn''t sure how you would react to someone suddenly touching while you seemed to be having a bad dream." Her brother replied, shrugging it off as though it wasn''t that big of a deal.
"I thought that you weren''t having nightmares anymore. Did you tell father you''re still having them?" He then asked, knowing that Zane would want to know such a thing.
"No, but I haven''t said anything to him because this is the first nightmare that I have had in thest year." She replied sitting up. When she was younger she used to have all the time after everything happened. It had gotten to the point that she would refuse to sleep for long periods of time knowing that if she did sleep, the events would reply over and over again in her dreams.
"If it happens again, you should let him know. Sammy probably too. I know it''s not something that you like to talk much about, but at some point in time you''re going to have tell him about what happened. I''m sure he''s curious to know." She knew that Leo was right when he said this, but it wasn''t something that she was ready to talk about, not yet at least.
"I will tell him at the right time." Lena replied with a sigh. For various reasons, she didn''t want to be talking with anyone about it right now. She was certain that it was a one-off event anyways and that she wouldn''t have it again. Though, she wasn''t quite sure why she was having a slightly bad feeling at the back of her mind after the nightmare, she had never dealt with that in the past.
"He''s your finance so it''s up to you how you chose to deal with everything. I''m just offering some friendly advice." Her brother told her as she took a seat in one of the other chairs.
"If you''re feeling up to it, dinner is ready. I wouldn''t be surprised if the rest of the family isn''t starting to wonder why five members are suddenly missing from the table." The mention of more than just the two of them missing from the table caught attention.
"Who else is missing?" She asked, she didn''t think that her father had anywhere to be tonight, but who the other two were, she couldn''t easily figured out.
"Uncle Julian had a business dinner tonight so he wouldn''t being home untilter. And then father and Sammy are apparently meeting in his office. I believe they are discussing college options and what that might look like." He replied as he nced towards the door of the sunroom.
"I had no idea that you were thinking about going to college. You bever brought that up before." Hemented looking back over at his sister.
"I''m not, Samuel is the one who''s considering it. After working with me, he''s thinking about getting a degree that he feels would be more beneficial to what he''s doing." The princess exined as she stood up. Even though she wasn''t feeling that hungry, she knew that she would need to eat dinner or at least show up at the table. If she didn''t, she knew that her father would know something is up.
"You would let him go to college?" Leo asked curious to know what his sister''s thoughts on the matter were.
"Yes, but within certain boundaries. We already discussed that if he did end up going, it would most likely be to a college with an online degree that way it would be safer and eliminate any risks of anything happening." Lena replied.
"Since it would be a year before he would start, I''m open to other suggestions, but not opposed to keeping him here at the estate until everything going on right now is sorted out.". She exined when she saw the look that Leo was giving her.
"Never imagined that my sister would the protective type." He told her with a grin before heading towards the door. Even though he couldn''t see her face, she was certain that she shot him a look that said he was pushing his luck again.
Chapter 105 - Late For Dinner
Samuel and Zane hadn''t joined everyone else at the table by the time that Lena and Leo had appeared to get ready to eat dinner. The princess exined that she had fallen asleep and had somest-minute work to finish due to that before she coulde out for dinner. Leo didn''t have to exin himself as everyone else knew that he had gone to fetch his sister.
The mystery was more focused on why it was taking Samuel and Zane so long toe out to dinner if all they were discussing was college options. Only the princess know how odd it was because Samuel had told her over two or three hours ago that he was going to go and speak to Zane about it.
One of the servants asked if they should go and fetch the other two, but Lena declined to have that happen and instead decided to text Samuel to remind him that they werete for dinner.
She was curious to know what they were talking about but wasn''t concerned about if they came for dinner or not. It wasn''t like they couldn''t request food to be reheatedter for them if they had a lot to talk about.
Lena also know that her father was a very thorough and detailed person when it came to these matters so it was more than likely that he was having a deep conversation about the different options with her fianc¨¦ and los track of time as they continued talking.
If Samuel really wanted to go to college and convince her father about an option that he thought was safe enough inparison to what Lena had in mind, she would most likely find herself rearranging her schedule so that she could attend college with him. This would mean figuring out what kind of degree she should get. Another headache among everything else that she would have to deal with.
Everyone had been eating for a few minutes before Lena''s phone buzzed alerting her that Samuel had texted her back. Since they had been texting him more, she had given him his own personal ringtone that was an audio clip of a bird chirping.
"They got too busy talking to realize the time. Sam says that they''ll be out soon to join us for dinner." Lena exined, noticing now Leo was looking at her rather intently to see what kind of reply she had gotten.
"Is there that much to talk about concerning college?" Lisa asked. It would still be a few years before she had to decide if she was going to college or not, but she was curious about what was involved in going to college. She figured knowing more ahead of time would help her to make a better decision before she had to officially decide.
"Only because my father and fianc¨¦ is involved there''s a lot to talk about." The princess replied knowing that Samuel would probably have a lot that he would want to talk about with herter in regards to college.
"Going to college and getting a degree doesn''t take a lot to get started if you know what it is that you want to do." Leo added on.
"If you wanted to start college sooner, I''m sure that I could convince your father to let either one of youe back with me to the UK in a few years and you could start when you''re sixteen instead of waiting until your eighteen." He offered. He doubted that either of them would want to, but he didn''t think that it could hurt to put the offer out there to give them more options.
Neither Samuel or Zane were talking much when they joined everyone else at the table, but she could tell by Samuel''s bright face that they must''vee to a good conclusion or at least discussions options to going to college that he liked.
"Can we talk about itter?" Samuel asked when he and the Princess exchanged nces.
"Tomorrow we can. Tonight, I have a headache and don''t want to talk about anything too heavy." The princess replied. It was true that her headache was starting toe back again after she had started eating dinner.
"Do you need some painkillers?" Samuel offered, shifting the subject over to her after hearing she wasn''t feeling well.
"No, what I really need is some coffee. It''s one of the best cures for a headache. However, some people would argue that it is toote to be having coffee." She nced over at her father when she said this. The other person was Ryan who was in the kitchen. She knew that even she didn''t let her father know that the chef would still refuse to give her coffee despite her headache due to howte at night it was.
"Painkillers with caffeine then? My mother uses them for the migraines she gets on asions. I''m not sure if it would help you the same way, but it might be worth trying." He then suggested. Lena hadn''t heard of such a thing before but hearing about caffeine made it sound appealing to her.
"Perhaps, but I don''t think that we have anything like that here." The princess replied with a slight sigh as she continued eating. Tonight''s dinner had been steak with a side of mashed potatoes and asparagus.
She usually enjoyed it whenever they ate, but tonight it wasn''t tasting as appealing as it usually did for her.
"I''m sure someone would be willing to fetch some for you if you asked. I can even give the brand name to look for." Her fianc¨¦ insisted. It was a kind offer, one which Zane hadn''t missed. They weren''t speaking that loud, but he still had no problem hearing the conversation that was going on between the to of them that alerted him to the fact that his daughter wasn''t feeling.
"Tomorrow. Tonight, I will just take a bath and sleep it off." The princess replied. She hoped at least that sleep would her to get rid of her headaches. It often worked in the past for her.
Chapter 106 - Bad Feeling
Lena''s headache didn''t improve after she had slept, in fact it felt worse the next day and she had too much to do which only made her more annoyed.
The only positive was the fact that she was able to sleep through the night without having another bad dream. Thest thing that she needed was for her nightmares to deprive her of sleep during a time when she was struggling to keep a normal sleep schedule was it was.
Since there wasn''t anything pressing going on and her father noticed that she still didn''t seem to be feeling much better by breakfast, he insisted that she stay home and could deal with any office matters from the house. That was the whole reason that he had given James after all so that she had someone to help her out when she couldn''te to the office.
She didn''t like it, but didn''t argue with him. She wasn''t sure she would have the temperament to deal with too many people outside of family in the first ce. The headache was an annoyance, but what was making it worse the fact that the bad feeling she had didn''t go away even after she had slept.
She didn''t have bad feelings often, but in the past when she had one it was a precursor to something bad happening. The bad event that followed varied in how serious it was and didn''t always prove to be fatal, but that did little to help her feel better about it.
At least that morning Ryan wasn''t arguing with her about the amount of coffee that she should or not have. She hoped that if she had enough caffeine it would distract her from her headache and everything else so that she could continue to focus on the work that she needed to get done.
It was Friday but she had already rescheduled for dance practice to be skipped for that day and to continue as usual on Monday. She hated having to skip anything on her schedule, but she just didn''t have the bandwidth to deal with it today.
Her overactive mind was trying to ce where everyone was so that she didn''t have to worry about anyone being out of ce that could potentially be in danger. She knew where her father, brother, and fianc¨¦ were which helped and she knew that Julian had returnedst night although ratherter then expected from the business dinner he had been attending. No one else as far as she knew had left which meant that everything at the immediate time should''ve been safe. Even Clive and his wife with their child were doing well in the hospital. He had actually messaged that morning to say that he should be able to return working his previous schedule in the next week.
All of this just indicated to the princess that she needed to breath and rx and remind herself that there was nothing that she needed to worry about and that her bad feeling was probably just rted to the terrible headache that she was dealing with.
Samuel was worried about the fact that Lena didn''t seem to be feeling much better in the morning, but rather than allowing for him to hang around her, she insisted that he kept up with his schedule and went back to training with rice who had been called in for another extra day since they weren''t going to be visiting the office.
Samuel wasn''t so distracted today during his training, but he told rice about his concerns as she assured him that she would check in with the princesster and talk with her about what was going on. She wasn''t sure that the younger girl would actually tell her what was going on, but it didn''t hurt to ask and see what she had to say.
Samuel was still texting with Jay who was asking more questions though still keeping them at a pretty shallow level such as what kinds of foods did he like, pets, why did he want to study business or finance in college, what did he do growing up. To some of the questions he gave more vague answers since he didn''t feelfortable talking about the Lena or the Red Scorpions. J may have seemed harmless, but he still didn''t know what walk of life he was from or what his real intentions for suddenly approaching him were.
J did indulge him by answering some of the questions he asked, but simr to how Samuel replied, there were certain things that he skirted which gave the other the impression that he had his own secrets that he didn''t want to lete out yet.
When he tried to bring the conversation back to the other answering the question about how he knew his mother and what secret she was hiding, J simple texted back that he was still being impatient and that if they could continue talking nicely like this for the next week, he would be willing to tell him and perhaps even meet up with him to talk about it.
Talking was one thing, but he wasn''t sure about meeting up with the other. He knew that Lena would shoot it down right away if she knew that he wanted to meet what she would consider to be a stranger who was iming to be family but gave no real evidence or proof that he was. Thoughpared to Samuel, the princess probably did have the type ofwork who would be able to find out in an hour who he was and what he wanted with Samuel.
His only sticking point when it came to getting the princess involved was the fact that he wanted to have time to handle the situation himself if there was anything going on with him family. After he figured out to process everything if there was anything serious that his mother was hiding from him, then he could talk with Lena about it and try to figure out his rtionship with this mother.
If it turned out to be nothing more than the fact that his mother lied about her family because she didn''t get along with them and didn''t want them back in her life after she got married, that was something he could handle. He knew kids back in high school who had to deal with that type of situation. That type of scenario was something that he could deal with. The cageyness surrounding the situation and the fact that J hadn''t given him a real name to work with told him though that there was most likely something bigger going on.
When he told J that he wasn''t sure about meeting with him since he didn''t yet know him that well, the other said that was a pity because he was sure that they would get along better once they met, but he understood where the other stood and said they could work on that at some other point in time.
"Why are you looking at your phone in such an intense manner?" Lena asked. She hade out of her office and was going to the kitchen to ask Ryan to brew her a stronger cup of coffee when she noticed Samuel sitting in one of the chairs in the living room staring at his phone rather intently. The direction he was sitting in didn''t allow for her to see what he was doing on his phone, but the surprised look that flicked across his face as though he had been caught off guard by the other made her think that he might''ve been hiding something.
"It''s a surprise." He quickly replied as he pocketed his phone hoping that the princess would believe that. She gave him a mixture between an unimpressed and slightly annoyed look.
"I''m not fond of surprises, especially when I have too much going on." She told him as she approached the chair he was sitting in. The only time that Samuel found her intimidating anymore was in such a situation where he was sitting down and she actually stood above him.
"Tell me." She ordered, her tone sharp but not overly demanding.
"It''s actually for our engagement party. So maybe you could wait until then to find out?" He reasoned. The promise ring was the only surprise he had for her, but it was the only thing he could think of to say to hid the real reason why he was surprised. He didn''t want Lena to see who he was texting.
"Is this the supposed surprise that you set up with my father?" She asked standing in front of him now, her arms crossed as she looked down at him, watching his expression carefully to see if there was anything else that he was hiding.
"Yes. That surprise, which is why I would like if you would be willing to wait to find out about it. It isn''t ready yet anyways." Her fianc¨¦ replied as he looked up at her. She was quiet as their gazes locked. He seemed to be a touch ufortable with keeping eye contact with her, but the fact that he didn''t fully look away made her want to believe that there wasn''t anything else that he was hiding from her except for this.
"Fine, I will indulge you, but if I found out that there''s anything else that you''re choosing to hide from me aside from this, you''ll be in serious trouble." Samuel didn''t doubt that for a second, the princess thus far hadn''t made any empty threats that she didn''t follow through on.
Chapter 107 - Maybe Nothing
When the weekend went past without any problems and everything was going along smoothly, Lena started to wonder if maybe her bad feeling was nothing. She still suspected that there was something going with Samuel but didn''t pressure him about it since they were both at the estate the entire.
If he had reasons to leave the estate such as school or work, she would be more adamant about getting him to tell her what was going on in the event that it was something serious. She also didn''t have the bandwidth to deal with too much stubbornness with everything else that was going on.
She did make a mental note to herself however that if he did start college and she didn''t go with him or their schedules didn''t match up in the future and they were out at different times that she would assign him a guard or rather a right-hand man for protection.
For her father that person had been Clive. He was the only who always stuck with him and watched out after he had taken over for his father. Once Lena got older, Zane had assigned Clive to her simply because he was one of the few people he knew that he could trust with his daughter''s life. Clive of course was honored to take on this role and took it very seriously.
Lena would have to figure out who would be a good fit for Samuel. She had considered Jeff because of how well the two of them seemed to get along, but if she did decide on that match, she knew that Jeff would need more training as he was still rather young himself and could do with more experience before he would bepletely reliable under any circumstances. Maybe it was something that she could work out with ire since she was already in the area. One more thing for her to put on her schedule to discuss.
Her weekend however had been hijacked by Leo who had insisted that they needed to do some celebrating while he was still around. She didn''t quite understand why he decide that this weekend out of all them was the right one for such things despite knowing how busy everything was, but she hadn''t been able to argue and say no because Samuel thought it was a good idea. Apparently the moment that her fianc¨¦ decided to decide with her younger brother was all it took for Leo to determine that argument was over and she had no choice but to agree with it.
Samuel thought it would be a good idea because it would be a change of pace for the princesspared to the schedule that she seemed to keep up with most days. He thought that her headache might be due to the fact that she had been working too much recently and getting out to do something else would help to fix that problem.
"Right because taking time off so my schedule gets more packed together is exactly the solution that''s going to help me feel better." had been her response to this discussion. Her expression showed how unamused she was to be going on along and the sharp end to her tone made it clear that this would not be the way she chose to spend her weekend.
Out of all the things to do Leo had decided that he wanted to go to the waterpark iming that the summer was the only worthy time to go as the heat would make it more enjoyable when they got wet. Of course he didn''t tell Lena that was what he wanted to do because he knew that if he mentioned beforehand that there was no way he would b able to convince her toe along even if he did kidnap her fianc¨¦ and spend the entire day with him. Jealousy didn''t work the same way with the princess as it did with other people. She would just send them off and forget about them for the rest of the day until they returned and act as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
The little queen didn''t understand why there was reason to be jealous of such things. Her and Samuel were engaged. She had no interest in anyone else and neither did he seem to since he had initiated the fact that he wanted to go through with it rather than working out how to breakoff from the arranged marriage. Hence, jealous over him spending time with anyone that wasn''t her seemed pointless because she trusted him.
The one that Leo had picked for them to go to was Runaway Rapids. The younger was thrilled abouting for the first time in years and Samuel was interested as he had been before. Lena was the only who wasn''t too thrilled. She didn''t like suchrge and open spaces since the only who had apanied them was Romeo. Even though there was hardly anything to worry about, she still didn''t like it.
The only reason when they reached the front gate that she agreed to go in was a mixture of the fact that Leo had already paid for all their tickets and Samuel said that it might be more fun if they were doing it together. That ''might be'' was a very big one as the princess was fairly certain she wouldn''t enjoy it anymore than she had thest time she came around.
The other reason was the fact that Lena would make sure that her brother paid her back big time for this before he went back to the UK. He probably would forget about that agreement by the time he was supposed to head back, but the princess wouldn''t.
"What''s not to like about waterparks?" Leo asked as they had started walking around the amusement park as they tried to decide what ride to go to first while Lena tagged along.
"The fact that it has too many people and there''s water involved." The princess replied.
"I swear you must''ve been a cat in your past life. A little bit of water isn''t going to hurt you, plus by the time we''re done walking around here you''re going to appreciate how cool and refreshing it''ll feel." She rolled her eyes in response to his answer. She already knew that she wasn''t going to appreciate it. If she wanted to cool off she could get something cool to drink and it would work just as well if not better because no wet clothes would be involved.
She didn''t grumble too much though as they approached the first one that had been decided upon, by Samuel which was the VooDoo Encounter. He thought that it looked like it would be fun especially since they wouldn''t be riding along.
Without any discussion it was decided that fianc¨¦s as Leo referred to them as would go together and he would convince Romeo to go with him since they couldn''t ride alone. The guard seemed almost as putout as Lena was when he was somehow dragged into this. He was only meant to be their as their chauffer and guard, not as part of the party of fun.
When it came to fitting into the tube? round water raft? Lena wasn''t sure what it was referred to as, the woman in charge of making sure that they were seated securely insisted that Samuel sit in the back with Lena in front of him stating that for safety reasons the smaller person had to be in front. It was a bit of an awkward position, but it didn''t quite feel bad to have her head resting against his chest. AT least could hear how fast his heart was beating. She assumed unlike her it was due to the excitement of them getting ready tounch rather then out of nervous tension like she was feeling. It certainly worked as a distraction to take her mind off the bad feeling she kept having.
As they got pushed towards the edge and the final rules were gone over, Lena mentally swore as she only half listened to the instructions while she looked down the tube slide that they were getting ready to be released down that if she at all for any reason ended up screaming during this time that she would make sure there was hell to pay for her brother.
In her focus to make sure that they were both secure and that there was no concern of either of them slipping out, she didn''t catch the fact that Leo had snapped a photo of the moment with a gleeful smile. He knew that it would make for a great memory which is why he sent it to his father so that he could have a copy of it. Moments like these weren''t going toe that often thus he knew that he needed to document each one of them because if he didn''t, his sister certainly wouldn''t and he doubted that Samuel would catch many opportunities to take photos when the princess wasn''t paying attention.
Satisfied with his work, he beckoned for Romeo toe with him as their turn in the line came up. He was really looking forward to this.
Chapter 108 - Nice To Meet You
After the initial takeoff, the ride wasn''t as bad as the princess had expected it to be. The tube certainly did slip down the water slide at a much faster rate than she enjoyed, but the benefit of Samuel being the one to sit more on the outside was the fact that she didn''t terribly soaked by the time they reached the bottom. If given a choice in the future, she wouldn''t chose to do it again however. It just wasn''t her cup of tea. If she was going to go on anything that would considered slightly intimidating, she would''ve preferred a roller coaster. Daunting still, but at least there was no water involved.
Samuel seemed to be having a rather good time however. It had been years since it had gone to such a ce as it usually cost a lot and it was hard to amodate everyone with this younger siblings. Lena was actually surprised that heughed as they went down the slide, she didn''t really see how one could with how fast it was going, but maybe her fianc¨¦ was a bit of a thrill seeker and found enjoyment in such things.
This didn''t quite make sense to Lena however as she would''ve presumed if he was a thrill seeker that things such as her attitude and going to the gun range wouldn''t have thrown him off or made him ufortable. Unless perhaps he was a certain type of thrill seeker. This was something that she was going to have to pay attention over time to figure out.
By the time the fourth ride came around. The little queen had had enough of the water and refusing to join her brother and Samuel who were interested in going on the volcano ride.
? "Three is enough." She stated as Leo tried unsessfully to convince her to get in line with the other two.
"Three is hardly anythingpared to the amount of rides they have here. Just one more and we''ll take a break and enjoy the rest of the park." Leo tried to negotiate even going as far as trying to grab her hand to lead her along with him. When this failed and she shot him a death stare for trying to physically move her, he looked over to Samuel to attempt to implore him with his eyes to help out.
Looking between the two of them as the line moved forward, he stayed quiet to think for a moment before he replied. He knew that he wasn''t capable of convincing Lena toe with just by asking her, but there might be another that she would consider joining them.
"No." Lena said firmly before Samuel even opened his mouth to speak. She couldn''t deny though he gave her one of the most charming smiles she had ever seen on him in response to this before he spoke.
"You can''t say no when you don''t even what I''m going to say yet." He replied causing her to narrow her eyes at him as she waited to hear what he had to say.
"Well, I can''t really convince her to do anything that she doesn''t want to do." He replied looking over Leo before his gaze returned to Lena.
"But I think that I could offer something in return if she humors for one more ride that I think she would enjoy. Something sweet." Bribery, of course he would try bribery. The princess knew that the moment she saw that look in his eyes that he was plotting something. She didn''t say anything in response to this however as she continued to stare at him while waiting to see what else had to say.
Sweets might''ve been one of her weaknesses, but she wasn''t so quick to agree to anything until she was certain what exactly she was going to be getting out of it. Some things were more worth it than others.
"I know they do shaved ice here and funnel cakes, and not too far away there''s supposed to be a ce that does great sundaes." He continued causing the princess to raise an eyebrow at him. It was slightly tempting, but not anything special. It was something that she could easily go and do on her own time if she so desired.
"I also have a few recipes that I thought would be good to save for the engagement party, but that I''m sure we could make some time to try out beforehand after this." He added, hoping that it would be enough to get her to agree since she seemed to enjoy what he made.
"It''s a very good try, but no. You need to work more on making your offer sound more tantalizing if you want to change my mind over something this serious. No go before I decide to leave on my own." The princess replied as she moved positions so that she was standing near a more shaded spot instead by where the line for the ride started. She couldn''t deny that it was a good effort, but she wasn''t willing to concede that easily. She would have Romeo get her shaved ice anyways as it would help her to cool off on this rather hot day.
Leo and Samuel gave up after this on trying to convince her toe with them and went ahead of their own. It wasn''t so much that she didn''t like such ces, it was more that she felt like she couldn''t ever let her guard down when so many people were around. With the background she grew up in, someone letting their guard down even when everything seemed perfectly safe and normal could cost them dearly.
It had been years since anything truly horrible had happened with Lena, but she never was able to rx after that because it was hard to tell who to trust or not. Even more so when there were other people around that she needed to keep an eye on such as her brother and fianc¨¦ who didn''t seem as concerned as she was.
She felt like her brother should''ve known better than to be so rxed and nonchnt all the time, but at least in his case even if he did happen to miscalcte a situation it wasn''t like he couldn''t handle himself to fix it. Samuel on the other hand wasn''t at that point yet and probably wouldn''t be for a few more weeks still.
Because it was summer, the park was particrly packed because of how many people were trying to escape the sweltering heat with their families. The princess couldn''t deny that this summer felt far warmer than thest had, but she didn''t regret her decision to not follow the other two on the next two rides they decided to go on. The shade provided plenty offort for her to stand around waiting or sitting as it were since Samuel had offered topensate her with two shaved ices since she had humored them to wait until they spent a little more time messing around before they would all go get something to eat. The cool breeze wasfortable enough that the princess was able to close her eyes for a moment to enjoy it while waiting for the other two to return.
Everything was dark, but she could hear it so clearly, almost too loudly in fact the click a gun makes when the safety is unlocked. Her breathing caught in her throat when she heard this sound because it was too dark to tell where it came from and she couldn''t see anything.
It was only until after the shot rang out that she came back to reality with a start and she was able to see what was going on around her. She must''ve had a rather shell-shocked look on her face because Samuel was looking at her oddly.
"Sorry, I didn''t mean to startle you. We just got back with the shaved ice." He apologized, but she only had listened as she nced around them. The sound felt almost too real to have been a nightmare from her dozing off, but there was no one around that looked to be a threat. Everything seemed normal.
"It''s fine. The breeze was so nice I must''ve dozed off." The princess turned her attention to the shaved ice in front of her as she spoke. It did look good.
It is a rather nice breeze sitting under here." He agreed as he moved to take the seat next to her while Leo sat across from them. Lena knew that Leo was looking at her but she didn''t look up to match his gaze as she started to eat her shaved ice. The cool sweet vor was a weing distraction, it was also good to help her deal with the shock.
"I''m sorry to be a bother since you all seem to be having such a nice time here, but I believe it was this young man here who dropped his wallet over by the shaved ice." A man who appeared to be in histe twenties-early thirties approached with an apologetic smile as he held the wallet out. Being on high alert, Lena fixed him with a suspicious stare as he held out the wallet to Samuel.
Feeling his pockets, Samuel was surprised to see his wallet had somehow fallen out. He could''ve sworn though that he had returned it after Leo said he would be paying for it.
"Thank you so much, I didn''t even realize I was missing it." He told the other as he stood up to take it back.
"It''s no trouble. My girlfriend would''ve never forgiven me if I just left it there rather than returning it. I''m just d you were here still." The man gave a polite smile in response as he handed the wallet over.
"It''s greatly appreciated." Samuel replied as he took the wallet back. Lena was watching the whole exchange up until the point that the man turned around to leave.
"It''s no trouble at all. It was nice to get a chance to briefly meet you, Sam." thest part was said so low that Lena couldn''t hear it as the man walked away and Samuel couldn''t be certain that he clearly heard what the man said. He couldn''t help but think that the voice did sound vaguely familiar to him.
Chapter 109 - Suspicions
Even though the man had seemed harmless enough, with the state of mind Lena was in, she asked Romeo over text to get him tailed. Her instinct told her there was something odd about him and she wanted to know what it was.
It wasn''t all that unusual for a person to lose personal belongs in this kind of ce, it happened to hundreds of people over a week, but what bothered the princess was it seemed that the man was doing more than just trying to return the wallet, his eyes looked like he was trying to assess Samuel and the other people around him. At least with Samuel and her brother being there, she could enjoy her shaved ice without worrying about anyone missing. Especially since it seemed as though Samuel was a bit distracted after interacting with the stranger.
"How kind of him to return your wallet." Leomented as he began to slowly eat his own shaved ice, he want for a mango vor as he quite enjoyed the tropical taste.
"Do you keep anything important in there that would be hard to rece?" He asked while watching the other riffle through his wallet to check that everything was there.
"Not really, I don''t tend to keep anything beyond my credit card and typical identification information in here." He replied. Nothing looked from first nce though like it had been moved around or that anything was missing. Not even the twenty he kept in the zipper part for when he needed cash.
"I guess I was really fortunate that he found it before someone else did. Nothing seems to be missing." Hemented as he finished checking through everything. Although he did think that he used to keep a photo of him with the rest of his family in there. Very old-school but it was one that they had taken a while back during Christmas.
His family had actually taken a number of them when they had a holiday booth setup for Christmas. Thepany Holiday Cheer that had set it up was offering free photos for families who wanted to have their pictures taken. His mother insisted as she believed that they never could enough pictures of the whole family together. His mother kept most of them, but he used to carry one he particrly liked in his wallet high-school that way he would automatically have a picture of his family with him when he had to leave. Since he had gotten a new wallet for his birthday it was possible that he left it back at his parent''s house, but somehow he didn''t think he would''ve made such a mistake.
"I would suggest getting a wallet chain so something that like doesn''t happen again." Lena suggested, finishing her first shaved ice to move onto the second one that she knew would be her favorite, it was mixed berry vor.
"Yeah, though I''ve never really been one to lose my wallet easily." Samuel replied, putting his wallet to the side so that he could start on his shaved ice before it melted too much. He had gone with Blue raspberry as he felt that it was one of the few reliable vors no what form it came in.
"Expect it to happen more as you start taking on more work. You''ll find that eventually you will be so busy that everything you do will be on autopilot and when you leave you''lle to realize you won''t be able to remember what you did or didn''t do in the morning before you left." Leo warned. It had happened to him a number of times when in the UK and got busy between sses and work.
"Isn''t that what phone timers are for?" Samuel asked ncing between the two siblings who didn''t seem to know what he was talking about.
"I always used one back when I was in high school and I had a lot of things that I needed to get done at once. I would set a phone timer to go off right before I would leave to school that would have a list of things I needed to remember to bring with me so that I never forgot anything important before I left."
"Such a dedicated organized human, I''m sure your parents must''ve been proud of that." He knew that what the younger brother said was aplisult perhaps because he was least organized in his family. He decided to answer him anyways.
"For the most part they were. Though there were times they felt that it was a bit too much when it came to family and events and such when I wanted to make sure that absolutely everything was in order before we left for family events."
"Sounds like uncle." The siblings said at almost the same time causing them to exchange looks.
"Julian you mean?" Samuel rified uncertain if Julian was the only uncle.
"Yep. Father was the slightly more rxed of the two of them when we wanted to go on a trip anywhere. Uncle Julian however would always want to make sure that everything was double checked three times over and that there was nothing important anyone was missing or needed to be taken care of ahead of time." Leo exined
"It used to drive us crazy when we were younger and wanted to already have left to go to wherever it was that we were headed, but he would insist that there was no such thing as being overly careful or responsible and taking the extra time to do so beforehand would make everything all that much more fun." The princess added on. She knew that her father used to get annoyed by it was well, but he would humor his younger brother and go over everything with him to reassure him that there was nothing to worry about. Plus it wasn''t like they didn''t have reliable men who couldn''t keep things running for them if they left for a few days to do family things.
"None of the rest of my family is like that. I am kind of the odd one out with them." Samuel said with a shrug. He would keep doing it though if he started working more consistently with Lena and got the chance to add college into the mix, he would need something to help keep him on track with everything so that he wouldn''t get lost.
"It''s not always a bad thing to be the odd one out, little chickadee." The princess told him, patting him on the head as she stood up. Now that everyone seemed to be doing eating her shaved ice, she wanted to leave.
IT was only early afternoon on a Sunday, but she had enough of being around people and had other things that she needed to get done before Monday. Plus after that little nightmare she had when she dozed off, she was on too high alert to enjoy the waterpark anymore and would rather be home where she knew there would be less to worry about.
Leo was rather disappointed that the day was being cut short in his opinion, but he didn''t argue since he could the kind of mood that his sister was in. Plus, there would still be a few weeks left before he would be returning to the UK. This meant that even if Lena refused toe back to such a ce with him a second time that there still might be a chance to persuade Samuel to join him to make it more fun. He might even consider asking if his nieces wanted toe and Julian would allow it.
Romeo was also rather happy to leave as well. He had the same feeling that the princess did that there was something more to the stranger who had approached her fianc¨¦ about his missing wallet. He had seen the other''s lips move when he turned to walk away but couldn''t quite catch what he had said. He would brief Lena on this after they got home.
Luckily the ride back wasn''t as much of quiet one for Samuel as it had been when he had gone out with Zane and the princess to get the rings looked at. Leo was rather good at keeping a conversation going even if the princess wasn''t interested in joining in except to say a few words here and there.
Her mind was too focused on other things to really want to talk plus her headache was starting toe back and while she didn''t want to think she was paranoid, she felt like the car that was behind which she could see through the rearview mirror had been following them a bit too long for it to be a coincidence.
Although it looked to be too in for a vehicle that was usually used when someone wanted to investigate or tail another vehicle, she didn''t trust anything at this point nor would she take it at face value until after the engagement party went smoothly and everything leading up to it went without a hitch. After that maybe she could rx.
Chapter 110 - Incentives
When Monday and Tuesday passed by without any problems and Lena didn''t see the car she spotted from Sunday following them either day, she felt less concerned about this and was drawn to believe it must''ve been a coincidence that her mind jumped to because of how on edge she was.
The only mystery that hadn''t yet been solved by Romeo or the crew she had assigned to it was who the man who had returned Samuel''s wallet was. He had apparentlypletely disappeared into thin air. One would imagine that this would be normal since he was a stranger they knew nothing about. The one problem was that the crew Lena assigned from her family to find out about him had an extensivework that hardly ever failed her when it came to finding out anything about anyone she was curious about even if all they had to go off of was a picture or description and nothing else.
The fact that they hadn''t been able to find anything about him told her that he hadn''t just disappeared naturally. No, he most likely purposely disappeared after that so that they wouldn''t be able to find him which meant that he could still possibly be a lurking threat. She was putting higher on her list the priority of getting Jeff assigned to be Samuel''s personal guard.
She had other things she had to take care of earlier on in the week before that happened though. Today was one of those things and against her better judgement she decided to bring Samuel along with her to meet Genson and Eve.
At first she didn''t think that it was something that he should be a part of, butter on she realized it would be unfair for him to not have a say in the matter since he was the one who found the discrepancy in the money in the first ce. Plus, she also felt that he was fairly good judge of character and she could trust as still being someone on the outside of her family to give her an honest opinion as to whether or not both or either one would be a good fit to find out what problem was going on in thepany.
Samuel was rather surprised that she decided to include him in this process. He had assumed that it was part of the job that he was still yet not allowed to be a part of. He did ask on the way to the office that morning whether or not they would know they''re engaged to which she responded.
"Yes. In job like these, they are made to sign a form in which they agree to not disclose any of the information that is discussed during the initial meeting regardless of if they are hired and anything that takes ce afterwards if they are hired." She exined.
"Thus they wouldn''t breath a word to anyone else about it knowing what repercussions there would be if they did. If anything did get leaked, it wouldn''t be that hard to track them down and solve the problem at the source so nothing else like that would happen again." The way Lena talked about it made it sound like it wouldn''t just be a matter of a discussion to resolve the issue but that it would result in something much worse for the person who broke this kind of form.
Eve and Genson were like night and day to Samuel when he met them in the office with Lena.
Eve looked to be not a day over thirty with jet ck shoulder length hair and sharp chocte brown eyes. She was dressed in ck button down zer with a white dress shirt with ck cks and shoes. Her face like Samuel had seen the princess be oh so often was nk and gave no hint of what she was thinking underneath the mask she had on.
Genson on the other hand was a man in his mid forties with short brown hair, green eyes with well trimmed stubble covering his chin and curved around the bottom part of his face. His brown dress shirt was crinkled and he wore faded blue jeans with tform ck boots.
The small smirk that was on his face as he leaned back into sofa with his legs cross made him ooze with the appearance of narcissism and smarminess. Samuel immediately didn''t like him and why wondered why the princess would pick him.
"Since we''re all here, why don''t you get us started by exining what you''re looking for Ms. Scarlet." A bit of a southern drawl was noticeable as he said thest syble of ''Scarlet".
"I''ve already told both of you what I''m looking for. So instead, why don''t you tell me what you think is the best route to take and deal with this problem. I won''t be the only having final input on this matter either." She replied, fixing Genson with a sharp.
"He''s the fiance you mentioned?" Eve asked shifting her attention from the princess to Samuel who was sitting next to her.
"That''s correct." Lena replied.
"If you want an easy solution to the problem, why don''t you just change the way theputers are used to better track who the culprit might be." Genson suggested
"Or you could setup security cameras where theputers are and find out that way. Then you wouldn''t even need us to hack the system."
"I already exined to you that I don''t want to change anything on the surface level because that could be suspicious and whoever is behind this might disappear which I don''t want."
"You want us to get into the system and find out but also be your eyes and ears so as to be able to catch whoever is behind this?" Eve rified, already considering in her mind what best options for this would be.
"If I might speak up." Samuel spoke before Eve had a chance to again. Lena looked over at him as she waited for him to continue.
"If you want someone to find out that you''re on to them why don''t you hire them to work here for you? Or at least one of them and the other could work behind the scenes to set something up that wouldn''t raise any gs."
Genson
"I think maybe kid you don''t quite understand the work we do and are qualified to do." He spoke with a bit of reproach in his voice and one eyebrow raised as he took in the boy that was supposed the fiance.
"I don''t think it''s bad idea." Eve interjected looking between the who would be responsible for choosing if they got the job or not.
"You don''t have to talk the job if you don''t lit it Genson, I can do both parts myself without help. I would rmend though considering your previous track record in dealing with people that you be the one to work on the inside and I''ll take care of the background work."
"What made youe to that conclusion?" Lena asked. Genson certainly seemed to be as high maintenance as others had mentioned before but he didn''t seem daft. By Samuel''s expression though she could tell that he wasn''t that fond of the older man''s personality.
"Because, Genson was a previous con artist and worked in other jobs where he needed to gain trust in difficult situations. Certainly he''s also good with technology, but whereas I have more experience in hacking andputer rted work to know how to do everything behind the scenes without raising any red gs to employees here, I don''t have the same people skills he has."
"You ain''t wrong about my people skills, but if I wanted to work a 9-5 job, I certainly wouldn''t havee here as my first stop." Genson said as he sat up not liking where the conversation was heading, he liked flexibility in his schedule.
"You shouldn''t be disappointed then to find out you''d be working most likely from 7-7 each day instead." The smirk dropped off when she said this.
"I need someone here before everyone shows up and until after everyone leaves. Considering the price you''re asking for and that I''m willing to pay extra and possible a long-term job out of this- I expected to meet someone who was a bit more flexible and willing to work hard for what they want." Genson could feel the sarcasm in her voice as and spoke and narrowed his eyes slightly knowing she was daring him to turn down the off and prove to her how petty she thought he was.
"I suppose I could work with that. Not my ideal job." Genson replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders as the smirk returned.
"Especially if you''re willing to pay a bit more for it and there''s the possibility of other incentives involved." Although it was unspoken, Lena knew by the look on his face what he meant by ''other incentives'' and she didn''t like it.
Chapter 111 - Warning
The meeting went on for a while longer because Samuel had other questions he wanted to ask about Genson and Eve. Lena didn''t stop him from asking as some of the questions he asked were ones she wanted to ask anyways.
Eve didn''t seem to mind answering any of the questions he asked but Genson was less amodating and only partly answered some of the questions or give just the basic information about what the other was asking about. If it wasn''t for his abilities, the princess wouldn''t have even considered hiring him in the fist ce.
Samuel blew off the other man''s attitude towards him and instead would ask further questions if he didn''t feel that he had gotten the answer that he was looking for. Persistence was good, It showed that he wasn''t a pushover in this type of situation. He didn''t like Genson anymore after asking more questions about what his line of work included, his morals, and how he dealt with difficult situations such as this if things didn''t turn out the way that he expected them to, but at least knowing the answer to these questions helped him get a better idea of what to expect and perhaps how to deal with him if they had to work together.
Samuel couldn''t deny though that he could see how the other would make sessful conman, he had enough fake charisma and charm that most anyone who didn''t spend a lot of time with him would likely be easily taken in and fooled if he yed his cards right.
Once the meeting was over and Lena had determined that she would hire both and see how it went before determining who would be the one between them tond the more permanent job. She need more people like this working on both sides of her line of work. One could never have enough pieces in their pockets should anything go wrong.
Lena had Samuel wait in the office as she walked out with them. Eve was the first one to leave after thanking her for the interview and saying that she looked forward to hearing what her response was. Lena was still going to give it a day or two before she told them what her decision was even though she had already made it.
Genson on the other hand she didn''t let leave right away. She had some words she wanted to say to him before she would let him leave.
"How might I be of service to you miss Scarlet before I leave?" He asked offering her a small charming smile even though he already had an idea that whatever she wanted to talk with him about would be done in a less than friendly tone.
"I want to talk about your attitude. While I get that you worked as a conman for years and it served you well to behave in the way you did during that meeting to get what you wanted, I won''t put up with it here." The princess told him cutting straight to the point. She knew that she was a sharp one, but he didn''t expect her to be that sharp.
"Secondly, I would appreciate that you show my fianc¨¦ more respect in future interactions as well. I might be the person who reached out to hire you, but he has just as much say in the final decision as I do and I can assure you if you don''t watch how you step in the future that it won''t just be this job that you won''t be getting, do I make myself clear?" The sharp look in her eyes as she spoke despite the height difference between them warned him that he needed to be careful of how responded to what she said. Perhaps not a time toe back with a sarcastic remark if he didn''t want her to follow through with the threat.
"Ipletely understand and I will make sure to watch myself I the future. I am sure though that you can see it from my perspective as well. It is one thing to be talked to like that be a beautiful youngdy such as yourself whose is looking to hire me, but no so much so when it''s a young man like that who seems like he''s not yet that polished or doesn''t quite seem to know what he''s getting into." Genson replied, trying to be polite but also defending his actions in the process.
"He may not be polished as you put it, but trust me, he''s far sharper and intuitive than you give him credit for so again I suggest that you watch how you interact with him in the future." He held up his hands in a mock defense but took a step back to show that he was taking her seriously.
"No need to worry, I will keep what you say in mind if I get this job and make sure not to step on any toes." He assured him. He didn''t care so much if he got this specific job or not, but he didn''t want to put out of other work which was possible because of the level of influence that the Scarlet family had. They may not have been the top group in the area, but they still had enough influence to cause someone like him a great deal of damage to his reputation.
"I''m d that we have been able toe to that understanding. You can leave and I will contact youter to let you know if you have the job or not." The princess told him as she turned around to leave.
"A word to the wise though Scarlet, I would be careful letting that one around too many people before you two are officially engaged. There''s been a lot of things going aroundtely behind the shadows and I would hate for something to happen to him." Lena paused for a second mid-stride to take in what Genson had said to her, but rather than turning around to talk to him, she headed back into the office.
"Is everything okay? Samuel asked when he saw the look that was on Lena''s face when she came back into the office.
"Everything is fine. I just don''t like having to deal with that guy more than necessary." The little queen replied as she took her seat back at her desk. She also didn''t need him telling her something that she already knew.
"Is he really the best option to hire for this type of job? Because I have to say that I don''t really like him all that much either." Samuel answered honestly.
"He''s one the dirtiest people in this job both in his work ethic and personality, but sadly he does have the best qualifications for dealing with this type of problem. If he causes any problems though, I will have him fired and find someone who can rece him if Eve can''t handle it herself." She told him. She wasn''t sure about Eve either though.
Eve had the better personality and approached the situation in a more professional manner than the older con artist had, but there was still something about her that Lena didn''t feel right about, she couldn''t put her finger on what it was yet.
"Thank you though for letting me join you for this meeting, I honestly didn''t expect it." Samuel told her as he leaned back against the sofa. He could kind of start to understand why Lena seemed to be tired and in such a bad mood when she came home from having to deal with a lot of meetings, they were hard to handle.
"Considering you were the one who noticed the problem in the first ce, I think that it is only fair that you have a say in how it should be dealt with. It''s unrted to anything that my father would mind you knowing about so there is no real reason that you can''t be part of such things." She exined.
"You won''t be involved in everything yet, but there are certain things like this that I will bring you in on. You''ll be helping to take care of everything on a higher level after we''re officially engaged anyways."
"Isn''t this something that fits within the gray area of the work that you do?" He asked. Of course it was and he would pick up on it.
"I thought that you had said this business waspletely legal?" The princes smirked in response to his question.
"The business ispletely legal, nothing that is done here is done under the table. That doesn''t mean though that how I deal with problems that happen with this business have to be exactly legal since it only effects matters that happen within the business, nothing that goes happens on the outside."
"So basically, it is a loop hole in other words that you can use for these type of problems?" He rified. He felt like he was starting to get a better understanding of how some things worked even though it made it feel as though certain lines that shouldn''t have been were being blurred.
"Exactly. It''s not something that happens too often though. Just during problems like this." She replied Looking at herputer. There were still a number of other things that she needed to take care of for the day.
Chapter 112 - Personal Guard
Samuel had other things that he needed to focus and because of that he hadn''t been bothering to text J back as much as he had in the beginning. He found out rather quickly this was problematic because the less often he texted the other, the more questions the other would ask by the time that he came back to replying to him.
He still hadn''t figured out why the other was interested in knowing so much about him. He had tried to dig for a deeper answering than the fact that they were family, but J didn''t give him any other answer except for that followed by asking whether it was a bad thing that he wanted to know so much about someone who was family but that he never got a chance to interact with?
Samuel''s initial response would''ve been to say no, but after he and Lena had talked about family that one time, he wasn''t sure no was the right answer since he really didn''t know that much about this other person beyond what he had been willing to tell him.
Samuel was also more careful about who he texted the other around. The princess and her brother might not have been that noisy, but after the one-time Lena had saw him texting and wanted to know what he was doing, he didn''t want to risk her finding out.
''Look, we have been texting for over a week and a half already. I have answered a lot of your questions, can''t you tell me what I want to know already?'' he texted J, hoping that the other would be willing to say yes since they had been texting back and forth for longer than the timeframe that he had originally been given.
''Didn''t anyone ever tell you patience is a virtue, Sam?'' was the text he got back in response to the question. There was a short pause before a second text came through.
''I''m working on it. Since we haven''t met yet or talked much about work, you wouldn''t know but I also have a busy schedule that I am working around.'' J was right, he still had no clue what type of job he did for a living or even where he was located.
''You have time to text me already, how hard can it be to just exin everything to me via text? I don''t mind a few long texts.'' Samuel typed back with a stifled sigh.
After they had finished the meeting with Genson and Eve, Lena had said told Samuel he should go home for the day so he didn''t end up missing a day of training with rice since she hadn''t been told that he would be with the princess at work that day. Thus, he was trying to take advantage to the cool breeze that was blowing outside to sit out there while waiting for rice. He had found a decent try he could sit under that was near to the building that they were training in. It didn''tpletely shade him from the sun but it did a decent enough of a job that he didn''t particrly hot while sitting under it.
''That''s because it would be more than just a few long texts to exin everything to you. Hence why I want to meet with you in person- there''s a lot to talk about.'' J texted back.
''Give me a few days and let''s keep talking and by then I will have something figured out by then that I think will work for both of us.''. Samuel didn''t like this response since it felt like the same one he kept getting, but there was no way for him to object about it. He was stuck working off the other''s timetable unless he wanted to drop the whole thing and go to his mom who had been unusually quiet recently.
Lena had mentioned that she had texted her on Monday asking about when they could talk. It wasn''t the most opportune time for Lena for his mother to decide that she wanted to get in touch and talk since she had already had her phone number for almost two weeks, but she would try her best to amodate the older woman since she was the mother of her fianc¨¦, and she did quite like her.
Samuel was surprised when he looked up at the sound of footsteps to see not only rice walking towards him but Jeff following closely behind her.
"Jeff? I thought you were going back to wait for Lena to be done so you could take her home." Jeff smiled in response to his question as he stood behind rice.
"Actually, there''s been a bit of change in ns with that. Clive ising back to work since their daughter almost ready toe out of the hospital and his wife won''t be staying there for much longer." Exined.
"And because of that change, the princess asked me to join you for training today. She mentioned something about possibly making me your personal assistant or guard, however you wish to look at it. Of course, if you''refortable with it?" Thest part he asked as a slight question. Lena had told him after all that it would only work if Samuel was okay with that arrangement, it wasn''t something she could just dictate to happen.
"I guess? I mean I''m not sure what I would need a personal guard for." Samuel replied as he stood up from where he was sitting. This was something that the princess hadn''t talked with him about, but maybe she didn''t think it was that big of a deal if she had Jeff ask about it.
"There''s a lot of reasons to have a guard." rice chimed in.
"They can double as a number of different things, and you always will have someone close to you that will have your back no matter what the situation is. Guards aren''t just to protect people who can''t defend themselves, they''re also there as a type of support." She exined, patting Jeff on the shoulder.
"In this case they can also serve as a good friend and someone you can rely on when you''re not certain who else to turn to when something is bothering you."
"I wouldn''t have a problem with that. I was just surprised that Lena didn''t mention anything to me about it when I was at the office with her this morning." Samuel replied as he looked between the two of them.
"That''s probably because she didn''t know that Clive would being back to his regr schedule until after you had left. She has been busy, so she just texted me instead to talk with you. You can bring it up to herter of course if you want to so that you can get a better idea of what role me being your guard would fulfill." Jeff told him.
"he''s quite qualified for the role as well. He''s just with us today to brush up on some things. He''ll also of course have to go through some other training as well to make sure that he''s up to the standard that Lena think is good enough. For the time being though, he''ll still be able to apany you if need to go anywhere without Lena or if you need something." rice. Samuel couldn''t deny having someone to go with him if he wanted to leave the estate that wasn''t Lena coulde in handy. Especially since he knew that the ring would be ready soon to pick up. It had taken longer than originally promised because the birthstone that Zane had requested was on back order, but the jeweler had promised he would still have it done on time for them.
"You guys can chat more about thister. Right now, we need to get to training. I don''t have all day today and training more than one of you is going to take extra time, but I''m sure it''ll be good practice for the both of you." rice told them as he headed for the entrance of the building.
"I hope that I won''t disappoint you. I look up to Clive so I hope that I can reach his level of excellency when ites to being a guard as well as an assistant to you. I hope that you will rely on me as well if there is anything you need." Jeff told Samuel as they got ready to follow rice inside. He couldn''t deny see how earnest the other was about this role that even if he wanted to object to it, he didn''t think that he would be able to bring himself to say no and reject Jeff who was hardly much older than he was.
"I think that you will do just fine. The only thing that I will ask if you please don''t treat me so formally as you treat Lena and the others in the family. You can call me by my first name and don''t hesitate to ask or bring up anything that you''re worried about, or you think that you should discuss with me." Samuel told the other with a smile.
Chapter 113 - Any Time
Samuel could see the benefits and problems with having Jeff joining their training session. Unlike when Leo hade and watched every now and again, he never took part in the practice except for the one point in time when had been a bit too noisy for rice with hisments on the side and she made him join in to give him a reason to learn how to be quiet.
Jeff on the other hand was actually taking part in the training session and this proved to be a touch distracting for Samuel because he had to keep track of two people now. He had expected it to be both of them on the side against rice, but she had insisted that having it setup that way would take the fun out of things and that it would work better for it to be free-game instead. They were free to spare with whoever they wanted.
Jeff wasn''t as good as rice in terms of physicalbat abilities, but he wasn''t as simple orid back as his personality let on. Samuel still had a hard time keeping up with him and watching his actions to know what move he would be making next. That was somethin that rice had really been working on him with. If he could learn how to read his opponents movements before they moved to attack, he would have a better chance blocking and countering before they moved again. It wasn''t as easy as she made it sound though.
Also because there was someone else joining them, training was going to take longer than it had before. At the back of his mind, he couldn''t help but feel a bit like Lena was adding extra things to make his schedule more packed when she couldn''t be around. Did she not want him to be bored or did she want his preupied because there were things that she didn''t want him poking into or doing while she wasn''t around?
He had noticed her recent strange behavior, but didn''t know how to approach her about. Leo even seemed worried about her which made him think that it was something that she had dealt with before, he just wasn''t sure what it was.
The addition of having Jeff with him though might give him a little bit of freedom if he was taking on the same role that Clive or Romeo did. He was sure the other would agree to taking him to go and picking up the promise ring when it was ready. Doing that would take care of the concern of figuring out how to do it without Lena finding out what he was up to.
"Jeff do you have to report back to Lena everything that I''m doing if I go anywhere off the estate?" He asked once training was over and they were taking a break.
"I believe not unless it''s an emergency or there''s something that you would like me to let her know about." Jeff replied as he sipped his water thoughtfully.
"It maye upter, but no such restrictions have been mentioned to me. Is there something you had in mind?" He asked.
"Kind of." Samuel admitted as he watched rice reorganizing everything. She had said that she needed to set up the room differently if there would be more people in their training consistently. They didn''t have nearly enough floorspace.
"I got a present for Lena with the help of her father back when we went to go and get the wedding rings properly fitted. I was hoping to be able to pick it up without her finding out what I got her but I wasn''t sure how I would be able to do that without her finding out." He exined briefly.
"How thoughtful of you to think about getting her a gift for the engagement." Jeff remarked with a smile.
"For that kind of thing, I don''t think that it is something that we would have to let her know ahead of time where we are going. If you are worried about it being a problem though, I''m sure that you could report it to the boss so that someone from the family knows." he suggested trying think of a way around not having the princess find out beforehand what Samuel had gotten for her.
"That might work since he was the one who helped me pick it out. I''m sure he wouldn''t mind us going to get it if he knew about it." Samuel replied as he considered this idea.
"Just let me know the date and time and I''ll be there for you." Jeff assured the other as he finished the bottle of water that he had.
"Thanks." Samuel told the other as he stood up. As much as he wanted to rest still after being tired from practice there were other things that he still needed to do.
"rice, are you staying for dinner tonight since it is already sote?" Samuel asked as she continued to rearrange things.
"Why not? Lena will be back in time, won''t she?" rice asked, not stopping what she was doing as she spoke.
"I think so. She said that she wouldn''t be staying at the office toote tonight and that Clive would being to pick her up." Samuel replied. He could text her just in case though to make sure that she really would being home on time for dinner.
"Good, then that will give me a chance to catch up and talk with her about a few things." rice replied as she dusted her hands off on her pants. She really needed to get someone to clean up the ce.
"What about you, Jeff?" he then asked turning to look over at his new guard who held his hands up.
"Goodness no. Not yet at least will I be moving into that estate until everything is made official that I will be your new guard. Until then I am still staying in the second estate that''s for the other servants and staff that don''t work in the main house." He replied. He wasn''t sure that the princess would mind him being invited, but he wouldn''t automatically assume himself that he had that right as it very much felt like he would be overstepping boundaries he ought not to by doing such a thing.
"Fair enough. So I guess I won''t be seeing you again tonight?"
"Nope, not unless you need anything. Although we should exchange numbers just in case you need to message me about something." Jeff told the other as he pulled his phone out.
"Night or day I will be at your beck and call if you need anything at all." He told Samuel after they exchanged numbers. It felt a little bit over the top to hear the other say this, but he knew why he did. The rest of the Scarlet family worked at any hour of the day or not and once the engagement was official, Samuel was fairly certain that his work schedule would be changing as well.
Chapter 114 - More Than Meets The Eye
Lena was back before dinner was ready leaving the only one missing from the table that night being Leo which was a bit odd to Samuel as he was the one who usually was never missing from the table.
ording to Zane this was because he was taking his ce at a business dinner meeting. Even though Leo was nning on heading back to the UK before the year was over, his father still wanted to make sure that he had made some connections before he headed back in case he needed them in the future.
Leo was never fond of such things, but he went along with them to humor his father as he knew it was what was expected of him being the only son of the head of the Red Scorpions. Such minor annoyances were things that he had to get used. The only thing that he pushed back on from those outside of his family was taking over the role as head over Lena. Even though there were those who would have still preferred he was the one to take over, he staunchly refused to as it was not something he was interested in no matter how much he was bugged about it. He had other ns in life.
rice was a wee addition to the table however, and most of the family was quite pleased to get the chance to talk to and catch up with her. Lena didn''t say much while she talked with everyone else as the princess had already agreed to set up some time with her after dinner to discuss some things. A discussion that Samuel wouldn''t be part of as she had already told him.
"What did you want to talk about?" Lena asked once they were in her office. Opening the top draw of her desk she pulled out the pipe that her father usually kept. He was letting her borrow it for now since he wasn''t in his office enough to be using it.
"I can see that Zane hasn''t let that tradition die." ricemented as she gotfortable on the sofa. Lena gave her a questioning look as she lit the pipe.
"That thing." She replied pointing to the pipe.
"Hardly eighteen and you''re already smoking." the princess took a puff before blowing out the smoke.
"Rarely. I only use it when I''m stressed out. I hardly smoke as much as my father used to." She replied before offering the pipe to the other woman who turned it down.
"I don''t need that in my system right now." rice replied
"If I need somethingter, I will ask Ryan where he keeps the good alcohol in the kitchen."
"Should I take that to mean you''re nning on staying the night?" Lena asked with a a raised eyebrow.
"I figure I might as well." She answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
"It''s already gettingter and I don''t really want to drive all the way back since it''ll be eventer once we finish talking."
"What did you want to talk with me about in the first ce?" Lena asked as she leaned back in the desk chair.
"A lot of things actually. We have hardly had the chance to catch up in years. Right now though what I really want to talk about is that fianc¨¦ of yours."
"Is he causing problems during training or not making the progress you expected him to in the time that you two have been training?" The princess asked. She had anticipated that Samuel might not be well suited for such things.
"Actually quite the opposite." rice replied with a serious look on her face.
"His form is horrible and by the way he responds and moves it obvious that he hasn''t had a lot of training or practice, but his level of instinct and ability to react don''t match up with someone who''s a novice at physicalbat. Are you absolutely certain that he hasn''t had any type of training prior to me taking him on?" rice asked. It wasn''t the response that the princess had been expecting so she took a moment to think about it before she replied.
"As far as I''m aware and what he has told me is that beyond ying paintball, his parents didn''t teach him how to handle a gun or enrolling him any type ofbat or self defense sses." Lena replied as she took another puff rom the pipe.
"But I would imagine that he would remember something like or have brought it up when I talked with him about you training him. I assume he has told you something simr?" rice nodded her head.
"He did, but I can''t think of any other reasons as to why he would be able to pick up skills so quickly. He still needs to be refined quite and learn to keep his concentration before he''ll be good enough to take care of himself, but he has far more potential than meets the eye." She exined to the princess.
"Is there anything interesting about his family then? He hasn''t talked about them much beyond the reason why you two were initial engaged."
"His familyes from a normal background from what I can tell." Lena replied.
"His father works as a small time mechanic and his mother doesn''t appear to have a job. His uncle is a businessman with an annoying wife and daughter. His paternal grandparents are still alive but ording to his mother her parents are dead and there''s no contact with the rest of the family." She exined in further detail.
"Have you looked into whether or not his mother is telling the truth?" rice asked.
"Are you asking out of curiosity or because you think that there''s a reason to?" She asked rather than replying to the question.
"I''m not sure honestly, but there might be something worth looking into there. I might be wrong, but I just get the feeling that there''s something more about him than maybe even he knows." Lena sighed when she heard this. It wasn''t like she hadn''t thought about that before. She just didn''t think there would be a good reason to investigate Samuel''s family since her father had known them for years.
"I will be talking with and and possibly meeting with this mother soon. I will ask her if I get the chance if there''s anything that she might be hiding." Lena told her friend. It would be one more thing that she would have to figure out how to navigate.
Chapter 115 - Nothing Will Ever Be Normal With Us
They had been a bitte ining back to make sure that the outfits fit correctly after they had been altered, but Lena managed to clear some time in her schedule Thursday morning to do it. She was going to be meeting with Samuel''s uncleter that afternoon, but she knew that there would be plenty of time to do both without worry.
Looking at herself in the mirror, the princess felt like the chiffon dress was a touch too big for her still. Turning and looking at it from the side, she decided against requesting it to be fixed a bit more. Partly because she realized it allowed her enough room to move without feeling like it hugged her body too tightly and also because she doubted that a week and a half would be enough time to get the modifications done before the engagement party.
"Do you think that it works okay?" She didn''t have to turn around when she heard Samuel''s voice behind as she could see him clearly even though he was standing behind her from the mirror.
"How does it feel in your shoulders and back?" The princess asked as she continued to look at the front of her dress.
"I think it feels okay. It doesn''t feel baggy in the shoulders anymore, but I still feel like I can move my arounds without feeling it press tightly against my back." Samuel replied as he moved closer.
"The pants were fixed just right so that they don''t drag at all." He told as she turned to look at him. She couldn''t deny that the suit looked like it was a much better fit for him than it had when they originally came in. Now, she would just have to figure out the way right for him to fix his hair so it matched his look. He would also need some good cufflinks as well.
"What about this then? I feel like it is still a little it too big. I''m not sure though if that''s just because I''m not that used to wearing dresses." The princess asked as she turned around so that Samuel could see how well the dress fit her or not.
? "I don''t think that it looks too bad. I think that the little bit of extra space is a good fit for you. From what I can tell it doesn''t look like it would be noticeable that it''s too big for you either." Lena made a ''hm'' noise after he told her this as she looked at herself in the mirror again. They were working with two different assistants than had helped them out the first time and both were just standing to the side and out of the way as it seemed like neither the princes or her fianc¨¦ was in deed of their assistance.
"I guess then we can get ready to ask for these to be packaged up so that we can take them home with us." She replied as she turned around to face the other.
"Wait though. There was something that you said we could do when we came back to try them on before we left." Samuel said as he moved in front of her to stop her from walking any further ahead.
"And what would that be?" She asked having honestly forgotten what she had told him thest time that they were there.
"You said that we could take pictures to show my family what they look like. My mother was asking me the other day about if we had decided on the outfit and theme for the party and I told her that she would be seeing pictures of the outfits when we went to go pick them up." He still had been texting with his mother despite everything that had been going on. He just wasn''t keen on giving her a call and rather than telling her the real reason why, he just would say that he was so busy with the preparations for everything that he only had time to text rather than call.
"I forgot about that, but fine. We can take some photos together." The princess agreed even though she wasn''t that thrilled about having her picture taken.
"Excuse me, we would like to take some photos. Would you mind taking them for us?" Samuel asked the male assistant who was standing off to the side. He had no problem obliging them which allowed Samuel to keep his hands free and able to stand next to Lena so that his parents would be able to see them together in their outfits.
They took a few pictures in that position with Samuel asking the princess to shift slightly as he did so that the outfits could be seen at different angles. Once he was satisfied, he was got ready to take the phone back to look at the photos when Lena stopped him.
"I want to take one more if we''re doing pictures. This one will be for my father though as I''m sure he''d like to see more photos of us together." The princess exined as she motioned for him toe back over to her. Samuel obliged and came back over to stand next to her as he expected to make more photos like that, but was surprised when she came to stand in front of him.
"Wrap your arms around my waist and lean down so your chin is resting on my head." Samuel moved the best he could to get in the position that she requested. He couldn''t deny that it was a bit awkward and he had to lean further down that he had expected to be able to rest his chin on her head. He was honestly rather surprised by her request as it felt like it was much more of an intimate picture than he had figured she would befortable taking.
Once she felt that Samuel was positioned correctly and the way he was resting his chin on her head wasn''t ufortable she leaned back into him and ced her hands over his arms. She ignored the fact that she could feel Samuel''s heartbeat pick up pace when she did this and nodded to the assistant that he was okay to take the picture.
Since this picture was more directed than the other ones were, he did a three second count down to make sure that both were ready to smile when took the photo. Lena wasn''t much of a smiler, but she did her best to offer a smile one for the photo since she would be sending it to her father and he would prefer to see her smiling than seeming as indifferent as she usually did.
After the photo was taken, Lena waited a few seconds before she let go of Samuel''s arms so that he could release her from his embrace and move to get the phone back from the assistant. It wasn''t that bad of a position to be in for a photo she surmised as Samuel thanked the assistant and took the phone back.
"Honestly if I didn''t know any better, I would say that this picture almost makes us look like a normal couple." Hemented as he looked at the photo before turning it to see if it met the princess''s approval. She scoffed as she looked at the picture, he wasn''t wrong, but..
"Sammy-boy we might look like a normal couple, but there''s nothing normal about is nor is there likely ever to be anything normal about us." She replied as she handed him the phone back.
"This is something that everyone in my family has to get used which is the fact that we''re all odd and everything we do and work is out of the ordinarypared to everyone else." She continued as she turned to look at the dress once more. She guessed that after seeing the photo it looked a lot better than she first thought that it had.
"I suppose you''re right. Though if we wanted to, I''m sure we could work on brining something more normal to the family."
"No." was Lena''s immediate response to his question.
"I prefer it the way things are. Normal would take the fun out of things and make it boringpared to now."
"Dully noted. I see you prefer things that are abnormal. I will be sure to keep that in mind in the future when I consider any gifts to get you." Samuel replied causing Lena to turn and look at him with a rather sharp look.
"In the future you won''t be buying me any gifts. I''m not in need of gifts and prefer not to receive them." She told him before turning to the store assistants and letting them know they were pleased with the outfits and would be happy to take them with them without needing to do any further modifications to them.
Even though Lena said she didn''t want gifts, Samuel just figured it would be his job to show that gifts could be good things every once in a while.
Chapter 116 - Solution To His Attitude
Clive was evidentially happy to be back on duty now that his daughter and wife would being home soon. He even had pictures to share with Samuel of how well his daughter had been doing. She was still on the smaller side but the doctors confirmed that she was doing quite well despite being so premature.
The ride back to the estate was spent discussing the decision on whether it would be a good idea to both Genson and Eve or if there was a better choice between the two of them. Lena had her mind made up on the matter, but she was listening to the reservations that Samuel had about the matter.
"I''m just not sure that his personality will fit well. I know from what you''ve said that he has some of the best credentials for the job and more than enough experience for what you''re looking for, but I think that there is more to it than that." He told as Lena listened with her eyes closed. It always came back to personality with Samuel.
"What makes you think that his personality will be a problem with everyone else at work?" The princes asked not opening her eyes as she spoke.
"I feel like hecks boundaries and would end up saying things that might offend some of the other employees. He seems to think a lot of himself and that from what I could tell when he was talking bleeds over into how he interacts with everyone thinking that they should see him the same way."
"What if there was a solution to that though?" She then asked after a slight pause while she considered the matter.
"What kind of solution? I''m not sure there''s much that can be done with someone with that kind of personality. Especially since he charges so much as well." Samuel replied but waited to hear what she had to say on the matter.
"I agree that his personality is rather problematic and honestly if I didn''t need someone with his skill set to actually find out who is behind this, I wouldn''t have bothered hiring him as I''ve heard the rumors about the kind of person he is. I think though that there are a few ways to deal with his personality one of those would be in putting him in more of an assistant role rather than someone who has free reign within the office."
"That might work. He probably won''t like it, but could be beneficial in a number of ways." Samuel agreed.
"As the one paying him I''m technically allowed to request whatever I want from him in the role he''s serving while working for me. As long as it isn''t anything illegal, there''s no way that I would get in trouble for it nor would he be likely to terminate the contract since he wouldn''t get a single penny if he did." The princessmented.
"If you have him, why did you go ahead with hiring Eve as well?" Samuel then asked, he had been curious as to why she wanted to hire two people if she thought that Genson had all the skills that she would need for the job.
"Because I wanted two different sets of eyes for this job. If I want to find out who is really behind this, the more people I have working on the task from both sides, the more likely that it will be that I will find the person rather than just stopping the issue from happening again in the future." Lena replied
"It''s more important to find the person than just stopping the issue from happening?" He rified to which the princess nodded her head.
"Of course it is. Because even if the person behind this stops doing it here and disappears, they''re bound to just turn around and find anotherpany to do the same thing with. Thus, it''s important to find out who is behind this in order to stop that from happening." She exined.
"You worried about what I might do to this person when I find them?" She asked tilting her head slightly as she looked at her fianc¨¦.
"Not really, more so curious. I trust you to make the right decision when dealing with people in this situation. I expect that it won''t be likely for them to be able to get another job in this area anymore, but I think you wouldn''t take it too far." Lena made a noise but only nodded her head in response to what he said.
She certainly wasn''t as bad as he father was, but that didn''t mean that she took betrayal any better than he did. Samuel was right though. The people working at the business for the most part were outside of her family and were hired to give off the impression of it being a strictly legal business. This meant though that Lena had to work within that legal field when it came to dealing with such problems with her employees.
"Were you still nning on sitting out this meeting with your uncle? You''re wee toe if you want." The princess offered.
"It''s okay. I think that it would probably be better if I wasn''t there. Even though the proposal was your idea and came from you, knowing the way that my Aunt think she''ll probably get the idea that it somehow came from me and I don''t want to cause issues with the family. They''ll already be offended over the fact that they aren''t invited to the engagement party." Samuel replied. ording to his mother, his aunt had thrown a touch of a fit when she was told that the invitation had only been extended to the parents of the fianc¨¦, no other family.
"And this is exactly the reason why they won''t be invited. Your uncle would''ve been better off marrying someone else who had more family values and was less for of herself. I don''t have much faith in the fact but maybe her daughter will figure it out before she ends up turning out just like her mother."
"I''m not sure about that. She''s engaged to someone who''s rather well off himself. Something my Aunt likes to brag about any chance she gets when my parents talk with her. Probably part of the reason that she was caught off guard by the fact that youe from a family with business sense and a decent amount of money." Samuel mused.
"At least you won''t have to deal with them much anymore." Lenamented as she nced out the car window and noticed that they were getting closer to the estate.
"I''ve been curious about this before, but if my parents are going to be invited to this event, does that mean they''ll invited toe over at other times if I ask them to?" Samuel asked.
"That will depend on what you''refortable with and what my father has to say about the matter." The princess replied as she shifted in the car seat so that she was in a more upright position.
"Technically since they already know the type of family that you''re getting married into and know about my father, there''s not really a reason preventing them from being invited if they wish toe. The only thing to take into consideration would still be the matter of safety." she exined.
"Of course when they are there for the engagement party there will be a lot of different people who will see them and know that they are your parents, but most of the people within that circle fall under my father''s authority or are under the control of the Red Scorpions and wouldn''t think about doing anything to your parents. I can''t promise about other people that might spot them."
"Thank you. It''s something that I want to talk with my parents about since my mother wasn''t to discuss the theme for the engagement party now that she was able to see what the outfits look like. We also need to decide when we are going to taste test the food and sweets Ryan suggested for the event."
"I don''t think that there''s much of a reason to do it, but maybe it''s something that we can make time to do this weekend since it''s cutting it closer to the date of the event." Lena trusted Ryan when it came to food matters as he had never disappointed when it came to choices and vors.
"I thought that you had work to do at the office this weekend?" Samuel asked surprised since Lena had told him on Monday that they probably wouldn''t have much of a chance to spend the weekend together due to work.
"I do have work to do at the office this weekend, but that doesn''t mean that I can''t make time around that for such a thing. There''s always the evening also." She replied as they pulled up to the estate.
"rice won''t be here today since she stayed over the other day and has other things to catch up on. Try to be good while I''m gone and find something else to entertain yourself with." The princess told him as he got out of the car. He stuck his tongue out at her in a teasing way in response to herment but didn''t say anything before he closed the car door.
Chapter 117 - Business Deal
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Samuel nced at his phone after Lena had left. The only text that he had gotten recently was from his parents asking more questions about the engagement party. J had been oddly quiet for the past two days. He had double checked to make sure that he had answered thest text messages that he had sent, which he did so he wasn''t quite sure why he stopped talking when he had been messaging consistently for almost thest two weeks. Some how it made him feel uneasy.
He wanted to believe that it was perhaps for work reasons but he got the feeling that J wasn''t like Lena and didn''t mind talking so much around his work schedule or whatever else he had going on. If anything, it seemed like he had been enjoying talking with Samuel.
He didn''t quite think that there was anything serious to worry about. His only concern was that J would stop talking to him because he was really digging for answer to a question that he got and that would mean Samuel wouldn''t hear from him what this secret that his mother was hiding was.
He was determined though to give it another day before messaged J to ask why he hadn''t heard from him. If he was just busy, he figured that three days would be a fair enough time to wait before messaging him. Samuel didn''t think that he would have time to text on the weekend anyways if Lena was going to make time for them to be in the kitchen with Ryan figuring out what kind of foods they wanted to include for the engagement party.
For the time being though since he was waiting for Lena to get back from the meeting with this uncle and he didn''t have training with rice since she was also busy, he decided that he would take some time to text his parents more about the engagement party and what they should expect. After that, he decided that he would see if Jeff was around and if he was free, he roped him into going out riding with him. Now that it was getting closer to fall the weather was slowly cooling off and since it had been a little while he thought that it would be enjoyable to go out for a ride.
Lena was pleased to find that John was a decent businessman. He hadn''t just agreed to the terms that the princess set forth for her taking over hispany, he had actually read through everything and came with questions that he wanted to ask before he would agree to it. It raised her level of respect for him quite a bit.
"No, you wouldn''t just be CEO in name only. While I intend to merge yourpany with this one and have them linked, you would still be CEO and in control of everything that happens there. I may require reports every quarter to make sure that everything is on track and thepany is doing well. Most decisions would still be made by you." The princess exined, answering another one of the questions that John had.
"I saw that you said you would do nothing to change the employees that I work with, would you be hiring anyone else to be a part of thepany or is that still under my control to do at the pace I think is right?" He then asked, taking notes of everything that the princess was telling him.
"Based upon how thepany has been running thus far I would say that there''s no reason for me to micromanage who you hire. If you find that you don''t have any good candidates or you can''t choose between a candidate for a specific positions, you can reach out for advice if you wish or I can rmend someone people who work here to transfer over if they match what you''re looking for." Lena exined
"Honestly though, I am going to be mostly hands-off with this. The only thing that I am really after in purchasing yourpany is the benefit thates from expanding, the ability to have a first good partnership for this business and keeping yourpany afloat."
"Is this rted to the fact that I am Sam''s uncle?" John asked cutting straight to the point after hearing what Lena had to say. This caused a small smirk to appear on her face. He was indeed sharp.
"Yes and no." Was the answer she gave him. Taking a pause to take a sip of her coffee before she continued speaking.
"It''s because of the fact that you are Sammy-boy''s uncle that I was able to find out about you and yourpany. Now if you''re asking if the only reason why I am doing this has to do with the fact that you''re his uncle and I''m doing this for those kind of reasons, no. I wouldn''t be doing this just for a reason like that." She exined.
"While I will not deny the fact that I wasn''t pleased by the way that your wife talked to your family when they came from for the birthday party which did make me feel the urge to do something in retaliation for that. My honest reason for extending this offer to you is the fact that I think that there is a lot to gain by getting to yourpany before either lose due to stiff and unfairpetition or anotherpanyes along and tries to scoop it up." Since they were going to be inws soon she figured that there was no reason to not tell him her real reasons behind what she was doing nor hide how she felt about his wife.
"I see. My wife never means badly when she talks the way she does. She''s just used toing from a well-to-do family and doesn''t really deal well with this whole she sees as not being one the same level." John exined, offering an indirect apology through what he was saying. It wasn''t a good enough reason for the princess however.
"I understand that sometimes people aren''t aware of the way their behavior affects other people. We''re talking about family here though which to me is somethingpletely different. Levels in terms of wealth or achievements shouldn''t matter when ites to family. If she genuinely cared about them, she would treat them respectfully and show how much she cares about them regardless of their status level in life. It might do you good to tell her that." The princess replied, a sharp edge to her voice as she spoke.
"However, we should stay on focus as we didn''te here to talk about family matters. If you agree to all of theses terms, we can move forward with getting the paperwork signed and the process started. I did want to add one additional piece of paper to this." She told him as she slide another piece of paper over to him so that he could look over it.
"What is this?" He asked as he began to read over it.
"That''s an offering that I am extending to you that would allow you to terminate the contract with for at least one year from this date if you determine that our rtionship is hurting your businesses or if you or anyone inpany feels this one does anything to wrong you or put you in any unfair situation. After the one year mark hits however, the main contract that you''ll sign is binding for the next five years with limited reason as to why the contract can be broken with penalties being enacted." She answered. Waiting until he looked up from reading over the information to see what his response would be even though she was fairly certain that he was going to agree to everything.
"I will give it a shot if you''re being as genuine about this as you seem to be. It would almost be too good of an offer to reject such arge sum of money anyways."
"Ah, even if I wasn''t being genuine, it''s not like you couldn''t reach me by contacting Sam about this matter and having him tell me something is wrong." She pointed out as she sorted through everything and handed him the pieces of paper that he needed to sign off on.
Feeling her phone buzz in her pocket, she saw a message from Jeff. Opening it up she had expected it to be a text message but was surprised to see that he had sent a picture of him and Samuel out in the pasture with the horses. She supposed that it was his way of letting her know to expect them to be out riding if she didn''t from Samuel for a while. It seemed like it was a good decision to pair him and Jeff up after all. If it continued to work out well and he proved to be more than reliable, she would make it
Chapter 118 - Satisfaction
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Lena felt immense satisfaction for Genson''s bad mood when he came into work on Friday. Even though it was short notice, he had no problem starting right away since it meant he would get paid sooner as he had still ben staying in the area while waiting to her what he decision would be.
He dide in at seven in the morning as she had requested and by the time she and Samuel had gotten to work, he had already introduced himself to quite a few of the other employees who worked there. His initial mood was good as he was fitting right in with everyone and figured that if he did an above board job that he might be able to bargain for a higher pay if the job could be done in record time.
His mood damped though when Lena called him into her office after she and Samuel had gotten settled in. She was ready to tell him what his actual role would be while he was there and to have him fulfil her first request for the day.
"Personal assistant? Are you being serious?" He asked, his charming smile faltering slightly after hearing Lena exin what she expected him to do while he was working there.
"I speak withplete honest and I believe I spoke clearly enough for you to have heard what I am expecting of you." The princess replied with apletely neutral expression her face even though internally she was enjoying knocking him down a peg.
"You do realize that throughout the years of working in may different positions because of my skill level and experience that I have never held such a role before." Genson obviously protesting what he was being asked to do.
"That''s good then, it means you''ll be able to add a new experience to your resume." Lena replied as she turned her attention toputer screen.
"Now, are you going to keep standing there and protesting the predicament that you find yourself in or are you going to go pick up the drinks that I requested? You could still quit if you don''t like it, but you know that would mean you wouldn''t get any pay."She scrolled through her email while talking. She was always surprised by how many new emails could add up even though she had just been in the day before to take care of a number of other ones.
"As you wish, Ms. Scarlet. I will be right back with them as you request." He said through gritted teeth without letting his smile falter. He couldn''t deny it was one of the more humiliating positions that someone of his experience and power level had found himself in, but if this was all she expected of him, he couldply until he finished the job. It would give him incentive to figure out the issue sooner.
"Another thing. Change the way you address us as well. I don''t care how you talk with any of the other employees here. However, I expect you to address me as Princess and him as Young Sir. Also, unless you are called or there is something urgent you need to report to me, text or call me before youe into the office. I have a lot of meetingsing up over the next week and don''t want to be interrupted during them." Upon hearing this, she could see his shoulder''s tense after he had turned away from facing as he got ready to leave to bring back the drinks that she had requested.
"As you wish, Princess." he replied before heading to leave the office. He was obviously even less thrilled than he had been a few moments ago and this made Lena pleased. Now she would just have to keep an eye on how Eve was doing.
"You think you''re taking things too far at all?" Samuel asked after he was certain Genson was gone and wouldn''t be able to hear the conversation that they were having."
"Not at all." The princess simply replied.
"He might not like it at firs , but I''m sure that once gets into the routine of how things will go that he won''t have a problem keeping up with it. It''s not like I intend to ask anything ridiculous of him."
"Wouldn''t it be bad though if he quit because he doesn''t think this fit into the job that he was expecting to take on?" Samuel didn''t really think that it would be that big of a deal when he and the princess had talked about the day before, but Genson seemed more annoyed over it than he had expected him to be. Lena however scoffed at what he said.
"So long as I''m agreeing to pay his full price and there''s a reward dangling in front of him, he won''t quit until he gets what he wants. He might never want to work with us again after this, but he won''t quit over just this." She assured the other knowing all too well the kind of person that Genson was. She had never worked with him before but was well aware of what type of person he was and how much power she could leverage over him without him quitting.
Since they were looking into what had been going on with the finances in the business from months earlier, Lena had shifted Samuel to focusing on the most recent budget to see if he could find any changes or patterns Over thest three months.
Based upon what he had found, it was an issue that had been going on before Zane had turned the business over to his daughter which meant that it had nothing to do with anyone being upset with the shift in authority and thinking that they could take advantage of someone they deemed as having less experience taking over.
It was no surprise to Lena that her father wouldn''t have noticed such a thing, he had been focusing on too many things at once over the past year and there was less time for him to spend keeping up with every aspect of the transportation business. He hadn''t been too worried though as he had been certain of the fact that the people he had put in charge of it were loyal and would help him to keep it afloat while their CEO focused on other matters. Somewhere along the line though, it would seem he made a mistake with someone he hired.
It also wasn''t that huge of a problem, at least so long as they found the person behind everything. They could getpensation back and work towards creating a better structure for the system. The princess was already wondering if their was aspects from John''s business that she could incorporate into the one that she was working on. With the partnership they had going on there would also be a mild increase in revenue for her business as well.
The work silence was broken when Samuel''s phone started ringing at the exact same moment that Genson had knocked and entered the office having returned with the drinks that had been requested. ncing at his phone and seeing that it was the jeweler who was calling him, he knew that he had to take the call.
"Sorry, I will be right back, I need to take this." He told both of them as he stood up from the Sofa.
"Genson you can leave my drink right on the table, thank you." He said as he stepped outside of the office so that he could go back to the employee breakroom that he had used before when J had called him.
"Will do Young Sir." he heard Genson say before the door closed.
"Samuel was honestly thrilled that he had gotten this phone call. As the days had been going by and it was getting closer to the date of the engagement party, he was worried because of the back order that it might not be done on time.
"Hello?" Samuel asked answering the phone once he was in the breakroom.
"This is Samuel Foster that I am speaking with, correct? The one who had ordered the promise ring for his fianc¨¦?" The man rified to make sure that he was talking to the right person.
"Yes, this is him. Is it ready?" He asked trying to hide the excitement in his voice.
"Yes it is, that''s exactly why I am calling you. I do apologize for the dy, but it isplete and ready to pick up at your convenience." The man replied, a smile in his voice as he spoke.
"Would it be possible to pick it up tomorrow?"
"Of course. I will be open until one in the afternoon however." The man replied.
"That''s no problem at all. I think that I should be able toe in early." Samuel replied. He thanked the man once more before he ended the call. Hearing that news he could now breath a sigh of relief.
He was sure that Jeff would have no problem helping tomorrow. He would text himter though just to make sure that he could rely on the other to take him to the store to pick it up. He didn''t think that Lena would have a problem with it either since she was going to be in the office anyways.
Chapter 119 - Urgent
"So why don''t you tell me the real reason why you''re putting me through this?" Genson asked after Samuel had left and he put the coffee on Lena''s desk.
"You mean aside from the demotion due to your attitude?" She asked picking up the coffee and taking a small sip. It was still too warm to fully enjoy.
"I would presume that that isn''t the only reason why you''re putting me through this. The princess doesn''t seem like that much of a petty person." He replied. Lena gave him a hard to read expression before she replied.
"It''s mostly because of that. On the other hand though, if you''re taking the position of a personal assistant, it''ll make people less suspicious if I call you in here for a report or if you have something important to tell me." The second part had been an afterthought for Lena, but to her it just meant everything worked out in the end.
"I''m twice your age with three times more experience than you, faced harder circumstances and survived to tell the tale and just because of my attitude this is where I found myself now? I was a conman for Christ''s sake! Of course I am going to be like this, it''s how I learned to do such a good job with all my previous jobs." Genson eximed as a defense to his previous behavior.
"And you also happened to behave in an unprofessional manner during a business meeting to decide your contract and spoke down to my fianc¨¦ simply because you think you''re better than other people because of your status." Lena rebutted just as Samuel came back into the office.
"It''s one thing to act that way around me, another thing to treat someone close to me that way. Experience and skill is not an excuse to behave the way you did." Genson made a displeased noise but realized it really was going to futile to try and negotiate with the princess who was sitting in front of him. Not only was she more petty than he expected, she was also twice as stubborn despite being so young. If only he didn''t care about money so much he would''ve left this morning and not look back once.
"I see. Let me know if there''s anything else I can do for you princess. If not I''ll be returning to what I had previously been doing." Genson said offering a stic smile as he turned away from the princess and began to walk away.
"Genson." She said causing him to stop in his steps.
"As a way to get closer to the others who work here it might also not be a bad idea to ask them if there''s anything they might want you to pick up for breakfast and lunch." The suggestion was definitely offered as a way to mess with him again. He didn''t appreciate it.
"Perhaps I will. I will see both of youter." He offered Samuel a small nod of head as he walked past him and out the office door.
"He seemed even more annoyed than he did before." Samuelmented as he came back to sit on the sofa.
"I''m sure that he is, but I think that we came to an understanding for the time being that will make sure he doesn''t protest his position for the near future at least." the princessmented.
"Where did you disappear to?" She then asked curious to know what call he was taking that couldn''t have been in the office. He grinned at her in response to the question.
"That has to do with the surprise that you will have to wait to find out about untilter." He simply replied.
"Whenter?" She could handle small surprised but wouldn''t be thrilled if it was something too big. Perhaps she should considering getting him something as well. He did still need cufflinks before the engagement party and she had a design in mind that might work well.
"Maybe a week or so?" He replied purposely not giving her an exact answer. She tsked upon hearing this but didn''t push it knowing that he most likely wouldn''t give her a straight answer.
"What time over the weekend should I tell Ryan we would like to get ready to test the food for the engagement party?" Samuel suddenly asked. He realized he needed to get a set time down so that if he went to go pick up the ring tomorrow morning, Lena wouldn''t be suspicious as to where he went.
"I was wondering about in the afternoon on either day? Since I think you said your mornings are busy over the weekend?" He suggested hoping that it was right in thinking this.
"That would probably be okay. I don''t think there''s anything that I need to do over the weekend that can''t be shifted to the morning orter in the day depending on what Ryan agrees to." the princess replied as she looked at her schedule on theputer. That was a small white lie, but it wasn''t anything that she couldn''t work with.
She need to get together with Eve to see what was getting up to and if she found anything. She had a request from another business to get acquainted which seemed like a potential for deal. She was also looking to follow up with Marcus about his request for a partnership. She hadn''t gotten back to him yet because she had been doing a lot of background digging into, but so far she couldn''t find much that raised any red gs despite the fact that she didn''t trust him.
It felt like to her depending on what his final offered would be that it might be a case of keeping a potential enemy or problem close in order to deal with any problems that cropped up further down the road. If he was too troublesome, she would just include a use that would allow her to break times with him without her business having to face any penalties. Her father really was making her work this business pretty much from the ground up.
"Sounds good! I''ll ask him tonight after we get home. I''m sure that he will be happy to hear that we''re working something out so he has enough time in advance to get everything together."
"He''s a perfectionist when ites to cooking. He has a great team but he would worry anyways because he doesn''t anything can be done well enough especially when ites to events like this." Lenamented as he phone buzzed. It was a text from Samuel''s mother. That''s right, she also forgot about the fact that she had agreed to set aside some time to meet or talk with her in the next few days.
''can we meet tomorrow?'' the text read.
''Why tomorrow?'' she asked. She already had a lot going on and while she didn''t want to be rude to his mother, she wasn''t sure that she was going to be able to make time to fit her in around everything else. She should know how busy everything would be for them right now.
''There''s something urgent that I need to talk with you about. I wouldn''t be pushing for it so quickly, but some unexpected things havee to my attention.'' Lena nced over at Samuel as she read this text. He was back to focusing on numbers in front of him. Lena got the feeling looking at him that perhaps this was something he had no knowledge of or if he did, he was doing a good job of hiding it.
''Does Samuel know that you''re contacting me about this? If it''s something urgent?'' she asked gauging to see what response she would get from the other woman. She stifled a sigh. She hoped it wasn''t rted to the bad feeling that had been looming despite how smoothly everything had been going.
''No... I want to talk with you first. It''s something that you''ll know how to handle better before I talk with him. I think I need your help.'' this definitely didn''t bode well for the princess. To many unexpected moving pieces and secrets recently. It seemed as though Sammy-boy wasn''t even spared from somehow being a part of them.
''Alright. I don''t like this, but when would you be here by?'' the princess asked, cing her phone down after sending the text. Whether she wanted to or not she would now have to work on clearing up her schedule for unexpected events on Saturday.
''I can doe first thing in the morning. I have a friend who ise near that area. I can meet you at the estate if that would work.'' his mother suggested. Since when did she know where the estate was?
''Alright. Let me know when you arrive because no one will let you in without the permission of me, my father, or brother.'' She replied back.
Whatever this urgent matter was, she just hoped that it wouldn''t affect their engagement party. It would be hard to reset the time for such an event with the amount of people that were supposed to show up.
Chapter 120 - Odd
Lena''s mood was ruined for the whole day after reading the text''s from Samuel''s mother. Evalyn, she was the one piece in Samuel''s life that hadn''te up with a lot of leads. They had information from for when she was sixteen, but everything before that was patchy.
ording to what Samuel had said and what they found, her parents were either missing or deceased. No record of an ident on file however. Did that mean she was an orphan? It wasn''t the first time that situations such as these came up with orphans or parents who change their child''s name because they know that they might be in danger and they want to keep them safe before giving them up. This didn''t give any leads to follow though to learn about her background. They could only work forward which there wasn''t much information offered considered she met her husband, Jacob Foster when she was neen.
It didn''t bode well with her, it seemed like she wasn''t going to have to wait much longer to find out what the older woman was hiding. Based upon what it was, it could potentially affected her engagement with Samuel and how they proceeded forward with the rtionship. At least it seemed like he didn''t know anything about what his mother wanted to talk about. It would prevent him from facing any repercussions depending on what it was.
With how she was feeling though it meant that she was going to have to change everything that she had nned for the rest of the day and evening. She didn''t really feel like going out and doing anything knowing that there seemed to be something urgent that she didn''t know about.
It was frustrating but there wasn''t anything that she could do about the situation. She could have Genson bring them lunch even though she didn''t feel much like eating. She knew that if she didn''t though, Samuel would wonder what was going.
This also meant that she was going to have to cancel the dinner reservation that she had set for that night. It wasn''t that huge of a deal, she could set it for either Saturday or Sunday night with little difficulty, but then the whole reason why she wanted to get into work early and finish everything up had been for not since she had only done it so that she could take Samuel out somece nice to eat since they hadn''t shared that type of dinner together and there was little time left before they would be getting engaged.
She couldn''t even really bring her father into whatever conversation was happening as he away until Sunday due to work on the other side of the state with Julian. They were trying to patch up some of the recent problems on the territory boarder by working on increasing the reach of their power. She would just have to fill him in when he got back.
"You know if you keep ring at yourputer with that kind of intensity, you might actually burn a hole through it." Samuel''sment brought Lena out of her thoughts and caused her attention to turn to him.
"Something bothering you?" He asked looking down at her from where he was standing near her desk.
"Work always bothers me." She replied dryly, as she closed the email that was open on herputer. She hadn''t been aware of the fact she was ring until he said something.
"Did I miss something that you said?" Shen asked noticing that he was still standing by her desk in an expectant manner.
"Two things actually. I wanted to ask you about what this expense was for this month as I haven''t seen before on any of the other months I''ve gone over. Also, James has been over there waiting for you for about five minutes. He didn''t want to say anything though because it seemed like you were really concentrating on something." Samuel replied as he pointed to where James was intending standing near the office door.
It took her a moment to realize why James would be there when she hadn''t put anything on her schedule for them to have to take care of together- she had forgotten that she had a board meeting today and he had probablye to fetch her because it was about time for it start. Just great, one thing that he didn''t want to do on top of everything else that was going on.
"It''s about the meeting today, isn''t it?" Lena asked as she stood up from her chair.
"Yes, Princess. I didn''t think that you would have forgotten, but I wanted to make sure just to be safe that you wouldn''t bete." James replied with a slight nod of head. She really didn''t have time to be thinking about other things right now, she needed to focus on work until she got home. Then she would be able to dwell on everything else that was on her mind. It wasn''t like she would be likely to be able to sleep that night anyways.
"Alright then, thank you." She told James before turning her attention to Samuel.
"I will look at that when I get back, you can just leave it there on my desk for the time being. I probably won''t be gone more than an hour after which I''ll have Genson get us lunch. Unless there''s something that you need, don''t leave the office until Ie back." She instructed waiting for Samuel to nod his head in understanding of what she was saying.
"Good. If you do need anything, you can also message Clive and he will happy to amodate you." She told him as she started walking towards the entrance of the office where James was standing.
"Good luck on the meeting?" Samuel offered causing the princess to turn to him with a wry smile.
"I might actually need that today. I will be sure to keep it with me." She told him before leaving the office.
Even though she didn''t tell him what was going, Samuel could see that something more than usual was bothering the princess and it had only urred after was texting on the phone. Lena had ringtones set for her contacts on her phone, but because he hardly saw who was she was texting when her phone made a sound, he hadn''t yete to know which ringtone belonged to whom.
Maybe though it was the board meeting that was going to that was bothering her. She had mentioned before that they weren''t any easy group of people to work with as they were still epting her taking over after her father gave her the position and not everyone was thrilled about the change.
It was odd to him that while it seemed so many people respected him and what he did that they wouldn''t also respect his decision to appoint daughter over thepany. Shouldn''t they trust him with that decision as well and be willing to work with her if Zane had good judgement in almost every other situation? It didn''t make sense to him.
Samuel figured though that while Lena was gone the only thing that he could really do was continue to focus on the work in front of him. There wasn''t much to explore in her office as her draws on her desk were mostly locked and the two that weren''t only had work rted folders and in them plus other uninteresting bits and bobs. Lena also always locked herputer when she had to leave and he had no clue what the password might be so there wasn''t anything interesting for him to explore on that end either.
The bookcases didn''t have many interesting books to scan through or read to find out interesting tidbits. Most of the books were legal or business rted but nothing that he was particrly familiar with.
J had responded to the text he sent and just apologized for the fact that he was busy but that Samuel would be hearing again from him soon. He didn''t mention why however so he could only wait to hear back from the other again. His parents seemed to be busy as they weren''t messaging much or perhaps it was out of politeness for the fact that they knew the engagement party wasing up.
Roger was his only friend that had tried to stay in touch with him despite getting ready to start college soon. He was mildly offended though to hear that he wouldn''t be invited to the engagement party. He had wanted to be there to support his good friend.
Samuel promised to try and make it up though by calling him and catching up, if they could make their schedules work for it. When that would be though was something that was hard to tell. Samuel couldn''t give a definitive answer on that yet.
Everything felt odd and out of sorts, which he hoped would change once the engagement had been made official. He knew that there would be other things he would have on his te, but at least this part would be done and over with.
Chapter 121 - Unexpected
The board meeting felt torturously slowly and unnecessary to Lena. It felt like the kind of meeting that people often mentioned could''ve been put into an email but somehow was still made into a physical meeting because it could be.
Most of the updates that was hearing from the board were nothing new to her. She already knew that everything between this month and thest was still stable as far as business and money went. The only new thing was that she had to report in the recent business partnership that she was entering with John Foster and bring up the deal with the Marcus whoever that annoyed her.
She hadn''t bothered bringing up the issue of the recent money that had been disappearing from thepany. She didn''t know who to trust after all and she wasn''t willing to rule anyone out until she got solid evidence.
"In what way would this deal benefit us?" One of the men on the board asked as he looked over the file that James had provided everyone in the room with that contained information about thepany that John owned. Of course these type of questions always came when they thought that she was making a mistake.
? "It''s beneficial to expanding our each. It''s a small yet reliablepany that would help us to take off some of the transportation load that ourpany has been taken on. Not only that, but making connections further into the state is beneficial for when we want to expand out that way in even further in the future." The princess exined. She hated having to exin herself in this situation, but knew that it was necessary until everyone at thepany realized that she wasn''t some na?ve child and actually knew what she as doing.
"Did you do all the back work to make sure that the money you invested into would be beneficial in the long run?" Another asked.
"I did personally and found that over the next five years it has potential if handled correctly to double in which case we would benefit from the extra pay off." James butted into answer this question since he was the one who hadpiled all the information on John''spany at Lena''s request. She was thankful that he was willing to answer the question so that she didn''t have to.
It had briefly crossed Lena''s mind before that she could fire everyone in the room on the board if she wanted. They all seemed like shrewd business people that were reliable and knew what they were doing, but she wasn''t always certain that they weighed out how annoy they were most of the time.
The rest of the meeting went on in a simr fashion with a mountain of questions from everyone in the room each time she brought up one of her proposals or they noticed something that she had done without talking it over with them.
"I''m the head of thepany. You are allowed to give me input and advice or speak out about any concerns you have as theye up all of which I will take into consideration with each action that I do. As the one who is in charge of thepany however, I don''t need to tell you about every little thin that I am nning unless it directly impacts you." Was the response that she had given at the end of the meeting before walking out of the room with James following closely behind her.
She didn''t care if the rest of the board was ready to end the meeting or not. She had brought up everything that she felt mattered at the meeting and more or less got the answers that she had been looking for. If there was anything else, they could send it to her in an email altogether.
Right now she just wanted to get back to her office so that she could request lunch and drink the rest of her coffee. Coffee would hopefully make her annoying headache go away so that she could focus on other things again.
"Do you think that we need to do anything different princess?" James asked once they were in the elevator. Lena let out the sigh that she had been holding in.
"No, they''lle around eventually. It just takes time apparently for them to understand that I do actually know what I am doing." She replied as the elevator doors opened up.
"Also, unless there''s anything else that you need to do here or report to me. You can leave for the day." James seemed delighted to hear this.
"Are you sure? I don''t mind being on standby since I''m sure not everyone was thrilled about the way that you left the meeting." Lena waved him off though.
"It''s fine. They can''t really do anything anyways. At most they mightin to my father but it isn''t like walking out at the end of a meeting before anyone else is a crime." She replied as she approached her office door.
"I will see next week then, Princess." James said before they parted ways. Now at least she could breath slightly better for the rest of the day aside from what was looming over her tomorrow when she would meet with Evalyn.
The rest of the day until it was time for them to go home went by without a problem. She wasn''t much of a conversationalist during lunch, but that was fine to her since Samuel had a lot to say and ask about what would be going on during the engagement party. She didn''t mind answering the questions because it was something was familiar and traditional to her family that didn''t require a lot o thought to think about answering. Genson also seemed to wisely understand he was better off not making any morements when he brought them their lunch without so much as oneint over having to do it.
On the way out of the office and while they were heading to the underground parking garage where Clive was waiting for them, Samuel caught her off guard by suddenly hugging her from behind. She felt herself unintentionally stiffen from the sudden and unexpected contact. Samuel had wrapped his arms around her waist and had his head resting on her shoulder.
"Even though you say that it is just working that''s bothering you, your mood seems worse than usual for it to just be work rted problems that are bugging you." He told her, his voice low as he was rather close to her right ear by the way he had his head resting on her shoulder. It was an unfamiliar sensation to her.
"Are you sure that there''s nothing that you want to talk with me about?" He pressed when she didn''t respond to him right away. The timid boy was really starting to be less timid when it came to things that he was curious about.
"It''s more so than usual about work rted issues because I had to attend a board meeting that was unnecessary and annoying." She replied, tilting her head slightly so that his face wasn''t so close to hers. She wasn''t really certain about the current situation she was in but the one thing that she could say was that Samuel was being very gently despite how tightly he was hugging her.
"Are you sure that''s all it is?" He asked again, his breath tickling her ear. The hot air made it hard for her to not react more than to just shift her head slightly again. She really wanted for him to let her go, but she was trying to be nice about not resisting what she supposed was an affectionate advance on to her.
"Yes, and now I would very much like to go home so that I can forget about it and do something to make this headache go away." The princess replied. Samuel made a ''hmm'' noise before shifting and kissing her on the cheek catching her off guard again. Somehow it felt more intimate than any of other kisses they had shared, perhaps because of the situation that she found herself in.
"Alright, we will head home then, but you know that I am here if there''s anything that you need to talk about that I can know." He told her as he unwound his arms from her waist.
"I know." was all she simply said before they continued heading to the parking garage. She honestly didn''t know what else to say in response to what had happened. It waspletely different and unexpected from anything that she had experienced before.
She would have to think about for a little bit, but perhaps hugging wasn''t all that bad. She had never really let anyone outside of who she thought of as family hug her before. It had always felt like it would give people the wrong impression about her and thus she had avoided it. Perhaps though, hugging her fianc¨¦ would be something that she could get used to.
Chapter 122 - Mistake
Samuel had to get up extra early the next morning so that he could make it to the jeweler and get back either before Lena left or wondered where he was after she woke up. Jeff had kindly agreed to be up early to take him and assured him if he texted him the moment that he woke up, the other would be sure to respond and be awake.
The sun was barely starting toe up but wasn''t high enough to provide much light for Samuel who decided to rely on his phone light as he left his room rather than risking turning on too many lights and waking up the princess or anyone else by making too much noise.
He was mildly worried about Lena as she had still been acting kind off even after they had gotten home. Although she was usually quiet, it felt like the silence around here, even during dinner time was heavier than it usually was. Although Genson had certainly got on her nerve and didn''t sound like the board meeting that she had to take part in was more stressful than not, it seemed from his perspective that her mood was being affected by something else. Without her telling him what it was, he wasn''t really sure what he could do to help though.
"I see you really did mean it when you said that you wanted to be out of here early and back as quickly as possible." Jeffmented as he stepped out and opened the passenger for Samuel to be able to get into the car with him.
"I want to be back before Lena worries about where I went off too." Samuel replied as he got into the car.
"You wouldn''t happen to know why her mood might''ve been off yesterday do you?" He asked as he buckled up while Jeff started the car.
"Nothing in particres to mind. Did something happen at work for someone to set her off or maybe something that he Sir Zane sent her since I know he''s away for a few days?" As he began to pull out of the driveway. He already had the navigation upon his phone so that he knew where he would be heading.
"She hired someone new who is certainly annoying and doesn''t things much easier right now, but I don''t think that it''s just that. I don''t know about her father though, it could be. Someone had been texting her before her mood changed. She didn''t say who though."
"I would bet on it being her father then. There''s nothing that I can openly say about it, but I know that there are a few unsavory issues that they have been trying to resolve that might be putting stress on her." Jeff exined.
"Perhaps the gift you''re getting her while cheer her up though?" Samuel smiled slightly when he said this.
"It might, but she won''t be getting it until the engagement party which won''t be for another week or so. Thus, it wouldn''t immediately be useful for that."
"I know how much she works, but maybe you could think about trying to set up something so that you two could go out somewhere and just spend some time together? A nice dinner or something that couples usually do to get away from the things that bother them?"
"I''m not sure if going out somewhere is really Lena''s style, but maybe I could put something together back at the house. She is supposed to be working this weekend so maybe I can ask Ryan to help me put something nice together to surprise her when she gets home." Samuel mused. That wouldn''t be such a bad idea. She wouldn''t have to leave the house, but it would be something different and if he made something special for it, maybe it would help raise her spirits. He would have to think about what they might be though.
The rest of the ride was spent between them talking about random things and Jeff turning on the radio. He never really yed music when Lena was around because she wasn''t that fond of having too much background music going on as she enjoyed the peacefulness of the drive. It gave her a chance to think about things and put an agenda together in her mind of what she wanted and needed to get done wherever she was heading.
Samuel on the other hand didn''t mind the music at all. He and his family always listened to the radio whenever they were heading out somewhere and enjoyed listening to whatever was on or ying games where they each had to guess who the artist was before they looked disy screen to see if they were right or not. He always thought that it helped the ride to go by that much faster.
By the time that they reached the jewelry shop it was a little past eight thirty which meant that Samuel would still probably be pushing it to get back before Lena noticed that he was going. What he wasn''t aware of though was that Jeff did give the princess and Clive updates simply because he wanted to make sure that he was covering all bases since he was new to this position and didn''t want anything to happen to Samuel since he was the princess''s soon-to-be official fianc¨¦.
Jeff was the first to get out of the car and he came around to open the door for Samuel. The other had hardly stepped out of the car before Jeff realized that something was wrong. He let out a low curse under his breath before he offered Samuel a strained smile.
"I think that it would be best for you to get back into the car." He told Samuel he was sure the other must''ve seen the three men who were approaching them. They certainly weren''t there with friendly intent that much was obvious by the way they carried themselves.
Samuel shot him a questioning look as he tried to open the car door again but stopped when he heard the sound of a gun clicking. He felt the adrenaline rush that went through his body the moment that he heard that sound. Jeff wasn''t phased by it however, it wasn''t the first time that he hade face to face with a gun before.
"Get into the car." He told Samuel again as he positioned himself in such a way as to act as a shield as he reached for the gun that he kept on the holster located on his waist.
"Now." He repeated with more force in his voice as the three men continued to approached. Samuel felt conflicted though. He didn''t want something to happen to the other.
"Now, now. Let''s not jump to any hasty conclusions here. We just want to exchange some words with that young sir whose standing behind you." The man who appeared to be the oldest of the three exined as he approached with his hands raised to show that he had no weapon. He wasn''t the one who had pulled the gun out.
"If you want to talk with him there are specific channels that you can through to talk to him in an official capacity." Jeff replied as he pulled his gun out and clicked off the safety but didn''t raise it up. The men were almost standing in front of them right now.
"Well you see, I can''t exactly do that. I have my own order from my boss that tell me the exact way that this needs to be done. We won''t be allowed to talk with him if we do that and it would be quite troublesome." The man replied with a cross between a smirk and a smile on his face.
"We really aren''t here for anything bad thus it would be greatly appreciated if you would just allow us to borrow him for a bit. I promise that he''ll be returned with not a single scratch on him if you do." The man reasoned as he looked back at Samuel who''s gaze was locked on him.
"What do you want with me?" He asked he was cut off before he could say anything else by Jeff putting his hand in front of him.
"I told you if you want to talk with him what you should do. Otherwise please leave." Jeff repeated as he kept his hands down. Reaching into the opposite pocket, he found his phone and pressed a button that he knew would alert the others that something was wrong.
"Really. I don''t want to hurt anyone here but we really can''t return empty handed either. No chance that you would be willing to make this easier by letting us borrow him even just for a few minutes?" When Jeff didn''t back down he sighed as he titled his head in a downward direction.
"I was really hoping that we could do this the easy way, but if you''re insisting on not cooperating. Seems that I might need a little force in order to reason with you."
Jeff hardly had a chance to react before the man moved and grabbed his hand that was holding the gun. A scuffle ensued with the other two mening forward to try and grab Samuel while the older of the three tried to disarm Jeff which turned out to be harder than he expected.
The scuffle went on for a few minutes before a shout range out. Silencing everything else that was going on.
Chapter 123 - Something Wrong
Lena woke with a start when she realized that someone was shaking her shoulder. She hadn''t even realized that she had fallen asleep the night before.
"I apologize for waking you so early Princess, but you have a guest here who said that it''s urgent to see you." As soon as she recognized Clive''s voice she rxed slightly. She still wasn''t sure where she was until she opened her eyes and tried to adjust to the dim light that had been turned on in the room.
She had forgotten that she had went to sleep in the sunroom because she had been having a hard time falling asleep in her own room. She had too much on her mind that was making it hard for her to fall asleep. The sunroom was one of the only rooms that could help her to rx when she was like that.
"What time is it and who is it?" She asked as she blinked a few times to clear the sleep from her eyes. Since she couldn''t remember where her phone was, she figured that it would be easier to ask Clive than it would be to try and look for it. Most likely it had fallen between the Sofa cushions where she was sleeping.
"It''s a little after eight Princess and the guest said that her name was Evalyn Foster and you were expecting her." Clive replied as she stepped back to give Lena space to sit up and collect herself. Indeed, she had been expecting Samuel''s mother toe this morning, but not this early. Sitting up she rolled her shoulders in order to crack her neck and take away some of the tension in her back.
"Let her in and tell her to give me about ten minutes and I will be joining her." The princess replied with a sigh. She wasn''t ready to deal with this yet so early in the morning. She still needed to tell her father about the unexpected turn of events but she hadn''t heard from him since the morning before Evalyn had messaged her which most likely meant that he was too busy to read her texts even if she did message him.
"As you wish." Clive replied.
"Should I request that Ryan get both of you some coffee for this morning?" He asked as Lena stood up from the sofa. She ran a hand through her hair but stopped when she realized that it was too knotted to do much about without a brush.
"Yes and make sure that he knows to make mine extra strong." She replied as she put her shoes on. She needed the few extra minutes to change clothes and make herself more presentable. Her only guess as to why the other had shown up an hour earlier was because whatever she wanted to talk about really was that urgent. The question was what type of urgent though? The urgency on the level that Lena was used to dealing with in the world that she was from or the urgency of a daily life issue that felt more urgent than it was?For the sake of her sanity, she hoped that it wastter and not the former.
Evalyn was sitting at the dining room table looking rather nervous and didn''t look much better than Lena felt. She hardly looked up at the princess before she looked away again. Nerves or was she guilty about something.
"Here some coffee for both of you." Clive came back into the room at the time and sit the coffee cups down on the opposite sides of the table. The princess thanked him and took the seat opposite of Evalyn.
"Can you fetch Samuel as well. I feel like this is a conversation that he should be part of." Lena told Clive watching the way that Evalyn''s expression changed when she said this.
"I would prefer that he wasn''t involved in this yet until I talk it over with you." She replied looking between the two of them, the nervous expression more apparent on her face.
"Why?" She asked as she motioned for Clive to do as she asked. She expected that Samuel was most likely still asleep in his room, but wouldn''t be a problem for him to get ready toe out and talk with them.
"Because it''s something that I thought that I could escape from and haven''t told even talked with my husband about because I never thought that it woulde up again." Evalyn confessed, grabbing the coffee cup and talking a small sip from the ss.
"Isn''t this perfect chance for you toe clean to him as well while you''re here then? Better to get it done all at once if it''s something that serious." Lena reasoned though Evalyn didn''t seem to be that convinced that she was right.
"What type of secret is it then that you don''t think that it''s something that he should know? Worse than telling him that in order to pay off debt he was pushed into an arranged marriage to the princess of a Mafia gang?" She asked trying to get a feel for what type of situation she was dealing since the other seemed more hesitant to speak up now that Lena had wanted to bring Samuel into the conversation.
"It''s aplicated secret, and yes, it is in some ways worse than marrying off into your family." Evalyn replied as she bit her bottom lip.
"What then?" Lena pushed beginning to get annoyed by the way that the other was not wanting to just tell her what was going on. She really didn''t have time to waste on such things.
"I lied about my family being dead. The truth is that I distanced them because of the type of people they were. I wanted nothing to do with it and because I was the daughter of the grandson of the fourth son of the family, I didn''t think that it would evere up again after I changed my name and left when I was sixteen." Evalyn began to exin.
She was cutoff from speaking further however when Clive entered the room looking far more serious than he had when he left.
"Samuel isn''t in his room and I can''t get in touch with Jeff either." He told the princess causing the bad feeling that had been lingering in the background toe back at full force.
"What do you mean you can''t get in touch with him?" She asked turning her attention to the other, trying to keep her voice level and calm as she spoke.
"He isn''t answering his phone when I call him. It goes straight to voicemail." Clive replied as he tried once again to call the other while he was there with the princess.
"I think that it''s probably J." Evalyn spoke up suddenly causing both people to turn their heads to look at her.
"Clive go get my phone from the sunroom and you tell me who J is." Lena ordered realizing that she had left her phone in the other room. If something had happened, Jeff would have most likely messaged her, but where the hell would they have gone so early in the morning? Something must''ve been wrong.
"He''s one of my second cousins?" Evalyn replied, pausing a second before she continued speaking.
"Not only that, but he also belongs to a mafia group that primarily resides on the opposite side of the state from here." Evalyn further exined. Lena''s face became very cold when she heard the other tell her this.
"You mean to tell me that you belong to a mafia family but you never thought that it would be relevant to release this information prior to Samuel getting engaged to me?" She asked trying to keep her temper in check.
"I never thought that it was something that would need toe up. I left them for over twenty years now and they had never tried to get in touch with me before two months ago. If I had know that this was something that would be a problem, of course I would''ve said something sooner." Evalyn replied half being honest and half trying to defend her decision to keep quiet about it.
"Princess, I think that you need to see this." Clive said as he came back with her phone. The look on his face told him that it was going to be something that she didn''t like. Reaching her hand out, she took the phone from Clive.
Not only had she missed a text from Jeff letting her know where he and Samuel were going, she had missed two distress calls and another call from her father. Most likely her father was trying to respond to it in order to find out what was going on. The calls had been done no more than ten minutes since she had left her phone. Something had just happened and she didn''t like it one bit.
Chapter 124 - Deja Vu
The first thing that Lena reminded herself as she looked at her phone was that she needed to breathe. Losing her head right now wasn''t going to do any good, especially since her father wasn''t there.
"Bring Hester in here." She barked at Clive as she called her father back. It would be easier to tell him over call rather then texting him what was going on.
"I''m fine. Something is going on with Samuel, I don''t know what it is right now, but I will call you backter when I have more information." She hardly waited for him to reply before she ended the phone call. Her hand was shaking from a mixture of the fear and anger that was fueling the adrenaline that was running through her body.
"You really think that it was worth it to wait to say anything until this point?" She asked Evalyn, fixing her with a very cold look as she spoke.
"You knew at the back of your mind that there was the risk of something like this happening and you still didn''t think that it was the right decision to say anything before now?" She continued as the other woman looked at her with a very conflicted face.
"If anything happens to him at this point, part of that is going to be on your head for not opening your moth sooner and letting someone know about this." Lena knew that she was probably being harsh right now knowing that Evalyn was most likely worried about her own son as well, but she had little sympathy to extend to the woman. What she was saying wasn''t that out of ce.
"He wouldn''t do anything to Samuel, they''re family." She said, attempting to defend someone she hardly knew, this only fueled Lena''s anger further.
"You know." She started pausing for a second as she tried to level out her tone.
"My maternal grandfather said the same thing when my mother''s cousin kidnapped her. He swore up and down because they were family he was only holding her as a harmless threat to get what he wanted but he wouldn''t actually do anything to her. And you know what?" The woman only shook her head in response to her question.
"He was wrong. He had no idea what he was talking about because she meant nothing to her cousin because they hardly knew each other. She was just a bargaining chip that as easy to throw once things went bad for him." Lena exined, closing her eyes for a second to breath before she continued speaking. She felt her headache raising to the level of almost unbearable throb.
"And in response to that mistake, my father killed almost all the men on that side of the family who were involved in what happened to her. The only ones he spared were those who had children of their own and didn''t partake or had evidence to prove that they had nothing to do with what happened." She ran her tongue over her lip as she finished speaking. Hester entered the room as she spoke thest part.
"The only difference between me and my father is that the only person who''s blood that will be on my hands if anything happens to Samuel would be this J''s and anyone else in that room at the time." Having finished what she had to say, the princess turned her attention to Hester not caring that most of the color had drained from Evalyn''s face. Whether it was from the fear of what Lena had just said or the worry that maybe she had miscalcted the situation that her soon might''ve been in, she didn''t know nor did she really care. She had more important things to focus.
"What can you tell me?" Lena asked Hester who had brought hisputer with him.
"Well bad news is, I don''t have the signal for Samuel''s phone right now that can be traced. I have Jeff''s pinged but thest two locations is shows was a jewelry shop in the middle of town and right now it appears to be at a hospital. I have yet to confirm if this is the uratest ce, but I asked Clive to call the hospital for confirmation if they have received this morning a patient by the name of Jeff Ross." Hester exined as he set hisputer down on the table.
"There was also something else that I was able to pick up from Jeff''s phone that I think you should listen to." He said as he typed a few things on hisputer before bringing up an audio recording. It was about a minute long. He handed her a pair of headphone so that she could hear the recording clearly. The person in the video cleared their throat before speaking.
"Hello dear princess. I do apologize for this incident. Things didn''t quite go as nned, but I can assure you that your dear fianc¨¦ is safe for now. I hope you understand that nothing going on herees out of ill intentions. It just so happens that he needs to be borrowed for a little while." The voice obviously belonged to a man, but it wasn''t one that was familiar to her. There was a pause as there was some background noise before he continued speaking.
"You will be hearing back from me rtively soon once I get the permission from my boss to give a specific address to met us at. Untilter Princess, take care." Because the recording had been done on Jeff''s phone there was no number or way to trace who called or where they were going. Lena resisted the urge to throw the headphones across the room knowing it would do no good, instead she turned her attention to Evalyn who was still sitting stock still in her seat since the princess had finished talking to her.
"Listen to this and tell me if you recognize this voice." She ordered as she held out the headphones to the other woman. Perhaps she could still be useful for something. With shaky hands, the other woman grabbed the headphones and ced them over her ears before she nodded to Hester to y the audio clip for her.
Clive returned at that time after having finished calling the hospital to try and verify whether or not Jeff had been admitted there of it was an action done to throw them off.
"It has been verified that he was admitted to the hospital for a gunshot wound to his chest." Clive replied, his usual calm features expressed stress and exasperation at the situation. Jeff was still a kid. Someone he had originally brought on to join the family and had taken under his wing to train him because he saw potential in him and wanted to take him out of the difficult situation that he had found him.
"The nurse couldn''t offer too much information, however she indicated that he was currently in emergency surgery but she didn''t believe ording to the doctor that the wound won''t be fatal." He further exined.
"But let me guess, they didn''t see who dropped him off or know exactly what happened?" Lena asked, already knowing what the answer to this question was going to be. Clive nodded his head gravely in response to this question. Of course, they weren''t amateurs. Still, it felt odd to her that they would bother taking him to the hospital if someone shot him. What kind of game were they ying?
"I can''t say who the voice belongs to. It''s not one I recognize, but you might want to check into a Russo Harrison." Evalyn suggested as she took the headphones off.
"Who is he?" Lena demanded as she looked at Hester who was already typing the name into hisputer.
"He''s one of the few people I remember being around my family growing up. He was slightly older than me, but he was being groomed to be one of the higher ranked members in the family. If he was going to pick a side to be with, he would''ve picked J''s."
"What''s J''s real name?" Lena as she waited to see what Hester might be able to find. Clive was on his phone again reaching out to another contact to see if they could assist.
"His name is Jovani Conti. He''s a part of the Vedova Nera group, or rather I should say that we are." Evalyn said corrected herself at the end. Although she had changed herst name and tried to cut ties with them, she couldn''t escape the fact she was still connected with them.
"Vedova Nera? They''re one of thergest groups in state aside from us and you really didn''t think that you should''ve brought this up?" Lena tsked. This was really starting to feel like deja vu to her. She just really hoped that whatever happened, it didn''t end like things had with her mother over eight years ago.
Chapter 125 - Vedova Nera
Evalyn averted her gaze. It was evident that she felt guilty about was going on, but rebuking her any further wasn''t going to do any good. Being away from the family, it was evident that she didn''t know much about what had been going on or where they might take Samuel. Lena just needed to take time to think before she did anything. The people she had with her were doing the best they could at the current moment in time and reacting stressed about the matter wasn''t going to help them any.
"What did you mean when you said if Russo was going to be pick a side it would be with Jovani?" Evalyn sighed before she spoke.
"Our family was always a bit split. It happened not that long before I was born if I understand correctly. Very much like the Scarlett family, the head had not one but two younger brothers." She exined.
"The head and the youngest brother got along well and shared many of the same views that their father had, the middle brother, Angelo had different ideas as he got older however. He thought that in order to get further in the world, they needed to approach their connections and those around them with a harder hand in order to take over more territory before the rest of thepetition did." She took a sip of her coffee before continuing.
"Because he didn''t want to change his views and it was causing a bad rippling effect within the family, he was emunicated, but not the rest of his family because they weren''t exactly in agreement with his ideals, or so they thought. His son, Marcus however apparently carried on his ideals."
"Marcus Conti?" Lena rified. She couldn''t help but wonder if that was the same Marcus that had suddenly contacted her about the business partnership. If so, he was definitely someone that she needed to watch out for.
"Yes. He and Jovani used to be much closer when they were younger, but as they got older much like their parents- their ideals and goals didn''t match up and they split up." Evalyn confirmed.
"You seem to know a lot about this considering you mentioned that you haven''t been in contact with your family for so long." Hester pointed out as he didn''t look up from what he was doing on theputer, he was right however. In response to him pointing this out, Evalyn reached into her purse to pull out a letter which she handed to Lena.
"It''s because I got this in the mail yesterday. It''s the only reason that I thought it was urgent for me toe see you right away. Jovani wrote me to tell me everything was going on. I thought that if I came to you as soon as I got this that I might''ve been able to prevent something from happening, but it seemed like everything was already shifting prior to this."
"Is there any chance that there'' a mole involved in this?" Lena asked as she read through the letter. Hester didn''t want to answer that question because he was busy on theputer so he left the question get passed to Clive.
"It''s highly unlikely. Considering the Young Sir had hardly been around anyone outside of the main family, I don''t think that he would''ve been in contact with anyone within the family who''d be willing to give him to the Vedova Nera." Clive replied.
"If not that then, I wanted to find out what kind of oversight happened that would allow for this to have happened. If it''s not someone in the family, I want to know how they knew where he would be." Lena instructed as she finished reading the letter.
It was a very thorough and well detailed letter that this Jovani had sent to Evalyn. The princess wasn''t quite sure why he was willing to give her so much information, but she got a bad feeling that the bet about collecting a object of interest within the letter had something to do with Samuel. If it did, what did they want him for? His mother evidentially wasn''t in direct line for taking over the family, so what would they want with Samuel?
She felt like throwing her coffee up against the wall as her anger boiled over. The only that stopped her was that she knew she needed the warm liquid that was still inside it to even out the horrible headache she had. That and the fact that she wouldn''t be the one who would have to pick up the mess the cup would make.
She hated not being able to do anything and she hated theck of information that she had to work with. It wasn''t Hester or Clive''s fault that they hadn''te up with something helpful yet, they had only been working for a few minutes and even she knew that it took longer than that in order to find something beneficial.
"What''s all thismotion about?" Leo asked having juste back from his own business dealing with another a few hours away that had required for him to stay the night. The look on Lena''s face when she turned to him told him right away that something serious was wrong. He looked around at the other faces at the table to see if they could tell him anything, but his eyes became fixed on the woman whom he didn''t recognize sitting across the table from his sister.
"Samuel was kidnapped by his family." Lena replied, trying to keep her voice calm and level as she spoke. The way her hands gripped the edge of the table however told him that she was anything but calm and collected on the inside. His face was immediately riddled with confusion when heard this.
"Why would his family kidnap him, I thought they were okay with this engagement."
"Not his parents." Lena rified through gritted teeth as she red at the woman who was sitting across the table from her.
"I''m talking about the family that his mother here, Evalyn Foster or rather I should say Evalyn Conti didn''t tell us about. Samuel''s mother and her side of the family are a part of the Vedova Nera."
"The Vedova Nera?" Leo rified almost not being able to believe what he heard.
"He never mentioned that before." He was rather shocked to hear this news.
"That''s because he was never told. Apparently his mother thought that it would be a good idea to keep it a secret from everyone until events she had no control over started happening." Lena replied. Evalyn''s face spoke of how ashamed she was of her decision, but she didn''t try to say anything as the siblings talked.
Leo knew by the expression on her face that Lena was hardly holding her anger in, and he knew exactly why and understood probably more than anyone else in the room what she was feeling right at the moment in time even though Hester and Clive had both known what had happened in the past.
"How about we got to your office for now and we can talk over everything that has happened see what we can do, hmm?" Leo suggested as he offered his older sister a small smile while he held out his hand for her to take. She looked at it for a few seconds as though contemted what the best thing to do was before she grabbed his hand and stood up.
She really didn''t want to be out of the room at that moment in time in case Clive or Hester had an update for her, but she also knew that she wasn''t going to be able to hold her anger in much longer if she didn''t go somewhere else. It was harder enough to notsh out as it was. At least if she did it where her brother was the only person around, she could save some of her dignity and reputation by not looking like a child throwing a fit during a time when she needed toposed.
Leave it to Leo to be the person she could rely on to realize how bad exactly she was doing with everything that was going on. She didn''t know how to process anything else except through anger.
Anger at herself, anger at others for withholding important information that could''ve prevented this. She couldn''t be angry at Samuel however since he didn''t know anything either thus he had no idea that something like this would happen if he left the estate on his own with only Jeff with him.
She just hoped that this Jovani had enoughmon sense to realize that it would be a really horrible idea to touch Samuel in any way before he and the princess had a chance to talk. If he didn''t though, blood would be shed without a second thought. It didn''t matter how small the damage was done, it would be paid back ten times worse.
Chapter 126 - Everything Will Be Okay
The door to her office had hardly closed before Lena began to vent all of the anger that she was falling. Knowing that there wasn''t much that he could do, Leo stood quietly while he let her vent until he knew that he could ask her questions to get her back on to the right track.
"This is precisely why I told father I was against this whole thing in the first ce!" She snapped at no one in particr. She hated being in a position where there wasn''t much that she could about what was going on.
"I know, but you know things aren''t quite the same as they were before." Leo replied softly causing Lena to turn and look at him with a look that said she didn''t think that he knew what she was talking about.
"For one you have the means to protect him and two, it''s not likely he''spletely defenseless himself. I have seen the way that rice has been training him. He may not quite be to your level when ites to being able to defend himself, but I''m sure he can do a fairly good job."
"If I had the means to protect him then this type of situation wouldn''t have happened in the first ce. I didn''t even know he had left before Clive told me he wasn''t in his room and he saw my phone." Lena refuted. Nothing felt different to her right now. She knew that was probably the same way that her father had felt so many years ago. It was an almost suffocating feeling that she was battling to control and to make matters worse her father wasn''t even there at the moment to help direct things.
She wanted to be able to go out herself and see what had happened, but she knew that it wouldn''t be allowed. Clive had sent Romeo to check the situation out first to make sure that it wasn''t a trap set. They couldn''t afford to let anything happen to the princess because they didn''t take the appropriate measures regardless of how she felt and what she wanted to do.
"You can''t control the fact that there were pieces you didn''t know about, That isn''t your fault. Sure I know you and father have been looking into a few things around Sam, but you had no idea it was something as big as this. That is on his mother for not even telling her own family where she came from." Leo reasoned. He didn''t quite know what to do himself as he felt rather out of the loop having only heard part of what was going.
"Let''s think about a n first. Hester and Clive already seemed like they were doing what they could to help out. You know that they are both efficient at what they do. Since we don''t know what this Jovani''s intention is for kidnapping Sam, let''s not think the worse yet. Did his mother give any clues as to why he would want Sam?" Lena had to take a few deep breaths to came herself before she was able to get her mind to function to give a proper answer to the question.
"She mentioned that there was a bet between him and another cousin, a Marcus who I think I know." Lena replied.
"She doesn''t know what kind of bet it was though or why it involved him."
"Perhaps there''s something that has been going on within their family that they want him to be involved in?" Leo suggested even though he know that it sounded like a weak excuse at least.
"I don''t know. His mother isn''t directly in line to take over if anything happened to the head of the family." She exined as she took a seat on the sofa. She knew that it hadn''t been that long since everything happened, but each minute that passed by felt like a century which felt like it was far too long to not be able to do anything.
If everything did work out and they managed to get Samuel back safely, she might really follow through on the threat of keeping him under lock and key so nothing like this could happen ever again. Rationally she knew that it wasn''t the best way to fix the future, but it was the only thing that she could think about in her current state of mind.
"Let me call uncle. He might know a few things since he mostly dealt with the groups on the boarder of our territory and worked on connections. Perhaps he knows something that could help us get some idea." Leo told her as he pulled his phone. Even though they were hours away he was certain that both is father and uncle were trying to wrap things up so that they coulde back sooner. This was a family emergency after all.
While Leo was on the phone trying to get a hold of Julian, there was a knock on the door that was followed by Clive entered shortly after. Lena looked at him expectantly.
"Romeo has checked the situation out. The car is missing and Samuel''s phone was left behind along with Jeff''s. We can try to track the car but there''s no guarantee that it would actually lead us to them. It''s most likely that they ditched it somewhere along the way to wherever they were heading. Without Samuel having his phone, it''s not possible to track him by that means." Clive exined.
"There was only one bullet shell at the scene which means that it''s highly likely that the only person who had been shut during the altercation was Jeff. There''s no evidence that any additional rounds have been fired off. What course of action do you want us to take next?" Lena closed her eyes as she tried to think.
"See if you can track the car. There''s someone else that I am going to call in and see if they might be useful for this. Hester is very good at what he does, but I think that some additional support would help us to get better answers soon." Lena replied as she grabbed her own phone.
"I will let Hester know and update Romeo."
"Thank you." the princess replied as she dialed a number on her phone that hadn''t been added to her contacts yet.
"I''m not sure who this is, but it''s too early on the weekend to be calling." The voice on the other end of the phone sounded groggy like they had just woken up. Lena could hardly care though.
"Genson, if you want to make some extra money then I suggest that you forget it is the weekend ande to the address I will be texting you as quickly as possible." The princess told him, hanging up the phone before he had a chance to reply. She knew that he would be willing toe if there was a chance for extra money involved.
Perhaps Genson could prove himself useful with this track record. She couldn''t imagine that there were many mafia families that he hadn''t beenmissioned by or worked with over the years. After all he didn''t really care who he worked with as long as they were willing to pay him the right price.
"Julian says he knows who Jovani is." Leo told Lena as soon as he was off the phone with their uncle.
"He''s not sure exactly where he''s staying or where their territory exactly is, but he''s apparently one of the guys he just had a dinner meeting withst week." Lena perked up when she heard this.
"What does he want with Samuel then if he''s working on trying to create connections with the family through other channels?" She asked more rhetorically than to her brother.
"Perhaps because there is really something that they need him for? Without knowing the history of his family and knowing how everything is being run- it''s hard to tell though." Leo said as he got to texting some of his own contact.
Lena took a deep breath and went over to her desk. She needed to smoke for a minute. It wasn''t the best option at hand, but it would help to at least even out the adrenaline she was dealing with.
"We''ll get this taken care of, okay? I know it feels like it''s really bad right now, but I''m sure that everything will work out if we approach it from the right direction." Leo tried to assure her as he put his phone back. Her face told him that she didn''t believe for a second as she inhaled deeply after lighting the pipe.
She didn''t even know what she was supposed to do about the engagement party that wasing up in a week and a half still. Too muchmotion right now would lead to another problem she didn''t have the mental capacity to deal with. She could let her father handle it when he came back. Right now, she was just focused on trying to figure out where Samuel was located.
Chapter 127 - Family Reunion
When Samuel woke up, the first thing that he became aware of was the splitting headache he had and the fact that when he opened his eyes that he couldn''t see anything that was going on around him which indicated there was something covering his eyes. Trying to his shift his body told him his hands were tied behind his back but his legs were still free. Based upon what he felt against his back, he determined he must''ve been sitting or leaning against something that had to have been some type of chair of sofa.
Despite his throbbing headache, he tried to listen to what was going on around him to try and hear for any clues that might tell him where he was. He realized rather quickly though that there wasn''t much noise going on around him. It almost sounded too quiet which lead him to believe that he must''ve been moved inside somewhere.
Where though was the question. Trying to think back to everything that had happened caused his head to hurt. They knocked him with something after Jeff had been shot despite him trying his best to fight back. The oldest one of the three only really seemed to know what he was doing and if it hadn''t been for him, he was certain that he would''ve had no problem dealing with the other two.
He did fight back pretty hard but being blocked in on three sides and having the car behind him didn''t give him much space to move. That was the one thing that made him an easy target to get. He didn''t have the skills to fight back against three people in that small space.
"Oh dear Sam, this is not at all how things were supposed to learn out. I am indeed terribly sorry." He turned his head to try and figure out where the voice hade from. Had the guy always been in the same space as him or was the door he came through just that quiet that he couldn''t hear it open and close.
"I hope there will be no hard feelings between us, but it seems that some of those who are working for me simply don''t know how to correctly follow the directions that I give them." He continued. His voice got louder which was an indication that he was most likely getting closer.
"Who are you?" Samuel asked aware of the fact that his throat sounded rather scratchy. They had used something to knock him out, he just wasn''t sure what it was or what had happened to Jeff for that matter.
"Ah, right. You don''t really know my voice well enough yet. J at your service, or rather I suppose since we will soon to be spending some quality time together getting to know each other- I suppose I should tell you my full name though I''m sure it won''t mean anything to you yet. Jovani Conti at your service." The man introduced offering the other his full name.
"J?" He repeated, no wonder his voice sounded familiar.
"What do you want with me and what happened with Jeff?" Samuel then asked as he tried to turn his head to where he presumed the other was standing. The other sighed before he spoke.
"Per my instructions, your friend or guard rather, Jeff as you call him should be at the hospital right now being treated. Problematic people who can''t follow directions are the result of that. He should probably be fine however." Jovani exined, taking a seat in the chair that wasn''t far form where Samuel was.
"As for your other question. I wanted a chance to talk with you in person and catch you up on everything that you don''t know about!" He said sounding rather excited.
"Not exactly the family reunion that I had been hoping to have, but it''ll have to do for now. Again, I hope there''ll be no hard feelings between us."
"Couldn''t we have just kept doing this over text? I don''t understand why you had to go this far just to keep talking with me?" Samuel asked, wincing as his head started to throb worse.
"Because, it would''ve been oh so hard to catch you up over text, plus there''s other reasons as well. I''m sure your princess isn''t thrilled about this at all, but I''m sure she''ll eventually warm up to everything. There''s a little something that I need to do with her first though before I can be sure everything will work out." Jovani said, musing a little as he leaned back.
"What does she have to do with anything if we''re supposed to be family?"
"Because Sam, you''re going to be marrying her soon which means you''ll be part of that family." Jovani exined a smile in his voice though the other wasn''t sure if it was the good type or the type one should worry about.
"If we were topare this to chess, you would be the King and she would be one of the supporting pieces. Say the Knight because of how confrontational and protective they are along with being bold. Although her personality does match that Queen, she hasn''t proven herself to be worthy of taking on the role of the queen whose job is to protect the other half, meaning you, the King." Samuel did his best to listen to what the other was telling him but it didn''t do much to help him better understand what he was nning.
"I understand your analogy but it doesn''t tell me why you''re going through all this trouble or what you''re nning. I also wish that you''d take this off my face, it''s not like I can get anywhere in my current position."
"Ah patience for that Sam. That''lle offter." Jovani said making it clear that he had no intention of taking the blindfold off.
"Right now, we haven''t even reached the final destination yet. This is just a small pitstop before we move again. Unfortunately due to the unexpected circumstance-things didn''t go as smoothly as I had nned for them to." He exined with another sigh.
In foresight he had realized things would''ve been easier if he made sure that only one of them was carrying a gun rather then allowing all them of them to keep theirs. It was supposed to be for precautionary sake, but someone got too antsy and ended up firing theirs off when they weren''t supposed to.
"As for your other question, why I just want to make sure that this princess who is intending on marrying is all that she seems to be and is more than capable of watching out for you." Jovani stood up and patted Samuel on the shoulder as he spoke.
"I''m sure that once everything is settled down and I exin everything to you that you will be more understanding of what exactly I''m trying to do and why it is important. Until then, you''ll just have to be a bit more patient and deal with things as they are for a while longer." He told him as he started to walk away from the other.
"I have other things that I need to attend to now, but it was certainly nice to be able to finally speak to you in person. How great it will be when we finally get the chance to really catch up on everything." He stopped speaking after this and Samuel tried his best to strain his ears for any indication that there was still nearby, but when he didn''t hear any he tried to get his attention.
"Jovani? You still didn''t answer all my questions. There''s more still I want to know from you." He called out to the other hoping that he was still there, but it seemed to no avail because silence was the only thing that answered him back. What a great situation he found himself in.
He winced as he tried to twist his hands around again, they were tied fairly tightly and because of the way that it was, he had hardly any room to move them to try and attempt what rice had taught about how to get out of rope bindings. If his wrist wasn''t sprained he''d have probably had a better chance of doing something as well but when he had caught one of the guy''s in the face he had used more force than he thought and didn''t control it right which lead to him hurting himself in the process.
Whatever was going to happen, he just hoped that Lena would be okay. She was certainly better at taking care of herself and knew more what she was doing, but that didn''t mean she would be prepared to handle something if it turned out to be a trap. There was nothing he could do about it though except for sit and wait to find out what Jovani wanted to tell him and hope that somewhere along the way he would get an opportunity to figure out a way to get out of wherever he was at.
Chapter 128 - Information
Lena was surprised by how quickly Genson showed up after she had called him. He must''ve been really eager to make the extra money. By looks. neither Clive or Hester seemed to be that thrilled to see him at the estate. They had never worked with him before, but they were well are of who he was.
"How may I be of service to you, princess?" He asked, taking a seat at the table checking before to make sure that it would be okay.
"Do you know who this person is?" Lena asked cutting straight to the chase by showing him the photo that Romeo had sent her on his phone. The owner of the jewelry store had managed to catch some photos of what happened since it took ce right outside of his store. He didn''t call the police since he knew who had been involved, but he tried to collect evidence just in case.
Genson took the phone so that he could get a better look at the picture. He stared at it a few seconds before he grimaced and looked up at Lena who was ring at him while waiting impatiently for his reply.
"What might you want with this person?" He asked, handing the phone back.
"That''s not for you to worry about, I just want to know if you know who he is or not." Lena repeated as she showed him the picture on her phone again.
"I do, but he isn''t really someone I''d mess with. I believe that I worked for the family he''s part of a while back on some kind of mercenary job or other." Genson replied.
"Is his name Russo Harrison by chance?" This time it was Evalyn who had spoken up. He nced over at the woman whom he hadn''t really paid much attention when he came in.
"Who might this be? I''m not familiar with her within this family." Hemented as he began to look her over.
"Stop ogling and answer the question." The princess ordered, snapping her fingers to get his attention back on to her. Genson sighed as he turned back to the princess and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yes his name is Russo Harrison. Right hand man within the Vedova Nera. I don''t know which of the cousins he works for now, but I know he''s a very loyal man though a touch of the unpleasant type to those from the outside." He exined.
"Why don''t you tell me why you want something with him or what he has to do with you and I will tell if it''s worth it or not."
"I''m the one here asking the questions and wanting to know the information. I''ll decide whether it''s worth it or not and you will just focus on giving me the answer to the questions that I am asking." The princess told him. He made a face when she said this but kept his mouth shut and waited to see what she was going to want next.
"Since you worked for them before, does that mean I can assume that there''s an address that you can give me?" She then asked, ncing over at Hester who still had been typing away on hisputer trying to dig deep enough to find what he was looking for. They were certainly good at knowing how to keep all of their information well hidden.
"Yeah, I can give you one. Not sure if it is one that they''re using anymore, but you can check it out and see." Genson replied as he leaned back in the chair. Once Hester let him know that he was ready, he gave him the address that hest knew from when he worked for them.
Looking around the room and seeing who was present, Genson tried to consider what was going on and why the princess would suddenly request something more from than what had originally been agreed upon for their contract. Was it the fianc¨¦? He tried to hide the small smile that was on his face when this realization dawned upon him.
Considering he knew who well both Zane and Julian could handle themselves, but both of them seemed currently absent and Leo, the brother was still there. The only one who could''ve possibly created such a reaction would''ve been if the fianc¨¦ was missing. An interesting little tidbit that would be.
"It might be a match." Hester said as he turned hisputer around so that they could see the map.
"It could be on the edge of their territory which might mean it was taken over or they bargained for a different benefit in exchange for territory and gave it up. But it certainly couldn''t hurt to look into and see what''s there."
"Who would be avable to go with Romeo?" Lena asked as she looked over the map. It was a little ways away from where Samuelst was, but it could certainly be far enough away to make a good hiding space.
"Alonso and Franco could go. They haven''t been out much recently and I''m sure the would enjoy this type of task." Clive suggested as he tried to go over everyone that he trusted enough to send considering how delicate the matter was.
"I might rmend Jeff''s brother, Dean. His skills in fighting are not the best but he''s good at being quiet and analyzing the best way to sneak in and out of ces without getting caught."
"I''m sure he would like to go, but right now he should be staying in the hospital with this brother. Too many overcharged emotions involved wouldn''t be good right now." Leo was the one who brought this up. Having been out of the country until recent, he wasn''t that aware of who the best candidates his father uncle and sister had been training, but logical reasons to or not do something was one thing that he could apply to the situation.
"He''s right." Lena agreed as she closed her eyes and tried to think. It had only been four hours but she was certain that a lot of moving around and other things had been done by Jovani or whoever was in charge by now.
"If it is all the same to you princess, I think that we would be better off waiting a while longer and seeing what happens?" Hester suggested after a few minutes of looking through some other information that he had been sent.
"Why?" Lena demanded, she wasn''t fond of inertia and the current situation didn''t seem like one to her that would benefit from them losing the element of surprise if they had all the information that they needed to move first without be suspected or caught.
"The information right now almost feels too convenient. I don''t want to dampen any spirits with this line of thought, but if we don''t yet know what they want and we end up catching them off guard, it could create a disaster especially if the timing is off and they end up not being there yet." Hester exined.
"Secondly, if we move without caution, it puts a bigger chance of putting the young Sir at risk if they end up felling like the only way out of the situation would be to use him as a guard. Based upon what I am finding and hearing, it sounds like they will be likely to get in touch with you again because there''s something they want from you. Hence, I think that it would be best to wait for now." The little princess didn''t like what he had to say, but she couldn''t deny that he had a point in what he said.
Although she didn''t like to admit, inaction seemed like the best course of action even though it felt to her like she would be letting Samuel down not doing everything she could, but without all the information yet- the wrong move could be just as problematic as giving the other side the advantage. She found herself lighting the pipe again as she tried to think about what to do.
"Now there, that''s twice already. Too much of that stuff in your system isn''t going to make things better right now." Leo told his sister as he came over to take the pipe away from her knowing that it wouldn''t help her current frame of mind.
Before he had a chance to take it from her, she grabbed his hand which caused him to stop immediately. Although the expression she gave him was one that spoke of how calm and collected she was being, the way her hand was shaking when she grabbed his told him otherwise. Without saying anything, he held up his hand to let her know that he understood what she was trying to convey to him.
"Lets wait a while longer then. Father and Uncle will most likely be home before long and they will want to be filled in on what''s going on. Since Uncle knows something about Jovani, it might prove helpful." Lena said, breaking the heavy silence that had filled the room. It was the best that she could do for now. The other part was just hoping that she wasn''t making the wrong decision.
Chapter 129 - For The Sake Of Money
"Is there anything else that I can do to be of service while I am here?" Genson asked after a few minutes of silence had taken over the room again. He didn''t want to be rude and excuse himself if the princess still needed something from him, that would decrease his chance of receiving the extra money that she promised. On the other hand though, he had other things that he needed to attend to now that he was up and awake on the weekend.
"Don''t leave the premise but if you want breakfast you can request it from the kitchen." Lena replied.
"I still might need more information from you if anything changes." She exined as she took another deep puff from the pipe.
"The same goes for you Evalyn, although I don''t think with the current circumstances you would want to leave, you''re free to have breakfast or move to another room if you prefer." If everything worked out with getting Samuel back, one of the first things she was going to do was make sure that his mother talked with him properly even if Jovani decided to fill him in on some things.
"Thank you for your graciousness Princess, if it all the same to you, I think that I would indeed like to take up that offer for some breakfast and coffee." Genson replied with a charming smile as he stood up from the table. He offered a much politer smile to Evalyn as he looked her over again.
"It''s a pleasure making your acquaintance as well." He told her before he turned to stroll out of the room in search of where the kitchen was located. Out of everyone in the room, Leo had his eyes fixed on him the most. There was something that he didn''t like about that man. Perhaps more so than everyone else in the room who knew who he was.
Genson was indeed interested in finding some breakfast, especially if it was going to be offered to him for free, no reason to turn down such a magnificent offer that would not only taste good but would save him money as well.
"Excuse me dear, might you be able to tell me where I can find the kitchen to request breakfast?" He asked one of the first servants that he came upon, an older woman who was busing herself with make sure everything was dusted.
"If you go to the dinning room, by taking the next two rights after this room there will be a servant who would be happy to help with that." The woman replied giving him an uncertain look. He was someone she didn''t recognize after all.
"Thank you." He told her as he headed off to follow her directions. The estate was certainly much nicer than he had expected it to be. Perhaps when he decided to settle down and had enough money to satisfy himself he would think about putting together something like this for himself.
Once he was certain that no one was around and the corner he was at did indeed seem to be secluded from any potential prying eyes or ears that could hear what he was doing, he pulled out his phone and dialed the first number on quick dial which was only with dor signs.
"What is it?" A sharp voice on the other end of the phone answered after a few rings.
"I can see someone is having a less than pleasant morning today." Gensonmented as he leaned against the call.
"I had some information that I thought might help lift your mood, but with that attitude, I might reconsider telling you." There was a pause on the other end of the phone before the voice spoke again.
"Genson- I would consider what you say carefully regardless of my attitude. You without anything of value from me and you won''t be seeing a penny of the amount of money I offered and instead the only thing you will be getting is a bullet to the head." Genson grimaced at the way the other spoke. He didn''t normally enjoy dealing with such messy clients, but he was paying too much money to turn him down.
"Indeed we are in a mood today." Genson sighed as he run his tongue over his bottom lip before he continued speaking. He enjoyed mildly teasing the other with such pauses since he could get away with it without overstepping boundaries.
"I believe I heard from a little birdy at a certain estate that the fianc¨¦ is MIA. Perhaps in the hands of the person you were hoping to beat." The silence and chill that followed on the end of the phone was overwhelming and caused a spine to go down Genson''s spine even though he wasn''t anywhere near the person on the other end of the phone.
"What do you mean by that?" The low but menacing tone on the other end of the phone asked. Of course he would be pissed, this wasn''t how he had wanted thing to turn out after all.
"I mean, it sounds like he was picked up just a few hours ago and the white bishop is already on the move." Genson rified even though he was certain that the other knew exactly what he was saying.
"How did you manage to do it so quickly though?!" The voice on the other end of the phone snapped.
"I was so certain that I had all the pieces in order to make the first move!" Genson lowered the volume on the phone as the other continued their rant, ncing around to make sure that no one was around still.
"Perhaps it''s just that you underestimated him or maybe he handled the situation in a more direct route? There was an older man I saw here whom I think might be the mother, but I don''t know because she didn''t give a name and the princess wouldn''t let me interact with her much." He offered once the other end of the phone went silent not before he heard something that he assumed a coffee cup being thrown across the room and broken. Genson made a mental note to himself that next time he had to deal with the other he would want to make sure that he was wearing a bullet proof vest so that he didn''t end up with a bullet hole.
"If that''s the case, your job was to be to alert me if anything happened ahead of time, how did you not know about this?" The voice asked, sounding irate but not as hostile as a few minutes ago.
"I can''t be everywhere at once, love. They were together in the office yesterday and everything was fine. It doesn''t even seem like the princess was aware of what was about to take ce until after it happened. I''m not a magician so it isn''t like I can predict everything that could possibly happen. I can just use my skills to find out what physically in front of me." Genson told the other who made a sound of discontent me.
"Don''t call me ''love''. I don''t care how much of a rtionship we have developed, you don''t get to call me that. Secondly, nose around and see what else you can find out. If no one knew what happened then that means he somehow managed to fool everyone. Good y from the white bishop, but that doesn''t mean that this ck bishop here will be willing to give in so easily." Genson was starting to get antsy with how long the call was taking. He not only wanted to eat, but he was worried about who might being and could hear anything that was being said.
"If he made the first move, won''t he be contacting you soon to dere himself as the winner- maybe you can find out something then?" Genson sighed a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.
"I would love to keep this conversation going, but I must really go if you don''t want my cover to be blown. I will sent you somethingter if I find anything out after I eat."
"You better not let me down. You know that I won''t hesitate to get rid of any obstacles or useless pieces if they don''t help me to reach my goals." The person on the other end of the phone said before a click followed indicating that the call was over.
Genson frowned as he looked at his phone before putting it back on his pocket. It was never easy to please that one. Although he was inside the estate, he wasn''t really certain how he was supposed to find out more about the information the other was asking for.
No one really seemed that intent to talk with him and because he was only there for the knowledge he knew- it would be suspicious perhaps if he nosed around too much without good reason. Unless he coulde up with something while he was eating that would make the princess or even her brother give him something better to work with. For the sake of money he would do his best to try and find out.
Chapter 130 - Only Time Will Tell
By the time the afternoon came, Lena had requested for Romeo toe back when he couldn''t find any additional clues that would help them out. Russo had done a good job of covering his tracks after they left and made sure not to leave much of anything behind that they could use to track them.
The princess had asked Genson if he still had the phone number he used as a contact for when the Vedova Nera had hired him, but the number was no longer in service which lead to another dead end. Even the one that Evalyn had gotten called from belonged to a burner phone apparently which was no longer in service.
She was already on her fourth cup of coffee by the time her father and uncle had gotten back. Leo didn''t think that it was such a great idea since she had smoking too much as it was, but no one was willing to actually voice this. Ryan didn''t even refuse her when she asked to keep refilling her cup. She needed something that would help her get her emotions under control and while the caffeine certainly made her shaky, it helped regte her mood while she tried to be patient and what.
"What''s exactly going on?" Zane asked as soon as he came through the door and looked over who was in the room. He didn''t recognize Evalyn but had an idea from what Leo had told Julian. He also knew who Genson was but wasn''t sure why he had been invited into the estate.
"We don''t know. We know the Vedova Nera have or rather a Jovani Conti, but where and for what reason we don''t know yet. They haven''t contacted us since they took him aside from a recording that was left behind." Lena exined to her father as she didn''t bother looking up from her coffee cup as she spoke. Her voice sounded more hollow than it had earlier on in the day.
"How were we not able to find out he was rted to them?" Julian asked. They had done their background research on Samuel''s family back when Zane had wanted to go through with the arranged marriage before either Samuel or Lena was born, but he had never been able to find anything that raised any gs to either of them.
"That''s because I erased as much of my past as I could before I changed my name and married Jacob." Evalyn spoke up since she was the one who was behind the answer to that question. Both Julian and Zane looked over at her.
? "The head of the family is my great uncle and Jovani is my second cousin. I thought that because I was more distantly rted to main branch in the family that there wouldn''t be any problems if I chose to leave and start over. I couldn''t see any reason why they would care if I was there or not since I wasn''t going to be the one taking over in the first ce." She exined. Of course as she had already found out, that had been a terrible misjudgment on her part.
"You didn''t tell anyone at all about this?" Zane asked as he came over to where she was sitting.
"No one who could''ve taken the message back to your family that you just happened to have a son who was just turning eighteen and would be marrying into the Red Scorpions?" He continued as she gave her a hard look. Even though he hand Lena had gone through the same thing, Zane was twice as harsh as his daughter was because of what he had been through on a different level.
"Hardly anyone knows about that." Evalyn replied honestly as he looked up at him.
"It isn''t exactly something you want to go around dering in the parts where I live. It can cause a lot of unnecessary trouble and there was never anyone in my family that I stayed in touch with after I had left. I didn''t care to try." She seemed honest enough to him, but he wasn''t quick to trust anyone based upon their word.
"Someone had to leak the information from somewhere and enough so for them to know for sure who you were in rtion to Samuel." Zane replied as he turned away from her to fix his attention on his daughter. He could tell that she was hardly doing well and out of everyone, he knew most what she was going through having been through something simr ten years ago.
"I''ve looked but I haven''t been able to find anything that raises any gs or seems out of the ordinary. No one knew has been around the family recently from what I can tell." Hester spoke up as he rolled his shoulders so that he could pop his neck. Being stuck in front of hisputer for so long was rather hard on his shoulders and back.
"Like Julian had thought Jovani is registered in the system as having his own business, but it doesn''t give a good address or number that I could use to try and trace him."
"Keep looking, there has to be something useful mix in with everything that we can use." Zane pressured.
"Genson." He then said as he leveled the man with a heavy look. The other matched it but didn''t say anything as he waited to see what the other was going to want from him.
"If you''re going to be in this house, you best make yourself useful. Regardless of what working rtionship you currently have with my daughter, I no qualms about killing you if you give me one reason to." Genson held up his hands in a surrender motion as the other finished speaking.
"Nice to meet you again to. I can see that there''s still some hard feelings over what happened in the past." He replied, a ghost of a smirk appearing on his lips as he continued to stare at the other.
"In case you are unaware, I have actually been providing my services whenever the Princess asks for something from me. If there is something further that I can do to be of service I would certainly be happy to extend an extra helping hand." Zane didn''t like his attitude, but he decided to leave him alone for the time being since he doubted that he was lying about helping out.
"Lena we need to go talk about some things elsewhere." He told the princess who looked up at him. She already knew what he wanted to talk about, but didn''t really want to discuss it with him. She wanted Jovani or whoever it was to already contact to her so that they could get over with whatever they wanted.
"I know." She replied smoothly as she drank the rest of the coffee in her cup. She knew that she would be regrettingter, but she didn''t care at the current moment in time.
"Leo, Julian- maintain things and only bother us if there''s something important that needs to be said." He told the other two members of his family who were present before he started walking towards his office with Lena following closely behind.
When they reached his office, he let Lena enter first and closed the door gently behind him. They both already knew what direction the conversation was going to go in and the princess wasn''t going to be the one to start it. Zane already knew that though.
"I know what you''re thinking already and you shouldn''t be." He told his daughter as he stood right inside the door way as she made her way over to the sofa to sit down.
"You mean about how I was right in saying that I shouldn''t bother getting engaged to an outsider who didn''t know what he was into and that the engagement should be in definitely canceled?" She asked trying not toe across as frustrated as she was currently feeling.
"You can''t just avoid something because of an event that happened in the past. That was my mistake not yours." Zane replied calmly. He knew that it was going to be hard to reason with his daughter.
"I will have to reschedule the engagement party. Perhaps for a weekter than nned but I don''t intend to cancel it." That was one point that he was going to be firm on.
"Besides, it seems like he''s already involved in this world even if he didn''t know anything about it until now which-"
"Which makes him not aplete outsider to everything. I know you were going to say that." Lena cut him off with a roll of her eyes. She already knew and thought about all of those things herself, but none of that helped her to feel better.
"Right. And since we don''t even know what the end result of everything will be, it''s best to just and take it with stride. Julian said that when he met with this Jovanist week for the dinner meeting that he didn''t seem like a man with malice intent."
"And uncle gives too many people the benefit of the doubt." Lena sighed as she leaned her head back. She could feel the caffeine induced headacheing on but chose to ignore it as she looked at her father.
"You really think that everything will turn out differently from what you went through?" She asked even though she knew that her father wouldn''t be able to give a her definite answer.
"Only time can tell that, but I wouldn''t discount anything until everything has yed. Samuel isn''tpletely defenseless himself after all. He has you to thank for that." Everyone was talking about giving it time, but time was thest thing that Lena wanted to give to the situation.
Chapter 131 - The Call
It was ratherte into the evening before Lena''s phone indicated that she was getting a call. She had gone back to the sunroom because she couldn''t stand being around too many other people nor did she want to try and eat anything because of the stress. Thus she decided to go to the one ce that she knew would befortable for her.
She wanted to answer the phone the moment the call started but waited until she had called for Hester and her Father so that it would increase the chance of being able to trace the call.
"Hello?" She answered making sure to keep her tone as calm and neutral as possible as she watched Hester setup hisputer to be able to trace the call.
"Hello dear Princess! It is no nice to hear your voice. You sound much more pleasant than I imagined you would." the rather effusive voice answered on the other end of the phone.
"Who am I speaking with?" She asked. Her father had moved closer to try and hear what was being said but she wasn''t going to put on speaker phone in case there was a risk of any background noise being picked up if it was near her ear.
"Oh I think that you already know the answer to that." The voice replied.
"Samuel isn''t here to speak for himself right now, but I can assure you that he is doing quite well with this little family reunion."
"Jovani." Lena replied, keeping her voice level as she spoke.
"What do you happen to want with him?" She then asked not wanting to waste time on whatever random thing that he wanted to talk about.
"I can''t simply jut want to get the chance to meet up with a rtive that I''ve never gotten a chance to meet before?" Jovani asked with mock offense.
"If that is all you really wanted, there are a number of more straight forward ways to have made that happen." Lena retorted as she nced over at Hester to see if he had been able to pick anything yet, but his face it seemed that the answer was no.
"You''re not wrong. However, from what I have heard the Scarlett family is rather protective of those that are considered family and in their close circle. I doubt that you would have even given me a chance to get close to him even if I did request the right to visit him." Jovani exined.
"And please don''t think that there''s anything personal between me and your fianc¨¦, because there really isn''t. I''m actually quite fond of him and think he''s a rather interesting person to get the chance to know."
"Then what do you want with him?" She followed up trying to keep her temper in check as the conversation went on longer than she wanted for it to.
? "Well, there are a few things. Some of which I''m sure dear cousin Evalyn has filled you in on if she actually decided to open up and talk to anyone about her past. Bravo to her for keeping it hidden for twenty years." She could make out what sounded like a pping sound on the other end of the phone.
"More than what I want with him, I''m actually interested getting a chance to meet you first hand. You know get the chance to know more about you and understand the type of person that Sam is nning on marrying." He further exined.
"Give Samuel back without any problems and I will be more than happy to meet up with you whenever or wherever you want." The princess replied. Her response was met with a less pleasant sounding chuckle on the other end of the phone.
"Well you see that there is the problem Princess. I don''t think that you would actually be willing to meet up with me if I gave him back so willingly which is why I have to keep this little piece of incentive for you until you do what I ask." Of course he wasn''t going to be willing to give the boy up so easily. He wouldn''t have gone to all the trouble he did in the first ce if he wasn''t serious about what he was doing.
"What do you want me to do then? I can meet with you tonight." She offered against her better judgement and the look that her father shot in her response to what she said. She didn''t really care though. It wasn''t like this Jovani was someone she wouldn''t be able to handle regardless of what they tried. There was a long pause on the other end of the phone before Jovani replied again.
"Well now, that certainly is interesting. If I didn''t know better I would say that you sound a little bit too eager to be getting him back as soon as possible. Perhaps despite what people have been saying you do actually have some affection for Sam." Lena felt defensive the moment that he said this. Letting too many emotions slip through wasn''t going to help the situation right now. There was another pause that was followed byplete silence before Jovani spoke again after a sigh.
"As much as I would love the chance to meet up with you tonight, that won''t be able to happen because the whole schedule I had set up for everything has been thrown off. So it''ll have to wait until tomorrow. Worry not though, Sam will be in good hands tonight and I can text you in the morning to let you know what location to go to." Jovani told her.
"I''m sure that you can rearrange your schedule for this if it was something that you really wanted to go through with." Lena pressured but was met with a tsking sound on the other end of the phone.
"Not quite so. As impatient as you are, the schedule is important to everything. Plus, I think a night to cool off would do you some good before we met. And if it makes you feel better that I''m not trying to ying and kind of dirty games with you- you can bring two of your trusted men with you but no other family because I only want to meet you since you''re Sam''s fianc¨¦ after all." Lena paused as she thought about this. She already knew what her father would say, but this was her decision to make since Samuel was in the one in danger."
"Fine." She said after a moment of silence.
Chapter 132 - Irrational
The call ended a few seconds after Jovani had approved of her answer and bid her a good night. She hardly put her phone down before her father was on her about what she had just agreed to.
"What were you thinking by saying you''d agree to his terms? You don''t even know what he''s nning." The exasperation was evident in his voice as he looked at his daughter despite knowing what the answer to the question already was.
"I agreed because it was exactly what you would''ve done if it was one of us." Lena replied pausing for a second as she looked away before speaking again.
"Or like you did when it was mother in this situation." Being a child going through something with a parent versus someone going through it with a partner waspletely different feelings, but she was certain that her father understood what she as feeling."
"Yes, but you know that it didn''t do me any good to react so irrationally. What am I supposed to do if something happens to you because this turns out to be a setup?" He then asked, the stress of considering such situation causing adrenaline to flow through his system.
"You burn everyone down who''s responsible for it like you did in the past." The princess replied as though it was the most obvious answer to the problem.
"I don''t think that you need to worry about that though. Jovani Conti certainly wants something but I don''t think he''s looking to collect a dead body. What else it could be, I''m not sure but it''s like uncle said, he doesn''t sound like the malicious type of person." She looked over at Hester as she finished speaking.
"Were you able to get anything from the call?" She asked as moved over to see if there was anything on hisputer screen, ignoring the face her father was making as she looked away from him.
She knew that he wasn''t happy with what she was nning on going through with, but to her it was the only option at the current moment in time. She didn''t want to risk messing anything up which meant that she was going to have a long night ahead of her without being able to sleep while worrying.
"I was able to narrow down the general location, but the signal that wasing through seemed to rather weak as though it was being blocked by something." Hester replied as he showed her what was on hisputer screen.
"I don''t know if it was intentionally being suppressed or if it''s just because of the area where the call was being picked up from." he shifted the map he had up on hisputer so that she could get an idea of the general area the call hade from.
"It''s not perfect but it is better than nothing." The princess replied before she nced back at her father.
"If you know the general location before I leave, you know where to look if anything happens." She told her but it didn''t nothing to change the look on her face that told her he thought that she was being irrational.
"I''ll take Clive and Romeo with me because they are the most reliable ones to have in this kind of situation. I will try and let you know before I get close to this area where exactly I am incase the signal does end up going out and we can''t stay in touch." She assured him.
"You''re really set on going through this in the way that you think would be best, aren''t you?" Zane asked with a sigh as he looked at his daughter wondering when she had begun to be as stubborn as he would.
"Of course I am. I risk losing more by making a move too quickly since we don''t have enough information to know where to go or what to do. Trying to have the upper hand in such a situation would backfire. Hence for Samuel''s sake, it is better if I just go through with Jovani is asking and make up my mind on what to do next if things change."
"Not to butt in out of ce, Sir, but I think that the Princess is right. No one can say how this situation will turn out, but I think ying it by ear in this way will at least make it seem like there''s cooperation going on. As long as I tweak some things, I am sure that you will be able to keep tracking her phone even if the signal is suppressed in the area she''ll be heading into." Zane looked between the two of them. Of course one of his trusted men would choose to side with his daughter during the one time he needed someone to see how irrational she was being.
"Alright. But if anything happens I will really burn down everyone without a second thought." Zane replied, not liking the situation but knowing that he wasn''t going to be able to get his daughter to change her mind. She had be too much like him.
He wasn''t sure though if her behavior was due to the fact that she was actually starting to develop an affection for Samuel or if it had something to do with the guilt she had been carrying for the past ten years. He knew that even if he asked her she wouldn''t give him a straight answer about it so he would just have to wait and see.
"Try not to make it as big of a fiasco as it was so many years ago. The way you express your emotions in those situations while you certainly do a good job of expression how passionately you hate those who hurt anyone you care about, it can be a bit too intense for other reasons that aren''t good for us." Lena told her father in a mildly joking tone.
Ten years ago went wrong in the matter of three days, people remembered less about what caused everything to happen and instead only remembered the damage that followed. That was why Lena was nning on doing things differently if anything happened to Samuel. Only Jovani Conti and Russo Harrison would be the ones to suffer.
Chapter 133 - Long Night
Lena already knew that she wasn''t going to be able to sleep, even though she would need sleep for the next day she knew that her mind wouldn''t slow down enough for her to be able to sleep.
She ate dinner but that was only because her father refused to let her go the whole day without eating anything since there was no way of knowing what to expect for the next day. The princess didn''t eat much however, she settled for having breakfast for dinner by requesting toast, eggs, and sausage. It wasn''t much but it was enough to hold her over. She also made sure to drink water to counteract the effects of all the caffeine she had drank throughout the day.
Zane suggested that Genson and Evalyn use two of the guestrooms they had avable. Partly so that they didn''t have to travel back, but also because he wanted them nearby so that he could keep an eye on them. More so Genson because he didn''t trust the other. Money was far more important to that man than loyalty was.
Once everything had been sorted for the night and most everyone had retired to get some form of rest for the next day, Lena opted for locking herself out on thesecond floor deck so that she that people wouldn''t be hoovering around her. By that she mostly meant her father and brother who she knew were both highly worried with what was going on. While she did deeply appreciate their care and concern, she wanted her own personal space to think things through without other people around.
The hammock wasn''t the mostfortable ce toy she found after getting into it, but she wasn''t really in the mood to get out after she started staring at the sky. Once everything was settled, hopefully for the best she would have to tell Samuel that she didn''t understand what was amazing about hammocks and he would certainly be free to use it as much as he liked because it didn''t work for her.
She didn''t really know what she was going to do when the next day came around. She had an idea of everything that she was going to want to get ready ahead of time and a generally idea of what the n, but it was still vague since she had no idea where Jovani was expecting her to meet him or if it would even be the same ce that he was keeping Samuel.
Samuel being a part of the Vedova Nera- that was something else that she would have to figure out how that would work out and what it would mean going forward. Did that make things better or worse? It didn''t make a difference to her because they were already engaged, but.. it was definitely something that they would have to consider announcing at the engagement party since it was now turning out that she wouldn''t actually be brining someone in from the outside. Instead, it would create an alliance between the two families. Both sides would have to agree to that.
She didn''t even have an idea of who the head of Vedova Nera was, which would create another headache if she and her father had to meet with them to exin the situation and make sure that they approved of the engagement and marriage in the future. That would be the only unknown piece that might change how the future yed out. IF they didn''t agree for any reasons that could put a stop to everything.
Lena sighed as she ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes. They would also be a potential target for her anger if anything happened to Samuel and it turned out that they had anything to do with what Jovani was doing. She wasn''t interested in starting a war over this, but retaliation would certainly happen if anything happened to him or her for that matter if it turned out to be a setup. Her father wouldn''t stand back and let it go.
She wanted to think that if Jovani was making a move to create a business alliance with them that it meant he had ns for Samuel that included keeping him alive so that he could go through with them. But what was a question? He sounded fond of him over the phone which made her think that even though they hardly knew each other he had some form of care for him. There was however no way to determine if it was genuine or just for y.
Either way she knew that she needed to take Romeo and Clive with her because they were the only ones she trusted enough to handle any unexpected situation well. They had been working with her father for years after all and had some of the best training out of the men who served the family in terms ofbat and security skills.
The princess would also have to remember though to apologize to his wife after everything happened for allowing him to end up in a dangerous situation despite knowing that he had just had a child. She would feel bad if something happened and the child ended up growing up without knowing who their father was.
It was bad enough as it was that Jeff was stuck in the hospital. The staff told his brother that he would be in the hospital for a while but would likely make a recovery without any futureplications. He would just need a lot of rest before he would be able to go back to work. Lena knew that was a mistake on her part to pair him with Samuel so quickly.
Not to say that the situation was either one''s fault as they couldn''t have known to anticipate this would''ve happened and Jeff had been trying to take the necessary precautions to make sure that she knew where they were and what was going on. He just hadn''t been equipped with all the training and resources to know how to handle the situation without getting hurt.
That though was something that she would be changing moving forward. It would have to go on her list of things to discuss with her father. When that would fit in with everything else she wasn''t certain but there were gaps she needed to fill. She also still had no idea why Samuel had gone back to the jewelry store without her. She knew that they still needed to pick up the rings before the engagement party, but that was something that they had been intending to do together.
She could only presume that it must''ve had something to do with the surprise that he had mentioned to her before. They could''ve picked up both at the same time though. It wasn''t like she would''ve pried that much into what it was if it was meant for ater date even if she wasn''t that fond of surprises. Such things she would also have to talk with him about.
Thing to talk aboutreminded her that she needed to contact rice to let her know that she wouldn''t be needing toe to the estate for a little while. Being midnight, she presumed that the other would be asleep so sending a text wouldn''t be a problem. She could see it in the morning and Lena would take time after everything to exin the situation to her. She as mistaken however and rice messaged her back mere moments as she had sent her the message. Of course she would want to know what was wrong for there to be a sudden change in the schedule.
She opted to reply back that she would tell the other soon but she didn''t have the bandwidth to go into the exnation tonight with howte it was. She did offer the hint though that rice wasn''t perhaps wrong to think that there was something more to Samuel than their first appeared to be.
Lena probably should''ve chosen to talk with rice knowing that she would also understanding everything going and be more than willing to offer her assistance if she needed it and it was only midnight which meant that there were still too many hours left in the night.
It was going to be a long night before it would be time for her to get up and get everything together that she would need before they left. She just didn''t have the mental ability to deal with talking with someone at the current moment and going over everything again and hearing someone tell her to try and be more positive about the situation and hope for the best.
It was great that people cared to try and make her look on the bright side of the situation, but it was something that was easier said than done after everything that she had been through. It was easy to try and keep a mind set when trying to look at a bad situation from that perspective hadn''t back fired in the past. Instead, it just felt like she was grasping at straws in hopes that one of them would give her a positive answer to something that didn''t feel positive in the slightest.
Chapter 134 - Preparations
By the time the sun started toe up, Lena had already been up and getting together everything that she wanted to have in order before she left. She wasn''t sure if anyone else had been able to sleep, but she didn''t have much time to think about that when she had a lot to get together.
Clive and Romeo were already up and waiting for her when she came down from the second floor. They weren''t sure what to expect either, but they wanted to make sure that she knew that both of them were ready for her. She was appreciative of this because there were things that she needed from them.
Jovani hadn''t mentioned anything about whether or not they were allowed to bring weapons with them but either way, Lena had no intention of going into an unfamiliar ce empty handed if she did have a high level of skill in hand-to-handbat.
She also made sure that Clive and Romeo had their weapons. There was no need to have anything beyond hand guns that they could keep either on their belt holsters or in their jacket. She hoped though that it wouldn''te down to them having to use them. She also made sure that they had bullet proof vests on and other correct protective gear. She didn''t want to leave anything to chance with this man whose intentions she still didn''t quite understand.
She also made sure that she had everything on that she needed. She went for one that was slimmer than what she had the other wear simply because she knew that she would be the one interacting with Jovani personally and didn''t want to have something on would be visibly bulky and could potential give that factor away. She also intended to wear her ck jacket with the red scorpion that was syed across the back and went from one shoulder to the next. She wanted it to be known to everyone if something happened what group they were risking angering if anything went wrong. She also thought that it would be worth wearing her steel toe boots for the asion as well.
Hester was the next one to be up and join them as he wanted to have plenty of time to make sure that he could fix any potential issues with the cell phone signal before Lena left so that there would no concern about them losing touch with her.
This was more so for the sake of her father than her as Lena wasn''t concerned about what anything happening to her or not being able to request of backup if she needed it. She knew though that her father wouldn''t be able to remain calm and collected if he wasn''t able to at least see where she since he wasn''t able to be there with her.
"Not only does it risk creating a bad effect if I show up with the head of the family right after being told to be the only one toe, but you can''t also be putting yourself at such risk as the head of the family. If anything happens to you there would be even more chaos." Lena had reasoned with him when he argued that morning on favor of at least going with her so that he could be near by if anything happened.
"If you want to do anything crazy like that at least wait until you retire and I take over for you so that if anything happens to you I don''t have to worry about the whole family falling apart because the head has been taken out." She told him as she grabbed his hand as she still gave her a face that told her he wasn''t being so easily swayed but what she said. He didn''t want to risk losing another part of his family. Lena stared at him for a while longer before she turned away so that she could fix her jacket and double check to make sure that he gun was correctly loaded.
"Besides. Shouldn''t you have more trust in my abilities since you think that I will be able to take over for you in the future? If you don''t think I''m capable of doing this, then that means you probably don''t think that I can really handle taking in your ce." She knew that it was probably a mean card to y with her father, but she hoped that it would get across the point that she was trying to make with him.
"I don''t doubt in your ability to take over after me." He replied with pursed lips.
"I just don''t like my daughter going into an unknown situation with little protection or cover to protect her if something unexpected happens." He exined.
"I have plenty of protect and cover. Look, I''m taking all the proper precautions before I leave and making sure that I''m not forgetting anything important. I''m taking these two with me and there''s hardly anyone else thatpare to them in their skills and ability to do their job." The princess replied as she reinserted the cartridge into her hand gun after making sure it was full. She slipped it into the inside pocket of her jacket.
"Plus, if anything were to go wrong, it wouldn''t really matter the number of people who came with if it turned into an ambush. If anything it would just make things moreplicated and hard to keep track of plus increase the risk of loss versus if just the three of us go." Her reasoning wasn''t wrong, but it didn''t make him feel better.
"You''re also going to be a better service to me if you''re here and I need anything because you will be able to handle the situation more rationally than you would if you were with me and anything happened to go wrong. Leo and Julian can''t lead with the same level headed clearness that you can when the situation calls for it." Hester nodded his head from where he was working with hisputer as a sign that he was agreeing with what the princess was saying.
"Alright." He conceded with a sigh as he closed his eyes. Opening them he fixed his daughter with a heavy stare.
"But if there''s so much as one scratch on you when youe back, I can''t promise that it won''t result in a blood bath." She knew that it was a very serious threating from him but she waved it off with her hand as away of telling him that he didn''t need to go that far.
"If anything like that happens, it''s likely that I will have already handle everything myself and there''ll be no need to get involved. Jovani is the only target I''m interested in if anything happens and Russo if he happens to be involved as well." She exined to him.The unspoken part was how that would work out since Jovani at least was genuinely family with Samuel. Whichplicated matters a certain amount.
Unlike his father, Leo opted for giving his sister a hug when came down.
"You can''t let anything happen to you anyways because I wouldn''t be left with any sibling to antagonize if you''re not around." Hisment caused her to roll her eyes even though she knew that he was joking.
"If that''s all you really care about, there are plenty of other people in the family for you to antagonize while you''re still here." She told as she gave him a less enthusiastic hug back.
"But one is quite as fun as you are. My older sister has the best reaction to things that get on her nerves. No one else can rece that." He insisted as he pulled away from her and looked at her face. She didn''t seem to be very amused even though he was trying to make the situation lighter.
"It''s not like it''s my funeral yet. Don''t make it sound like I''m going to already need to be reced before anything even happens." She told her younger brother who smiled at her.
"Absolutely not but it never hurts to add some incentive to make sure you have additional reasons to take sure youe back safely. With Samuel as well because I quite like him and I''m not sure so I would be willing to approve of anyone else." Lena paused for a second when he said this before a bitter smile appeared on her face.
"Well as it stands, there might be someone else who has to approve of the engagement before we can move further it. So you might want to be careful of what you say before everything was." Leo was going to ask what she meant by that but didn''t get a chance before her phone buzzed, a sign that she had received a text. Most likely from Jovani which meant that it was about time for everything to start.
Chapter 135 - Heading Off
What Jovani had sent her in the text message an address and the time of when he expected her to be there by. Looking at the address she had no idea where it was until she put it into GPS. IT was in a part of New Jersey that she hadn''t frequented much. Her father had an idea of where it was as he had been in the area in the past but not enough to know where exactly it was.
Out of precaution, she decided to use a secondary device for the GPS just to make sure that she didn''t have to worry about having her phone tracked if she had her location on. It would take her two and a half hours to reach the location which partly made sense to her as to why he said that it wouldn''t have worked for her toe the night before- she''d have been there in the middle of the night.
This didn''t matter much to her if it meant that she could get Samuel back sooner, but if there were things that Jovani wanted to have together before they met, he would most likely need the extra hours for whatever he was nning.
She texted him back to let him know that she had gotten the address but made no mention of when she would be heading there. That was at least a small advantage she could give herself even though he probably knew the general time frame of how long it would take her.
Not knowing where she was going also meant that she was going to have to rely on keeping in touch with him in order to make sure that she ended up at the correct location in the right amount of time. She didn''t like it one bit, but there wasn''t much she could do about it since she really wasn''t in much of position to barter for something better with Jovani.
She didn''t have any intention however in wasting time in leaving. The sooner she left, the sooner everything could be taken care of hopefully in the best way possible for the current situation. Zane was the only who decided to follow her outside of the estate to where the car was waiting. Clive had taken the driver''s position already and Romeo was going to be taking the back seat with the intention of the princess sitting in the middle in as much of a protective position possible.
"Before you go, take these." Zane told her as he held out something for her to take. Lena held out her in which he ce two ear buds.
"I have Hester modify themst night so that you could maintain touch with us at least until you get there so we can know exactly where you are if the signal is bad." Zane exined.
"I don''t expect that you would be able to take them in with you because of the suspicion it would draw as to why you have them when you''re supposed to be alone, but it''s just an extra precaution in case something happens before or while you''re there. We''ll have a better idea of exactly where you are if you exin." Lena nodded her head before she ced them in her pocket, she would put them on once she was in the car.
"If all goes well, I expect to be back before night fall." She told her father as she turned to leave.
"Try not to worry or act out of hand before then. Try instead to focus on all the other things that you need to get done that have been put off." She told him as she gave him a wave before getting into the car.
Zane knew that he was going to have to go back inside soon, but he didn''t want to until he was no longer able to see the car driving away. He knew that Lena was more than capable of protecting herself and she had two others who were more than qualified for what they were heading into. He didn''t like the fact however that it felt too much like what he had been through in the past. He didn''t want things to end badly so his daughter had to go through the same situation a second time but on the same level that he had gone through. All he could do though was wait to see what happened.
The princess sighed and closed her eyes once she was in the car, leaning her head back against the seat. Even though there was still so much going she felt herself starting to get exhausted as the adrenaline was wearing off.
"Is everything already correctly in ce?" She asked Romeo without opening her eyes as she reached into her pocket to grab one of the ear buds out.
"Yes princess, we''ve made sure to take all of the precautionary measures that you requested. There shouldn''t be much to worry about if everything goes as straight forward as it seems." He replied.
"Hm. Good." She responded as she put the ear bud in her left ear tapping it twice to turn it on.
"Is it working and can you hear me clearly?" She asked, speaking in a low voice as she wasn''t certain how sensitive they were to sound.
"Loud and clear. It seems that they are working even better than expected." Hester was the one who replied to her first.
"Do you have both of them in?" Her father cut in afterwards.
"No, I only put one in right now." Lena replied.
"Try to keep both of them in, it makes it a little easier to hear." Hester instructed as she heard a tapping sound in the background which was most likely him doing something on hisputer as she put the second earbud in.
"I added a little something extra that I think will work nicely. Even if you have to turn them off, I add a micro tracking device inside so that we might be able to track you once you''re inside. You just have to keep them on your body." He told. Her father''s voice muted on the other end of the device told her that the GPS was most likely working.
"I''ll make sure to do that then." Lena assured them. Knowing how good Hester''s skills were, if she had thought about it she would''ve requested that he somehow put a tracking device on Samuel himself. It would''ve made him easier to find no matter where he ended up. Zane sounded like he was getting ready to say something before Lena cut in and said what she was pretty sure was on his mind.
"Don''t worry also, I remember what you told me before about making sure to keep my emotions in check no matter what situation I find myself dealing with unless I have the upper-hand. I won''t do anything reckless." Although she said that now while things were calm, she wasn''t certain that she could keep that in mind depending on what situation faced her when she reached the location that she was supposed to head to.
"Right. It''s the most important thing for you to keep in mind no matter what happens. I know how your emotions are, but if you lose it and can''t keep yourself in check it won''t do you or Samuel any good." He replied in that tone he used when he wanted to make sure that she really did understand what he was saying.
"I know, I know. I learned from some of the best teachers. I''m not going to forget such things easier." She replied inwardly rolling her eyes. Her father never showed this same type of concern when it came to her brother.
Right now though she just wanted silence more than talking. Even though she knew that she wasn''t really going to be able to sleep, she wanted to just be able to breath and rest her eyes before anything happened. She also wanted be of much help if she was too mentally tired to focus on what she needed to.
There wasn''t too much for her to do anyways since she was going to be stuck in the car for the next two hours. There was no point in bringing or trying to focus on any type of work with the current state of things. James would be more than capable of handling things that she needed to take care over the weekend and into next week.
She already knew that she was going to need a few days to breath after everything was settled before she would be able to head back to work. Part of that was her own sanity and the other part was because she didn''t know what to expect next. In a matter of only a day the whole world around her had shifted in way that she couldn''t have ever expected it to. It wasn''t something that was going to be easily handled either.
Chapter 136 - Destination
The two hours passed by Faster than Lena had expected them to as the timer she had set on her watch caused her wrist to vibrate. It was the best way she thought to keep track of how long passed and when she needed to really pay attention to her surroundings fornd marks and anything else that would indicate the area she was in.
Clive had insisted on taking one of the unmarked cars they went out in for general trips in order to not stand out since they were moving into territory that was outside of their own. The windows were also tinted enough that they didn''t have to worry about anyone being able to see in from the outside. The princess was thankful for this when she noticed how crowded the area that they were was.
"It looks like from what I can tell we''re in eastern Jersey. Somewhere outside of West New York perhaps, I can''t really tell because I''m not seeing anything distinct that''s sticking out to me." She told them as she looked around. Aside from therge crowds and other vehicles, all of the buildings that she could see looked like all the other building that she had seen in Jersey.
"That sounds fairly urate from what I am seeing here on the GPS. It looks like so far even though you''re getting closer that your signal isn''t glitching yet." Hester told her while he was double checking everything on his end.
"I''ll let you know if anything changes, but just keep an eye out for anything that I might be able to mark. I''m doing what I can see here from what I can tell based on the map, but that''s not as urate as what you can see there."
"Right." She replied as she kept looking around. It felt somehow being outside of her territory and entering another. Most of the business she had been involved in had never required her to step foot into another groups territory.
Even though nothing in the outside world appeared any different from the territory that the Red Scorpions was over, the air somehow felt different and she was certain that she wasn''t the only one in the car that felt this way. Clive and Romeo had more experience that she did in working in different territories, but the tension was still thick because it was hard to tell what or who could be trusted in such situations.
Not being able to find anything distinct to tell Hester, she decided instead to work on reading off the street signs that they passed by instead so that it was at least urate to track that way up until the point that she needed to text Jovani and ask what she should be looking for.
There was a few minutes of silence following the text that she sent as he didn''t reply right away for whatever reason, but when he did respond she didn''t feel that the text helped her that much. The only directions that he gave her was to keep going forward for another mile before taking the next two rights, another mile and she should see what she was looking for. Was the building that obvious? Or was it something else that she should''ve been looking for that?
"Considering the direction that we are heading in princess I can''t help but wonder if what we will be looking for is something akin to a warehouse." Clive broke the silence after she had ryed the directions to him. It made the most sense considering the direction that they were heading in.
"That will perhaps be the case, but nothing really good happens when the meeting ce is determined to be a warehouse." The princess replied with a wry smile, momentarily forgetting that her father and anyone else on the other end of the phone could hear what she was saying.
She knew though that her father wouldn''t like hearing what kind of ce she was heading to. Warehouses tended to be dark and risky. Too much space and too many dark corners that would make it easy for someone to hide in if they so desired to do so. For those who knew their way around it they were granted an amazing advantage but for those who didn''t know what they were stepping into- it could end up being their death sentence.
Lena was too tense herself though as the minutes went by to say anything to assure her father who she was certain was over worrying that everything would be okay. Even though nothing had happened and it didn''t seem that any cars were following them- at the back of her mind the idea that it was a trap still was lurking which caused her to be on high alert to all the little things she noticed around her.
Clive had pretty much been right on the money when he suggested it might be a warehouse they were heading to, except that it looked like it had been modified in some ways. It was certainly out of the way from the rest of the traffic, but yet discrete at the same to anyone who would notice wouldn''t think that there was anything suspicious about it if they came around the area. Lena got the feeling though this was only a rendezvous point rather then were the main part of the territory was located.
She exined to her father where they were at but didn''t get as far as messaging Jovani for what was expected next when she got a text from him presuming that it had been long enough for her to reach where he had instructed. He had more instructions for her that included a code and to head around to the back of the building because the front entrance wasn''t for guests. She wasn''t quite sure what he meant by that but wouldn''t take a risk in trying.
Without saying anything to anyone she shut off the earbuds she had been wearing and put them in one of her jacket pockets. Now that she was actually here she wouldn''t be able to talk with anyone anyways and didn''t want to risk anything being picked up if she left them on. Now she would just have to brace herself for whatever she would be getting into once she got inside.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 137 - Game
When the car parked where Lena suspected was the back of the building she signaled for Clive and Romeo to stay inside the vehicle while she got out to head towards what she believed must''ve been the door.She didn''t think that there was any reason to let Jovani know she was there, she figured that once she input the code that the security system would let him know that someone was getting ready to enter the building.
Even though there didn''t seem to be anything to be worried about, that didn''t stop her from touching where the breast pocket where her jacket was to make sure that her gun was still there. The fact that there was no one else around somehow also made her feel more on edge. She had expected that someone would''ve been assigned to meet her rather than for her to just invite herself inside.
The code for the door was an eight digit number which she presumed had some type of significance either to Jovani or Vedova Nera, what it was though she didn''t know. ncing down as she put the numbers in she double checked that everything looked correct before she pressed the button to confirm the code. A beep followed her action along with arge sound as thoughpressed air had just been released as the door unlocked itself.
She waited for a moment to make sure that nothing would happen before she indicated that it was safe for Clive and Romeo to follow her. Her father would''ve probably been displeased if he knew that she was the one to go forward first rather than either of the other two, but she was focused on doing everything in a way that was mostfortable to her.Once they were both with the princess however, they nked her to make sure that she would be protected as they entered the building as they weren''t sure what to expect.
They had hardly stepped through the door before another beep sounded and the automatic lights turned on lighting up the ce rather brightly. The sudden shift caused Clive''s automatic reflexes to kick in and he had to stop himself from grabbing his gun out of his holster in a protective reflexive reaction to the unexpected noise. To their right Lena noticed that there was a coffee table that had a bowl with a note in it.
Stepping over, she grabbed the piece of paper that was rather thickpared to what she had expected. Unfolding it she found that there were four different pieces of paper folded up inside. Looking at the first page she read what it said carefully.
"Congrattions! If you are reading this note that means you''ve made it to the starting point of this game. I understand that this might not have been what you were expecting, but considering the ball is in my court- I thought that we should go with something a little more fun than a traditional meeting exchange style setup." Lena felt her annoyance build as she read the note, she wasn''t here to y so game no matter what the circumstances were!
"Rx while you read this. I can assure you that I made the instructions as clear as I possible could based upon the most likely scenarios ahead of us meeting. See below for the next set of instructions." Looking below this text Lena saw three different numbers each with a different set of instructions which read as such.
1. If the princess is alone, skip to page two and proceed.
2. If the princess has brought one guard with her, skip to page three and proceed.
3. If the princess has little trust and determined to bring two guards with her, skip to page four and proceed.
Since she was impatient and didn''t have time to read through each page, she skipped to the fourth one as Clive and Romeo read over her shoulder. Even if Samuel was perfectly safe and fine when she got to him, she might just kill Jovani anyways after all the annoyance and problems he was causing her.
The next set of instructions weren''t much better and she didn''t like it one bit that he was using this as an advantage to toy with her and technically the rest of her family through his actions.
"If you''re reading this then I take it to mean you brought two of your trusted men with you. Pity, I had hoped that the two of us would just be able to meet alone and settle things. None the less- we shall have the game begin."
"All three of you will have a different set of directions to follow if you want to proceed forward. It wouldn''t be very fair to have you all work together so instead, you will have different tasks within the building toplete." He intended to have them split up and on their own no matter whether she brought someone with her or not.
"This is only the initial instructions, each one of you can find the next in the room that I assign you to head towards. Don''t worry too much though, you can still be in contact with each other if you brought phones with you. Although I will say no contact from the outside can be initiated while you''re here."
"To make the directions easier, I gave each yer a role as well. The princess will be the presumed queen, the right hand man will be the bishop, and the second will be the knight. The bishop''s direction is to head to the left but consider which door is best to enter, there are three rooms. For the Knight, it''s to the right and pay attention to the amount of steps you take if you want to find the clue you''re looking for." The next set of directions went further down to which exined the rules for the queen.
"The queen is free to move however she likes. She can chose to move independent of the other two pieces, go with one of them or chose her own right. Her directions regardless of how she moves is to meet me first before the other two tasks areplete. Use your best judgement to determine where I might be or what direction to take to reach the route the fastest. I have high expectations for you so I expect that two hours would be more than enough time to do all of this. I''ll be waiting~" Lena sighed as she read thest part.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 138 - Following The Instructions
Lena read through the instructions one more time. Taking them in carefully to make sure that there was nothing she had missed from reading them the first time. Two hours felt like it would be more than enough time, but that as basing it off the fact that she didn''t expect the warehouse or whatever type of building that they were in to be thatrge.
"Princess, what do you think the best course of action to take would be?" Romeo was the first one to speak up after she remained silent once the instructions were read.
"I''m not sure that it would be the best idea for us to split up since we don''t know where are or what to expect." He continued, stopping only when she raised her hand to let him know that she wanted to speak.
"Based upon how Jovani is running this, I don''t think we have much of a choice or say over this. I''m not anymore thrilled than either of you two are to be splitting up but it doesn''t really seem like there''s much of a choice." Lena replied as she folder the paper back up and put in her pocket.
"Since it would appear to be based after chess, the nest ce to start would be moving in the way that chess pieces move across the board. Clive would be the bishop and Romeo you''re the night. Me being the queen would mean that there isn''t much limitations to the way that I can move." She looked around the building as she said this. There didn''t really seem like there were any other clues to help her out in as to what direction that she should go in.
"If that is the idea we are working from, then it would be safe to presume that young sir Samuel would perhaps be the king, the piece that needs protection and the end goal would lead us to him." Clive surmised as he tried to consider everything that he had just read.
"That would seem to be the case. But protecting him would probably only be possible within the two hour limit that he gave us. What happens after that I don''t want to find out." The princess replied as she turned away from the coffee table.
The only other way to head in the room was a door that was ced near the right corner. She presumed that it was after they went through this door that they would be required to split up to find their clues andplete whatever tasks Jovani was going to assign to them.
Not feeling that there was really anything else to discuss, she made her way over to the door to open it wanting to waste as little time as possible since they didn''t know what to expect next. Clive and Romeo followed closely behind, both on alert as she opened the door.
As she had expected it lead to anotherrge room which had three doors at the end. One in the middle, one on the right, and one on the left. She tsked as she saw this. Someone had certainly gone through a lot of trouble to convert this warehouse into something more secure. Outside of the little game that they were being forced to y, she presumed that it was done to throw off any potential intruders who thought that they could sneak inside.
"Well. It seems like we each get to pick a door. Since you two know which way you''re supposed to go, I will chose the one in the middle."She told them as she looked between the three of them. It felt a bit too obvious, but she was sure there were something extra behind each door that they would have to deal with.
"Before that though, make sure that each of your phones are working in case we need to get in touch." She told them as she pulled her own phone out of her pocket.
As she made sure that she could text the other two, she noticed that she had gotten another text from Jovani as well which simply read ''Make sure as you''re going through this you keep in mind the way a queen should move in order to protect the most important piece on the door.''.
She wasn''t sure if it was supposed to be some type of hint or just something sent to annoy her, but either way she wasn''t sure what he meant by that nor did she care to respond since she had something more important to take care of in front of her.
Clive and Romeo were both reluctant to take the other two doors that would lead them away from the princess they were supposed to protect, but since it was required to move forward, there wasn''t much choice for them. Being able to text both and forth only helped them to feel slightly better.
Clive was the first one to leave the room, determining that it was better to do it slightly staggered in case anything unexpected happened. Once a minute had passed since he left, Romeo was the second one to leave making sure once more before he left that the princess would be safe.
Lena however didn''t wait as long after Romeo left before she opened the door that she was supposed to go through. She didn''t see any point in waiting since she was left on her own anyways. The lights in the room that she entered weren''t as brightly light as the one she had juste from, but there was enough light for her to see where she was.
There were no doors in this room, only an entrance and two hallways leading in different directions. On the wall opposite of where she stood there was a stand that held another folded piece of paper much to her distaste.
Looking down each side hall as she came over to grab the piece of paper she couldn''t help but think that it reminded her somehow of a building that would''ve been used for one of the many horror movies that she had watched while growing. Dimly light and unknown as though there would be something horrible lurking down one of the halls that could only exist in one''s nightmare.
In the sense there was, but it wasn''t the type of horror that took ce in fictional movies. Because this type of horror was one where real people would die and wouldn''t have any chance of defying the odds anding back to life if something happened.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 139 - Riddles
Stepping forward, Lena grabbed the piece of paper out and unfolded.
"Based upon the presumption that directions were followed the reader of this should be the queen. If so, continue forward and determine what the next best step would be."
That was the length of the instruction on the note with nothing else written on either side of the paper. How was that supposed to help her know what she needed to do?
Aside from the two different hallways in the room, there was no clues or guide as to what she was supposed to do next. She had to decide between right and left but nothing to help her decide. Even a coin to flip would''ve been beneficial at this point.
The goal of the queen was to protect the king as it was the only other free moving piece on the board. The problem was however that she had no idea where exactly the king was in building.
She finally decided on going left as her instincts told her that was the best direction to choose. She didn''t know if that was true or not, but it worked for her.
By appearance the left side looked slightly darker and more difficult to go through. She could see what was in front of her but not much else past that.
There noises throughout the hall that indicated how old the building was based upon the creaking and other sounds that it was making in the walls. How itsted this long was a wonder to her.
She made sure as she walked further down to keep an eye on the walls and other surrounding areas for any small detail she might''ve been quick to overlook. The only thing that she noticed was that the further in she went, the hotter it was bing. She couldn''t afford to take off her jacket however because she didn''t want to lose easy ess to her gun. She was just going to have to deal with it for the time being until she could figure out where she was at.
She didn''t have to walk much further before she came to the end where two more doors were located. One lead straight and the other was to her right. She was conflicted on which one to choose.
Naturally she thought that forward would be the most logical way forward because it usually was the shortest distance from point A to point B. She wasn''t certain that was the case in this situation however. Thinking about the way she would move if she was ying chess and had her limited board to help her win made her feel like choosing the door to the right was the better choice since it was simr in her mind to choosing a diagonal direction would be the most logical move to close distance.
Upon entering the from, she couldn''t stop herself from flinching when the door closed behind her without her touching it which was rather disconcerting. Following this, she also got a text from Romeo stating that he had for now hit a dead end on what he was supposed to do next. He had been given a riddle and needed time to figure out how to solve it.
Riddles now? This felt more like someone was bored and wanted to y a game rather than them dealing with a serious life and death situation. What did a riddle even have to do with why Jovani wanted anything to do with her and Samuel?
Thinking about it too much was going to give her a headache as she was already feeling the fatigue from the other day weighing on her. Lack of sleep was not very beneficial to her in the current situation and the heat the further she moved into the building wasn''t helping. It probably indicated less airflow based upon the way that it was structured.
The bright lights didn''t help either beyond making it so that she wasn''t having to move throughplete darkness. The princess didn''t worry any less though about where she was stepping as she wouldn''t discount the risk of any kind of trap being set until she made it through the whole building.
The hall ended shortly as she came to another door that was locked and required the same key that she had used to open the back door of the building. Until it was opened she was slightly skeptical as to whether she had just been lead in a circle or not. When it opened however, she saw that it lead into another small room.The door once again closed behind her and this time locked.
It was a rather small room with a chair and table in it, no other doors were apparent but unlike the other dark colored walls that she had been through thus far, this room had white walls. The only problem she saw was that there appeared to be no way ahead, the only door visible was the one that she just came through and locked behind. This perhaps wasn''t a good a sign in the slightest.
Seeing no other option, she decided to take a seat in the chair and look at what was on the table. Besides the piece of paper was a bottle of water. Although it looked as though it hadn''t been open or touched, Lena knew better than to take such things from a potential enemy whose goals she didn''t quite understand yet.
She texted the other two to see what was going on as she let them know she hade across her own riddle now, two of them actually.
The first one was: what is it that a queen can not do that every other piece can?
The second was: I move with purpose, but never far. All willy down their lives for me, though I am rarely violent and none aspire to be me.
Below this the note read: Congrattions if you''ve made this far! You need are a clever one. But, before you can move forward- you need to find the answer to both of these riddles. Once you do look around and I''m sure you''ll figure out where to input them.
Chapter 140 - The Secret Answer
ncing up from the piece of paper, she looked around the room. From what she could see there was absolutely no where in the room for her to input the answer to the riddles on the paper. Was this just another trick to waste time, or was there something she was missing?
She brushed a hand over her forehead, the heat wasn''t helping in the slightest, but she needed to figure out what was going on quickly if she wanted to be able to make it any further long. Clive and Romeo were both in simr situations and although they could stay in touch to know where each other were- they weren''t allowed to help because it was considered cheating.
How was she even supposed to think about chess at that very moment when the biggest concern at the back of her mind was how her fianc¨¦ was doing? Not knowing what kind of situation he was in wasn''t helping her to clear her mind and focus on what was in front of her. At least if she understood what the motivation behind everything was and that Samuel was doing okay, she would be able to better focus on what she was being required to do. Jovani however hadn''t even sent one indication either through picture, video, or voice of where Samuel was or how he was doing.
She couldn''t afford to ask him now though because it would reveal too much of a weakness she couldn''t afford in the current situation. Jovani might''ve already figured out that she cared about him, but revealing the depth of that care would put her at a great disadvantage than the one she was already at. While she didn''t quite care about that for herself, she didn''t want it to be something that put Samuel at a greater risk by knowing how big of a bargaining chip he could be used as.
Right now though she needed to think about what a queen couldn''t do on the chess board that other pieces could do. She had yed chess a number of times when she was younger, but it never had really been her favorite strategy game. She hated how restricted the movements of the pieces were and how quickly one could lose the game if they didn''t pay attention to how the enemy pieces moved around the king. Most of the time she only yed it because she knew it had been one of her mother''s favorites.
That was years ago though, so all of that information wasn''t so fresh in her head and she couldn''t even ask her father about it even though he knew the most about chess in the family. She would have to really think about it.
The next riddle wasn''t any easier either. It seemed illogical to her that there was someone everyone would want toy their life down for, but not want to aspire to be at the same time. Wasn''t it the case that the people you were willing toy your life down for were the ones you aspired to be the most likely because of how much you respected and admired them?
Perhaps that was only how it worked in her world though. Samuel wasn''t violent, but there were people who wouldy down his life for him. His parents being one, or so she thought at least. The other would those who worked for Lena, not so much though because of who he was as much as because they knew who he was to the Princess. Although she never did, she was unsure if anyone aspired to be like him or not. It seemed like too much of a silly obvious answer though for the riddle to be modeled after him.
She couldn''t even tell by the way the question was structed if it had anything to do with chess or not. It could''ve been a riddle rted to somethingpletely different but used together to throw her off. The pressure of the fact that she only had an hour left to figure everything out wasn''t helping her either.
Leaning back in the chair, she closed her eyes so that she could try and focus on what she needed to think about. She knew the information about the first riddle, it was just a matter of thinking about to how she used to y chess and what she learned when she was younger. She yed it enough that the information wasn''t lost, she just had to dig to bring it back to the front of her mind.
The second riddle would be more problematic, but the answer couldn''t be impossible if she could figure out what the first one was. Maybe there was a clue imbedded somewhere that she was missing. The only thing that hade to her mind was the text that Jovani had sent here- the reminder that she needed to think how a queen would move. That wasn''t much help though because the riddle already told her that was what she needed to focus on.
It was also problematic because required her to focus on things that she would rather not think about right now. She didn''t want to dig around in memories from the past because of what they meant to her. She knew it was necessary, but it didn''t make it any easier.
She just knew in order to find out the secret answer to the first riddle that she would need to think through the past to remember chess. It was there and once she could visualize the board and how all the pieces moved- she knew that she would able toe across the answer that she was looking for. With that, she would be half way towards making sure what happened in the past didn''t end up getting repeated in the future. She would make sure that she could get Samuel back safely and protect him from now on forward no matter what looked like.
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Chapter 141 - The Next Part
It took her a while of thinking for her to consider the answer to the first riddle, or what she thought was the right one. But where was she supposed to put it was the next question.
Standing up she began to look around the room again, it didn''t seem to her still that there was any kind of ce to put the answer to the question. There was no door, no panel that she could see on the wall to type anything into, noputer or device to interact. What was Jovani expect her to do? He could''ve at least included some type of better hint in his riddle since there was nothing obvious sticking out to her.
She found herself tsking again as she felt along the walls for a third time. Nothing was still sticking out to her. How much damn free time did this man have to work on something like this? It was utterly ridiculous. Sitting back down at the table she tried to think again what she could be missing. She needed to get past this and figure out the second riddle in less than an hour if she wanted to make the time frame she was being constrained to.
Staring at the piece of paper on the table, she noted that the only thing that she hadn''t moved since entering the room was the bottle of water. She didn''t think that there was any reason to touch it or anything because she wasn''t going to drink it and it seemed there was no reason to pay it much attention. Maybe there was something about it that Jovani had done taking into consideration that she wouldn''t touch it?
The princess tilted her head she looked at it. She didn''t think that there was anything different about itpared to any other bottle of water that she had seen. Nheless though, she picked it up from its position and looked it over. Thebel looked perfectly normal as though it hadn''t been messed with and there didn''t seem to be anything inside the bottle either. Was that not the answer either?
Putting it on the ground she felt over the table. If there was something she was missing, it had to have been ced in an obvious area that one wouldn''t generally think about. The surface of the table didn''t feel odd either. Although there did appear to be an more heavy spot in the middle of the table that didn''t feel right to her.
She was going to have to flip the table over if she wanted to find out what it was, she just hoped that she didn''te face to face with some type of explosive. Perhaps not realistic but a concern that came from reading one too many mystery novels that ced heroes in such situations that seemed almost impossible and required them to go down to the wire to figure out a riddle that seemed impossible to solve yet they would somehow managed to do mere seconds before the bomb was set to go off.
Carefully putting the table on it''s side and flipping it over, the princess didn''te face to face with a bomb, but instead it was a chess board that looked like it had been modified. There was a button in the middle that indicated that it needed to be pressed. When Lena did an annoying mechanical and squeaky voice began to speak from the chess board.
"Ho, ho. It seems you found where I hide the board. It seems like I will have to do a better job next time. Now that you have found it- you only have three chances to pick the right answer to the riddles. If you fail- well I''m sure you won''t but I can''t promise that you will like the consequences!" The voiceughed at the end. There was a pause before the voice continued.
"It seems you need directions since you''re not moving. In order to answer the riddle, you need to indicate either the pieces or moves that cannot be made based upon the riddles that you encountered. The system is set up to know if guess them right by the piece you first pick and the movement that follows." despite the annoying sound of the voice, the instructions seemed fairly straight forward to her. She just needed to make sure that she would input the answer to the riddle that she thought was correct.
She licked her bottom lip as she kneeled on the floor. She needed to be careful about what she was doing in order to make sure that shepleted it perfectly without mistakes. The first step to that was picking the queen piece and doing what she believed was the right way to show what moves it couldn''t make. It was done slow and thoughtfully because she didn''t want to make a mistake. A chiming noise followed her ce the queen back where she began. Based upon the green checkmark that followed, she could only presume that meant that she did it right.
The next one though she still wasn''t sure about. The riddle didn''t make one bit of sense to her, but her hand automatically reached out to the king because it was the only piece she could think of that anyone wouldy down their life for even though in her mind everyone would want to aspire to be a king because of the status and power that came with it.
She had hardly lifted the piece before another chime sounded indicating that she had gotten the answer right. The next part that happened was unexpected. Without warning the floor beneath her shifted and opened up. It was such a sudden and quick action that she couldn''t stop the curse that came out of her mouth as she found herself falling downward. She didn''t even have a chance to react before she found herself falling down something dark that she could only imagine would''ve been a chute.
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Chapter 142 - Bravo
Although the descent most likely onsted a matter of seconds. The darkness that engulfed her as she fell downward felt like itsted far longer before she reached the end. Not having a chance to collect herself, Lena tumbled out on her back, wincing slightly as she hit a hard floor. The sudden brightness contrast from the darkness she was just in made it hard for her to see anything around her as her eyes tried to adjust while she collected herself and moved so that she could stand up.She stopped short of fully standing when she heard the sound of someone pping behind her.
"Bravo! I must admit you did a much better job than I had expected you to." Even though she wasn''t quite able to see the other person, she recognized the voice to belong to Jovani from the call she had with him the previous night.
"As expected of the queen, you did that much quicker than I had expected. I suppose I could''ve give you a tighter time frame to work with. That might''ve made it more fun." Once her eyes had adjust she saw that he was sitting in a ratherfortable looking armchair on the opposite side of the room from where she was now standing.
The room waspletely empty aside from the chair Jovani was using, everything else appeared as though it had either been cleared out or the room had been left empty for one reason or another. The walls were the dark color that didn''t match the room she had just been in and the floor appeared to have been made of concrete. There was two doors positioned on opposite ends of the room.
"What did you think?" Jovani asked as he fixed her with an expectant look which she returned with a re. She didn''t like being made a fool of like this. Especially since based upon his appearance, he seemed far less intimidating that she imaged he would''ve been based upon their phone call.
"Oh now dear, dear princess, don''t give me such a look. I''m sure you''lle to understand sooner rather thanter why all of this is really necessary." He told her as she folded his hands together while his elbows rested on his legs.
He was a man in histe twenties with short ck hair and rather smooth looking face. His eyes seemed friendly enough but there was a glint that spoke of a dangerous edge to his personality as did the smile that was on his face. Although he was sitting, based upon how long his legs were, it was evident that he stood around six foot tall and was rather well built. He was wearing a ck suit with matching ck dress pants and boots. His current behavior and aura made it seem much moreid back and careless than someone who belonged to the secondrges mafia group should have been.
"Where''s Samuel?" Lena asked as she took a step towards the other, she had enough of games and wanted to get whatever was going on out of the way. Jovani smirked at her in response to her question.
"You will get to see your fianc¨¦ in due time. Before that however, you''re not quite done. While you have made it this far, I still haven''t gotten a chance to test you yet myself princess." He exined to her, shifting his hands so that he could get ready to stand up.
"I hope that there will be no hard feelings between us, but I''m actual thest part of this you need to get through if you wish to be able to see your dear Sam again."
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" The princess asked as she made sure to maintain a defensive position while waiting to see what the other''s next move would be.
"Why it means exactly what it sounds like- you and I will be having a little sparing match. Just to make sure you''re really capable of taking care of the king. I can''t have him ending up in the wrong hands after all." Jovani exined as he took off his suit top so he was only left in his dress shirt, he began to roll up the sleeves as he continued speaking.
"It really is nothing personal and the rules are fairly straight forward. Hands only, nothing else and the first one to stay down is deemed the winner. No dirty games on my end either. Just a straight forward sparing match. To which I''m sure you''llply if you want to see Sam again. Time is still ticking though I must remind you and based upon my calctions, you only have twenty minutes to figure out what you''re going to do."
"Basically you''re saying I have no choice, but follow through with this?" She asked as she rolled her shoulders back. She hadn''t been expecting this type of situation. Jovani was someone who was definitely strange, but seemed to like to handle things in a more old-fashion waypared to what she had expected. Considering how empty the room looked, it didn''t seem like there was anyone else waiting to ambush her if she agreed to this.
"Pretty much, unless you intend to walk away without him. Which is an option." Jovani replied as he stepped closer to the middle of the room.
"Absolutely not. And you better understand that if anything has happened to him while he has been in your hands-there will be hell to pay in return." Jovani gave her an amused look in response to her warning.
"I see. I guess I will consider whether to take that threat as something to be scared of or not after our match is over." He replied as Lena adjusted her position. The start of the match was always a waiting game- whoever moved first wasn''t always the one with an advantage after all. And Lena wanted to keep a small advantage.
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Chapter 143 - Sparring Match
Seeing that the princess didn''t seem eager to be the one to make the first move. Jovani decided that he would be the first to attack. She most likely was waiting him out in hopes of being able to assess his ability before she made her first move. She certainly was a bright one.
? The first strike Jovani did was a soft hit that was aimed towards the left side of her face which he presumed as her less dominant side. She was quick to react to this thought and ducked to the side and hit out with her left hand. He felt it brush against his cheek, but it didn''t quite hit the mark.
He countered with another quick strike aimed at the inside of her right shoulder towards her chest. It wasn''t a very effective ce to hit for damage but center mass was always easier to strike. She brought her right arm up to block it and push back.
The sparring continued like this for a few minutes. Lena was much better at aiming than Jovani was she began to get a feel for the way he moved. He mostly held a defensive position while she was on the offensive. He didn''t miss though how unlike him, she moved to avoid hitting anywhere vital, was it on purpose or subconsciously he didn''t know. The distracting thought was enough for him to be thrown off from missing her next move.
Taking advantage of the open position he had put himself in, rather than aiming with her arms, she kicked out with her left leg aiming to hit the lower half of his right one. Jovani hissed, he had moved enough so that her boot didn''t fully make contact with this shin, but not enough topletely dodge the hit.
"Steel toed boots princess, you really dide prepared." Hemented as he was quick to shift the weight off his leg and onto that other to do a well rounded kick aimed at her non-dominant side. She was quick to block with her arm which diffused some of the force of the blow, but she was surprised by how heavily the weight behind the kick was- he was taking this just as seriously as she was.
If he had been a smaller opponent, she would''ve been able to use such a position to her advantage to use a hip or shoulder throw, but because of he was built, she knew it wouldn''t be possible especially since she wasn''t in top condition due to theck of sleep from the night before. He didn''t give her much of a chance to react once she had pushed him back as he step forward into the momentum with a jab that was aimed at her stomach.
She braced herself for that as she tried to step back without stumbling knowing that it was a hard hit to miss since she didn''t have enough time to recover. His fighting style was a mixed one that didn''t cause him to refrain from hitting weak points. The best she could was twist her body enough so that the blow wouldn''t directly hit her stomach. The concrete floor at least helped to less some of the friction that came from such sudden moves.
If he had no problem using more street style fighting in this type of match, then she could match him on that. Lurching forward at the same time he was set to hit her stomach, she head butted him rather roughly under the chin. It wasn''t as well aimed or prepared as she wanted which meant that she also felt some of the recoil from hitting him so hard. It was enough to knock him back over and deflect some of the strength of the blow though she was still fairly certain she would have a bruise on her stomachtter on.
The next move that had happenedpletely caught her off guard. Despite being slightly disoriented from the hit, he grabbed the arm closes to him and pulled her back with him. She knew that it was meant for him to angle fora throw. One that she wasn''t going to have much of a chance to stop because of her position. Her bnce wasn''t just right for her to be able to dig her feet in to stop it or pull back. She could only brace herself when she felt the lift from the throw and try to make sure she didn''t hit her back fully on the floor.
She managed to angle herself so that the primary weight of the thrownded on her right shoulder. She winced at the pain that shot through it. She didn''t think that it was broken, but Jovani''s toss had hardly been a light one and the position left her in a rather tight stop knowing that being on the floor was one of the most vulnerable positions in these type of situations plus the clock was ticking down every second closer.
If she had longer time she knew that she would''ve been able to handle him quite well. But she didn''t have the time and she knew it was running out. She hardly thought that she would lose, but she didn''t want to risk anything happening to Samuel. Thus before he had a chance to make his next move which would''ve most likely been a pin or kick based upon their position.
She pulled her gun at the same time he turned around. The safety was still in ce, but it would take hardly anything for her to remove it and fire before he had a chance to react and grab it due to their positions. Jovani smirked in response to this but made no move to do anything.
"Quite a well yed move there, princess. I guess I shouldn''t have been expecting anything less from you." He told her, taking a slight step back in order to respect the space around her. Considering how serious she was taking everything. He didn''t doubt for one second that she would pull the trigger if he gave her a reason to.
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Chapter 144 - How Dare You
Lena didn''t move to get up at first until she heard the click of the door behind signaling that someone else had entered the room.
"Oh what grand timing, now the most important pieces are here." The princess didn''t quite know what he was talking about until she tilted her head to look behind her. She realized that Clive had walked through the door that was behind her. Righting herself so that she could get a better look while making sure to keep her gun focused on the other, she nced over to the door at the same time both Romeo and Samuel stepped through. On the other side the door opened as Jovani''s other two men came into the room as well.
Samuel was okay, or at least alive. It took her a few seconds of looking at him to process the fact that he wasn''t quite alright. She didn''t miss the bruise on his face or the way he held his wrist close to his body as though it had been hurt. She doubted that was the only injury that he had either by the way he held himself.
Lena''s chest was tight and it was making it hard for her to see straight when she take note of all this. She was trying to reign in her breathing as she gritted her teeth while turning an intense re on to the man standing in front of her. He had hurt him. Despite being family, he had actually hurt Samuel.
Neither one of them blinked or looked away as they stayed locked staring at each other. Jovani was far more at easy than Lena was in this situation, but he wasn''t about to break gazes with the small queen in front of her despite the gun that was point directly at the middle of his forehead. He could tell by her expression and aura that she meant business, but it wasn''t quite a high enough level to intimidate him.
Samuel wanted to step between them, but Clive and Romeo kept him in ce to make sure that he stayed safe. Certainly he was hurt, but it wasn''t that bad and he wanted to stop Lena before she did something rash.
"Lena! I''m fine, it''s okay!" He called out as he tried to get her attention. Her gaze didn''t falter however as she only slightly nced back at him.
"You''re not okay. Your arm is hurt and your covered in bruises." She replied ck. This man would pay for what he did, she didn''t care if he was rted to Samuel or not. He didn''t deserve to live if he could do such a thing to a rtive.
"Lena, I am telling you, it''s okay. I know what you''re thinking, but you can stand down." Samuel tried to reason with the princess who''s attention hadpletely shifted back to the man in front of her. He motioned for the two acting as body guards to step to the side so that he could move closer to Lena. Both were hesitant toply with this request as they didn''t know how Lena would react to him being so close.
Not only that, but the bodyguards behind Jovani were getting antsy as well. Unlike Romeo and Clive, they didn''t have guns, but that didn''t mean that they still didn''t poise a threat if they moved first.Clive was the first one to signal against his better judgment to let Samuel approach the princess despite the deadly aura that she was giving. He also didn''t want this to result in a war if the princess went through with shooting the other.
"Lena, really it''s okay. J, Jovani wasn''t the one who did this to me." She nced over at him as he spoke but not enough to break eye contact with the other who was letting her know by his poise that he didn''t intend to cause any further disturbance. It could hardly have been considered a harmless or conceding posture however which she didn''t like.
She wanted to shoot him right then and there for what happened, but Samuel was certain had never seen anyone be killed before and for some reason that she didn''t understand he was actually speaking in defense of this worthless human that was standing in front of her.
"Lena." Samuel tried again, his tone more level as he attempted to get her attention. He wanted to exin things to her before she did something that was unnecessary. She didn''t want him to kill anyone on his behalf. He was going to try and grab the gun from her but before he had a chance, she clicked the safety back in ce.However, rather than moving the gun away, she just shifted the position and struck Jovani in the face rather roughly with the butt of the gun.
He flinched and recoiled back in response to this as he hadn''t been expecting this. His hands immediately shot up to his nose in a protective manner although he was fairly certain it was broken when he felt the blood start to run.
Following this, Samuel pushed Lena back before she had a chance to do anything else as one of Jovani''s guards, most likely Russo stepped forward to hand him something to steam the blood.
"Well yed princess." He told her in a strained tone as he put the handkerchief over his face. The expression on her face told him that she felt he deserved far worse than that, but was keeping it in check because Samuel was there.
"Lena, enough. I''m right here so there''s nothing else you need to do. Let him be so that we can talk over everything." Samuel insisted as he tried to step between the two of them. She shot him a questioning look that told him she hardly understood why he was defending the other person, but he just kept her fixed with a determined stare that told him that she was okay to stand down because they needed to talk.
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Chapter 145 - Discussion And Unexpected Answers
She didn''t like it, but she turned around and motioned for Clive toe over and take the gun from her before she did something else that she might regrettter.
"You have ten minutes to exin everything to me if you want me to decide if your life is worth sparing." Lena said as she turned back around to the other two. She had already wasted enough time on everything that had been going on and now that Samuel was there with her and she could see for herself that he was still alive though worse for wear, he body was starting to shut down from everything. The pain and exhaustion was starting to sink in more.
"How about we reschedule for another?" Jovani suggested as he winced from the pain of his nose.
"Emotions are high it would seem right now and there is a lot to discuss. I will be honest and say that I think that you''re more than capable of making sure that he is well taken care of now that I can see what you can do first hand." He told her. His throbbing nose would be a reminder for quite a while of that.
"This isn''t some kind of fun and game situation here. You started something and you don''t just get to back out when you feel that you''re being over powered. I said that I expect an exnation." The princess told as she felt her temper rising due to his behavior change.
"Lena, I think he''s right. I''m not the only that''s not in the best condition here. It looks like you need to go back and rest for a while yourself. Everything will be exined. I promise, but I think for both of our sakes it would be better to do this another day." She gave him a look in response to what he was saying as though she couldn''t believe the suggestion that he was making. She didn''t go through all of this hell and stress to recover Samuel and not actually deal with the root of the problem that caused everything.
"Please?" He tried, giving her a soft look as he put her hand on his shoulder.
"I can tell you what I know when we get back, but there really is a lot to exin. I think Jovani already understands that what he did regardless of the reason he did it for was a mistake." He said thest part as he nced over his shoulder at the other person.
"Indeed. I didn''t actually expect that you would go through everything, but it seems that your fondness for him run deeper than I thought. I must also give you credit for the skills that you have been teaching him. I was unware of the fact that he knew how to defend himself." Jovani added causing the princess to re at him again. He put his hand up as a sign of defense before he spoke again.
"If it helps you to feel better, the person who was responsible for breaking protocol and resulted in Sam being hurt and your other man being in the hospital has been correctly disciplined already. But if it would feel better, I can hand him over to you to do as you please." He offered but all Lena didn''t in response was give him a look of distaste.
"If you can''t even handle your own men, what made you think that you had a right to take someone you don''t even know that well but you deem family? He could''ve died because of your ineptness thoughtlessness." She told him rather harshly.
"I will not deny that I may have miscalcted how my men would behave. The young ones are always a touch too zealous and eager to rise in the ranks that they sometimes forget their ce." Jovani conceded before continuing to speak.
"But you see I had to do this because Samuel is someone who is very important to this family as well and I had to make sure whoever he ended up with was someone who would be well suited for him."
"And this was the answer you came up with?" She asked with a low growl at the end of her voice. It seemed like a fairly stupid decision in her mind.
"Well perhaps not. But what better way to test it than to simte a situation where he might be put in real danger and you had to rescue him without knowing it was fake?" He argued, defending the decision he had made.
"You most likely wouldn''t have reacted the way you did if you knew that it was just some type of test and Samuel wasn''t actually in any type of real danger. In such situation, I wouldn''t have been able to assess you all that well." Her expression though said she didn''t really care why he did. He overstepped boundaries and that was not something that she was going to forgive any time soon.
"I wasn''t going to actually hurt anyone beyond you. I''m sure your two men can vouch for the fact that I didn''t even make it that difficult for them to figure out what they needed to do or how to find Samuel." That had been true. They both had to answer a riddle simr to the one she did, but he didn''t make it nearly as hard since he knew they would need more time in order to be able to locate where Samuel was.
Lena closed her eyes as her head was beginning to hurt from everything. She really didn''t care what reasons anyone had for what happened. She wasn''t pleased about it and there was no excuse to her for what he had done to Samuel as a result of his goals.
There would be some type of reckoning for this still, but she could at least let it wait until things were exined since that seemed to be what Samuel wanted.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 146 - Not Over
"How do I know though that you''re not just going to disappear after all this unnecessary trouble that you''ve caused?" Lena asked as she eyed Jovani with an expression that told him she didn''t trust him for one minute.
"Because Princess, my job is hardly done." Jovani replied, he would''ve smirked but the extra facial movement would''ve hurt his nose too much.
"I think that you forget the part where I''ve mentioned that Samuel is family and as such he''s one of us. Which means that I won''t be going anywhere since there''s so much still to take care of with him." He further exined. Samuel put his arm around Lena in a gentle way. It caused her to tense in her current state, but she didn''t pull away from him.
"He''s really not the one we need to worry about although I can''t say I''m happy about the way everything was handled or what happened to Jeff because of the decision he made. He''s not really a threat from what I''ve been told."
"You believe what he would tell you?" Lena asked as she looked up at the other, a touch of disbelief in her tone. It didn''t seem right to her that he would be so quick to believe someone who had just put them through all of this.
"I''m not sure if I believe him, but I don''t exactly think that he''s on the side that''s against us. His methods aren''t practical or reasonable, but he has exined far more to me than I imagine one would if they had ulterior motives." Jovani stood back as he let the two talk. Truth was, the whole reason he did everything was based upon ulterior motives. He didn''t want to let his cousin win the bet after all.
Although, the real issue was muchrger than a single bet between two cousins. Samuel''s safety would''ve been genuinely in jeopardy if had gotten ahold of him and he didn''tply with what they wanted. There was still so much that they didn''t know.
"Fine, but I won''t hesitate to shot him on the spot if he doesn''t have a good exnation for all of this." Lena said as she fixed the other with another hard re.
"Goodness, she certainly really is a protective one you have with you. But far enough. You can pick the time and date and I''ll give the best rundown of everything I can. I would offer for you to stay here but I doubt that you would take me up on that offer." Jovani said as he removed the handkerchief from his nose as he was fairly certain that the bleeding for the time being had stopped.
"No. In fact, the next time we meet it will be in my territory where I know I won''t have to worry about anything unexpected going on." The princess replied. She wasn''t going to leave anything to chance after today. Even though she had Samuel back next to her, everything still wouldn''t feel right until they had made it back safely to the estate.
"Fair enough. You can tell me when that would be and I will clear my schedule for it." Jovani agreed. He was curious to get the chance to see the estate anyways even though he knew he wouldn''t be the most wee guest that they invited there.
"Now before the princess changes her mind. I think that it is time that I take my leave. If you go back through that door behind you and take a left it''ll take you straight to the entrance and you can leave." He told as he turned around to take his leave.
"Since you seem more than qualified enough- I trust that you will be able to to do a good job of taking care of him until the next time that we meet." He told the princess as he nced at her over his shoulder. Lena didn''t bother responding to hisment as she turned around to leave. She didn''t have the energy to deal with this troublesome person and her father was going to be more than worried by this point in time.
Samuel nodded his head at Jovani before he turned around to follow after Lena, Clive, and Romeo. Neither of them were particrly thrilled about the situation, especially the fact that Lena and Samuel wouldn''t be heading back to the estate unscathed but instead with what seemed to be more problems to deal with. If it wasn''t for his respect in following Lena and Samuel''s lead, Clive would''ve had no qualms about shooting the other on the spot either. It was his job to protect both of them and that man had evidentially overstepped his boundaries.
The only thing in his favor was the fact that he hadn''t been lying when he told them how to leave the building. The heat outside wasn''t much better than it had been on the inside. The brightness made Lena''s head hurt worse as they made it back towards the car.
Samuel wanted to say something to Lena since she was being so quiet, but he didn''t know what it should be. On the opposite side of what the princess had gone through, he hadn''t been thrilled when Jovani said that he wanted to test them with what they were doing. He objected it to it, but there wasn''t much of anything that he could do to stop the other since he didn''t have his cell phone to get in touch with them.
Lena still didn''t say anything once they were back in the car. Romeo joined Clive in the front so that he could update Zane on things while Lena and Samuel sat in the back. There was so much she wanted to say to Samuel and yell at him about but at the current moment in time she didn''t have the energy for it. Her emotions were almost at the bursting point along with the heavy fatigue and pain she was feeling. It would have to wait untilter once they got back.
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Chapter 147 - Let Her Be
The car ride back was dead silent after the update that Romeo had ryed to Zane about how everyone was and the fact that they were now starting to head back. Lena could''ve turned back on the earbuds in order to talk with Zane and Hester herself, but she didn''t have the energy for it. She just wanted to do nothing except sit next to Samuel until they got back to the estate.
Samuel wasn''t in the greatest shape himself and had a lot going through his mind, the primary thought being his concern for how Jeff was doing. He didn''t know anything about his condition beyond the fact that he had been taken to the hospital. At least with Lena she was right there with him so she could see how she was doing after everything.
Honestly though, he wasn''t quite sure how to read her mood. He had never seen her so upset before. He understand it was due to the whole situation and the stress, but after everything had been over rather than being as quiet as she was being, he had expected her to at least yell at him or ask what he thought he had been doing and go on about this being the reason why he couldn''t take care of himself. However, none of that had happened and it left him uncertain as to how he should approach talking to the princess.
In the end nothing was said until they were almost back to the estate. Lena''s eyes were still closed as she spoke and her voice sounded very heavy and unlike her usual self.
"Your mother is also here. I think that it would be wise to take some time to speak with her while she''s here since I''m sure you''re aware now of how much she hasn''t told you herself. You might''ve heard it from Jovani, but it is still better to clear up everything between the two of you while she''s here rather than putting it off." She told him. Samuel was taken aback to hear that his mother was there.
Jovani had exined the basics as to what the rtionship with his mother was and how they were rted. He never considered though that his mother would appear at the estate to talk about it herself. He had expected to try and find time to talk with her either before or after the engagement when she was around and the right time presented it self.
Samuel was about to respond when the car came to a stop at the front of the estate. Lena hardly waited for the car to stop before she stepped out. Her father, uncle, and brother were outside and had been waiting for them to return but she didn''t bother speaking to them as she brushed past, only touching her father''s shoulder lightly before she headed inside. Zane watched as she left but didn''t bother saying anything as he heard the door close a little too heavily. He had an idea of exactly how she was feeling.
Samuel on the other hand who didn''t quite have an idea as to what was going on wanted to follow after her so that they could talk but Zane grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could head inside after his fianc¨¦. Seeing the state the younger man was in it was obvious as to why she was reacting the way she did.
"Give her some space, she will need it after everything that just happened. I''m d you came back safely." Zane told the other offering him a brief side hug before he moved over to talk with Clive and Romeo to get a briefing on everything that had happened.
"Why don''t we get you inside and taken care of? You look a mess still and I image that with how you look and feel that a bath might be the best bet to help you to feel better." Leo offered when he saw how confused and slightly lost Samuel looked.
Thest twenty-four hours had been a roller coaster and the one thing that Samuel had wanted to do once he was back with Lena was have a proper conversation with her and apologize for what had happened. Now though, it seemed like she didn''t want to have anything to do with him even though they had more than two hours to talk before they came back.
"What about Jeff?" Samuel asked instead as he looked between Leo and Julian, hoping for a positive answer to the question.
"He''s still in the hospital recovering right now. He''s in pretty bad condition and isn''t expected to wake up for another two or three days but the doctor said he should recover without a problem. It''ll take him a while though. Right now his brother is staying with him since everyone has been too busy to see how he''s doing." Julian was the one who answered this question.
"I''m sorry." Samuel lowering his head slightly. Who knew that doing something as simply as trying to go and pick up a gift would''ve resulted a mess such as this? If he had known something like this might''ve happened, he would''ve asked Lena toe with him or wait until Zane had a chance when they went to go pick up the other rings.
"What''s done is done. There''s nothing for it. We just have to be thankful for the fact that everything turned out in a more positive light than it could''ve." Zane said as he put his hand on the other''s shoulder.
"We should head back inside now though so that you can take a shower and get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready soon and I''m sure you''re hungry from not eating over thest day." He put his hand on Samuel''s lower back to lead him towards the door with others follow behind him.
Samuel didn''t really feel like eating however. He just wanted to be able to talk with Lena and see how she was doing and get the conversation out of the way so that they could work towards what the next step would. Zane seemed to think that the best bet was to leave her alone for the time being which was exactly what he didn''t want to do.
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Chapter 148 - Three Days
Samuel did take a bath and eat something small for dinner even though he wasn''t really that interested in food. He also took a small amount of time to talk with his mother who gave him a huge hug the moment that she saw him. There was a lot the two of them wanted to talk about after everything had happened, but they agreed that it could wait until the next day after everything that had just happened.
Samuel''s disappointment only grew as the night went by and Lena didn''te out of her room to join them for dinner or even after to do anything else. It worried him but Zane insisted that he didn''t bother her because she needed space after everything that had happened.
What Samuel didn''t understand however was that by giving the princess space would somehow turn into three days without seeing her for even one minute. As far as he could tell, she hadn''t even stepped outside of her room once since they came back. Which definitely was unusual for her since he knew the amount of work that she always had to focus on.
Zane still refused to let him go in and bother on the third day even after he had asked if this was normal to let her be after everything that had happened. What if something was wrong or something worse had happened that she didn''t want to talk about, those were the top concerns going through his head as he tried to talk with the father.
"Look." Zane finally said when Samuel wouldn''t leave him alone about the matter.
"There are things that happened in Lena''s past, actually that affected the whole family. It''s not my ce to talk about it since the two of you are going to be getting married, but it''s simply that everything that had happened over thest twenty-four hours triggered strong emotions rted to those events." Zane exined.
"I won''t say too much because I''m sure that Lena will exin it to you herself once she feels that it is the right time and she''s in a better headspace herself. Right now she just needs space to deal with everything."
"But what if what she really needs right now is someone to rely on rather than to be left alone to be consumed by all those emotions if what she dealt with in the past was so bad?" Samuel pressured. He understood what the other was saying, but three days without at least eating anything seemed like a bit too much.
"That''s for her to decide, it''s nothing something that you can push onto her just because you think that it is the answer to the problem." Zane replied as he continued to through the paperwork on his desk. He was picking up some of the work Lena would''ve been doing but he knew that she didn''t have the ability to take care of at the current moment in time.
Samuel stood quietly in front of his desk but he could tell that the other wasn''t pleased with the answer that he had been given. He didn''t think that it was the right one and he wanted to be able to go and see the princess even if she wasn''t in the mood to deal with anyone. He could tell that by the firm look on his face.
"Alright. I will make you a deal." Zane said after a few minutes had passed and it became obvious that the other wasn''t going to leave until he could change his mind.
"Since it has been three days, if she doesn''te out for dinner tonight, you can try take something in for her to eat. If she rejects you however and doesn''t want you in there at all, I expect you to respect that wish and let her be until she decides she''s ready toe out." He told the younger man a sigh. Knowing his daughter, he didn''t think that it was the right call, but he also understood such things were issues and boundaries that they would have to work out amongst themselves once they officially married.
That was the conversation that lead Samuel to now be standing outside of Lena''s door with the tray of food in his hand. Ryan had made meat loaf and mashed potatoes with green beans and peas. He had shifted the menu slightly thinking that it would be better to make lighter foods that would be easier to digest after all the stress that had taken ce.
Now that he was standing outside of Lena''s door, he wasn''t really sure what to say or do rather than just barging into her room without asking if it was okay. The light looked it was still off, but it had every other time that he had passed in front of her door and wondered how she was doing.
Now that he had said he wanted to talk with her and intended to bring her food, he couldn''t back out now until he had done it. He really was worried about the fact that she hadn''t eaten in thest three days. It wasn''t healthy after everything that had just taken ce.
Taking a deep breath, he gave a firm knock on the door to let her know that someone was standing outside before he just entered. When no reply followed after a moment or two, he decided to go ahead and enter the room and brace himself for whatever would happen.
It waspletely pitch ck in the room the moment he entered and closed the door behind making it almost impossible for him to see where anything was or where he should set the tray.
"Leave it off." He had just reached out to turn the light on in the room when he was stopped by the sound of what he could only presume was Lena''s voiceing from where the bed was most likely located. Her voice however sounded far raspier than usually did.
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Chapter 149 - Let Me Be Here With You?
A/N: Don''t forget to join the discord server, link the synopsis if you Enjoy the story.
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Samuel didn''t turn on the light but turned in the direction that he thought the voice hade from, he had only been in her room a handful of times but he was fairly certain that he still remembered where her bed was located which was where he presumed the princess was by how far away her voice sounded.
"Alright, but you do need to eat something, that''s why I''m here." His statement was met with silence for a moment or two before the princess spoke again.
"You can leave the food on the table by the door and leave. I''m not interested in eating right now. I don''t really want anyone around me either. We can talkter." She replied. Without being able to see anything, he wasn''t quite sure where exactly the table was located, and he couldn''t quite use his other hand to feel around too far in the darkness while he was holding the tray.
"Lena, you need to eat though and honestly, I''m not as familiar with this room as you are so I''m not quite sure how far the table is from the to be able to set the tray securely on it." he told as he tried to inch forward slightly in hopes of being able to find the table without dropping the food.
"Then you can just take the food with you and leave. I thought that my silence in the car would''ve been a good indication of the fact that I''m not in any kind of mood to talk." She replied, her voice sounding more sharp than it had before. This didn''t detour Samuel however as he managed to find the table and feel enough to set the tray securely on it without dropping any of the food that he had brought with him.
"That was three days ago." He reminded her. His answer however was met with silence. He didn''t know if this was because she didn''t realize it had been three days already or due to the fact that she really didn''t have an interest in talking with him at that point in time.
"I''m pretty sure that there''s a lot that you wanted to talk with me about that you didn''t say back in the car because of everything that was going on at the time." He continued not waiting for her to talk as he tried to slowly walk through the room to where he thought the bed must''ve been located.
"There''s also a lot of things that I want to talk about that happened. One of which is to apologize to you for being so careless as to not realize the type of danger doing something as simple as trying to go pick up a gift could''ve put me in." Lena still didn''t say anything as he continued to speak while inching his way further into the room. He was rather thankful for the fact that the princess didn''t have a lot of stuff cluttering her floor as she navigated it slowly.
Once he was certain that he found the bed, he stopped in front of it. His eyes still hadn''t adjusted to the darkness enough to be able to tell where Lena was. He still didn''t have his cellphone back with him either otherwise he would have just pulled it out to turn on the light in order to be able to see despite the fact that he was fairly certain she would''ve protested to this action.
"It''s fine. You can leave and we can talk about it another time. I already told you once that I''m not in the mood to talk no matter how many days have passed since everything happened." When she spoke although it was very faint, Samuel was certain that he could see the slight movement of the bed from where he was standing. It was going to be a bit tricky to do, but he was fairly certain of the fact that he would be able to get up onto the bed and shift near her.
He knew that he wouldn''t be able to get on her bed without her feeling the movement, but he hoped that if he tried to get closer to her she wouldn''t push him away even if she wasn''t in that much of a mood to talk with him, there had to be something he could do to get her to open up to him.
"I know that you keep saying that, but even if you don''t want to talk, perhaps I could just be here and keep youpany for the time being?" He offered as he shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, partly to make sure he wasn''t moving to quick and partly so that he could take his shoes off before trying to get onto the bed with the princess.
When she say anything or make a noise of protest he took that as a sign that it would be alright for him to move further up on the bed without her having a problem with it. He kneeled carefully on the bed in order to make sure that he wouldn''t identally bump into Lena or lean onto her too hard.
"When people are going through hard things, sometimes it''s easier to just have someone there with them to make it better." He told as moved so he was kneeling on the bed after he had taken off his shoes.
"I don''t expect you to tell me anything right now, but just let me be here for you?" He half said, half asked as he reached his hand out to try and feel for where the princess was. She didn''t respond to this of course and due to how big the bed was, it was rather hard to find where exactly she had curled herself up at.
"After everything, you think that I''m someone who would appreciate another person invading my personal space at a time like this?" She asked, her voice still rather soft as she spoke, but hint of annoyance to it. She would''ve rather preferred he wasn''t there right now until she was able to sort herself out and deal with everything that was on her mind.
"You don''te across that way, no but I also wonder if anyone outside of your family has ever tried or if you''ve even had someone who would be willing to try." He replied as he shifted further onto the bed where he was certain her back rather than front must''ve been.
It was a bit awkward trying to shift up next her without being able to see her but he was determined that if he couldn''t get her to talk with him about what was going on, he would at least be there to hug her and see if it helped to make her feel better until she opened up to him.
She didn''t say anything again of course after what Samuel said. She didn''t exactly know how to reply to it. He wasn''t wrong, she never really did let anyone get close to her after what happened, plus with the arranged marriage it seemed a waste of time to let others in from the outside because they wouldn''t be people who would be there for the long haul except for the few friends she had made but never really had time to keep up with because they lived in two different worlds.
She didn''t even let her family beyond her father and brother be there for her either. Mostly because she didn''t feel like they could rte to what they were going through. None of the mad experienced it, so why would they?
She tensed again the moment that she felt Samuel''s arms wrap around her shoulders, it was a rather awkward hug. She could tell that he didn''t quite know what he was doing, but despite that he was trying his best to be there for her. Somehow, this made want to go find Jovani and shot him even more than she had felt thest three days she had been alone.
Samuel didn''t say anything else as he rested his head against her back. He didn''t think that there was much else to say. Right now, he just wanted to be near the princess and hoped it helped with whatever she was dealing. Maybe eventually then she would be willing to eat something and then maybe she''d be willing to tell him what was going on.
The current situation wasn''t exactly what he had agreed to with Zane, but Samuel could argue the fact that Lena didn''t exactly reject him and want him to leave considering the current situation that he found himself in. The dark made it feel less awkward, but he did want to be able to see her face to know how she was doing. That could wait though for as long as she just let himy there with her.
Chapter 150 - Conceding
Samuel wasn''t sure how long he and Lenaid there before the princess decided to speak again.
"Have you ever realized how frustrating your persistent stubbornness can be at time like this?" She asked although her voice didn''t hold the annoyed tone he imagined it would''ve based upon the words that she used.
"I don''t think any has told me that before." Samuel replied honestly as he shifted slightly so that his cheek was resting against her back rather than his forehead as he continue to speak.
"But then again I don''t think that I''ve ever been this persistently stubborn for anyone before. With you though, it seemed like persistence is the best way to get any kind of reaction out of you." Thest part was a joke to which the princess made some type of inaudible noise that he imagined was supposed to be a scoff.
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" She asked, her voice more at her normal turn as she shifted away from him.
"I''m not sure I want someone as ungracious as you to touch me after ament like that." Although Lena''s tone sounded indignant, he could also hear the traces of amusement in the back of it as well which told him she wasn''t quite serious.
"I''m sure you don''t mean that. Isn''t it nice to know that there''s someone who''s willing to be put up with your stubborn difficult side and try to work past it to still be here for you?" Samuel asked as he tried he shifted his position so that he was propped up on his arm as he looked in the direction he knew the princess to be in.
Despite still not being able to see all that well in the dark, he could make out her shape in the bed still and somehow he found it to be a bit sad that she looked so small and didn''t hold the normal imposing aura that he was used to her having.
"Not when you put it that way it isn''t." She replied feeling a touch sour about the way he said it even though she knew herself that she wasn''t the easiest person to deal with at times.
"I believe that blunt honest is the best policy in these type of rtionships. Decreases the risk for confusion or misunderstandings in the future. Lena made a noise that sounded like huff but was quiet otherwise following what he said.
"I suppose that since you''re going to be insistent on me talking with you and clearing everything up, we can do it now even though it is in the middle of the night." Lena finally conceded even though she wasn''t that thrilled about doing. She couldn''t deny that it warmed her heart a touch that someone was being so persistent about something that everyone usually left her alone about when she was like this.
Not to say that they didn''t care about what she was going through, the princess just never wanted them around so that she work through her emotions on her own without having to be so raw with other people being around. The only person who ever really saw her when she as struggling this much had been her father and that was simply because he had been the one she clung to after everything that happened.
"Wait is it really that? I know we had been here for a while, but I didn''t think it had been that long. I still don''t have my phone back, so I have no actual way of telling what time it, especially with it being so dark in here."
"You never got it back?" Lena asked as she reached over to the nightstand where she knew her own phone was located.
"No, I don''t actually know who has it." He replied. He had been so bothered with everything else that had been going on he hadn''t much thought about asking for it back. With his mother being at the estate and able to tell her father vaguely what was going, there wasn''t, much of a reason for him to worry about where it was.
"It''s two thirty in the morning." She told the other since he wasn''t able to see her screen for himself. Samuel made a sound of surprise when she said this.
"I guess we really have been here for a while. If it is toote for you I don''t minding back tomorrow to talk about everything if you at least agree to eat tonight before I leave." He told. He wanted to know what was going on, but he didn''t mind waiting if she was willing to eat in exchange for them discussing everything at a different time.
? "It''s fine. We might as well talk about everything now. It''s not like I would be likely to sleep once you left anyways." She replied, a mildly defeated indifference to her tone. If he had been able to see her imagined she''d have shrugged her shoulders as she said that.
"Can I turn on the light at least so that I can see while we talk?" ventured, uncertain what her answer to this question would be. The heavy silence that followed it told him that the princess''s answer would most likely be a no.
"Alright." She agreed after an extended pause, her words were followed by a sigh.
"It''s not like there won''t be points in time in the future where you''ll see me like this anyways." She told as she turned on her phone light so that it was pointing away from here but so that Samuel could use it to reach the light switch on the other end of the room.
Lena flinched and covered her eyes after the light was turned on. Three days in the dark had caused her eyes to not be as used to the brightness as they used to be. She used her left hand to shield her light from her eyes as she waited for them to adjust so that she wasn''t stuck squinting.
Samuel wasn''t quite sure what to say after he turned on the light and he saw how Lena looked. Worse for wear hardly described her appearance. Her face and lips were pale most likely from not having eaten anything since they got back which was over three days ago. The bags and circles under eyes gave her a rather ghostly appearance as well. Had she also been crying? He couldn''t tell by the glossy look of her eyes and the way her nose was red. Her hair was a mess, and she didn''t look much like she had changed out of the clothes she had gone to collect him in except that she had shed the jacket which was tossed across the floor toy on the opposite end of the room. She almost looked as though she had been through hell and back even though Samuel knew that she had only been shut in the room for three days.
"You," He began to say but stopped short when he tried to think about the best way to phrase.
"I look like hell." She finished for him as she tried to run a hand through her hair to fix it even though she knew it would be impossible since it had been over three days since shest brushed it. Her bedding was also a mess from where had beenying.
"That''s what I was thinking but trying to say it in a more delicate way." Samuel replied feeling a touch guilty that he was so honest about it. Probably not the best thing to say consider the current state she was in. She raised her left eyebrow at him.
"There isn''t really a delicate way to tell someone that they look like hell when it''s the truth. Besides I thought you were the one who just said basically the blunt honesty is the best way to approach these types of rtionships?" She had a point; he did indeed just say that.
"This and that are different though. One is being bluntly honest about emotions and the other is trying to be delicate about someone''s feelings." He defended as he came back over to sit on the bed nearby here. She rolled her eyes at him but said nothing else.
"Do you want to talk about everything or eat first?" He asked her as he reached out to put his hand on hers that was nearest to him, he didn''t miss the way that she had to stop herself from pulling away from the touch.
"I still don''t feel like eating, so let''s talk about everything instead." She replied as she looked at his face. There was still something in her eyes that he couldn''t quite make out that made her feel quite off from how she usually appeared to him.
"I will start first though because all of this tied in with what I went through and it''s better to go through talking about it first otherwise I''ll probably change my mind." Lena told him with a sigh.
Chapter 151 - What Haunts Her
Lena had to take some time together her thoughts and think about how she wanted to tell Samuel everything. This was an event in her pat that she hadn''t ever bothered talking with an outsider before because she never thought that it would be worth her time and she didn''t want to the usual fake sympathy and empathy that came with telling strangers about a difficult event. She didn''t need that kind of fake support, thus she always thought that it was better to keep it to just her family knowing since they were the ones who were affected by it.
Samuel was different though, he wasn''t just some outsider, he was engaged to her already even though it wouldn''t technically be official until after the actual engagement party. This was someone that she wasmitting to spending the rest or however long her life with it. It would be unfair to not let him know about it if he was genuinely intending to stay together with her for however long their time together wouldst.
"First, can you and me the ss of water you brought?" She asked as she ran her tongue over her bottom lip only to realize how cracked it felt and how dry her throat and mouth were. She wouldn''t be able to talk much like. Samuelplied without saying anything and simply handed it to her before sitting back down quietly. It seemed he didn''t want to say anything that would distract her from telling him what she wanted to say.
"I honestly don''t quite know how to go about talking about this so I''m just going to try to be as straight about everything and hope it makes sense." She averted her gaze to a somewhat of a downward angle before she continued speaking.
"This situation wasn''t my fault anymore than what just happened with you was your fault. You can''t know what you don''t know and there''s some situations you can''t anticipate even when you think you know what might happen. That''s something that''s really hard to understand when you''re younger though and you feel like something horrible happened because you didn''t know any better but if you understood then nothing that had happened would have urred." She paused for a second to collect her thoughts.
"I''m sure you have been seen the picture in my office of me and Leo when we were younger with the woman who was standing behind us, that was our mother with us in the that picture. I think one of thest ones we took together." She exined. Of course, she knew that he would want to look around her office and see what was there. Such natural curiosity was quitemon for people when they were in a ce that they hadn''t been before.
"Leo was seven at the time and I was eight. He was off at school that day but I was home with mother because I hadn''t been feeling well and she wanted to be able to keep an eye on me. She even took me with her when she went to go do the shopping which was one of my favorite things when I was younger because mother always spoiled us with small treats when we were good." It was one thing to remember the event and to have it at the back of her mind all the time, but another thing for Lena to have to recount it to someone else. It somehow hurt more than she thought that it would. Samuel was being very quiet and understanding however as he waited for her to continue with the story.
"We were supposed to go home early that day to celebrate the fact that we would be going on vacation soon. I was going to help her cook dinner before father and Leo came back. I was so happy to enjoy the fresh air on the way back that I wanted to y for a while longer and enjoy it before we headed back." Samuel touched her hand as she continued speaking, but she didn''t even react to it as she was too deep in thought about what had happened.
"I''ll never be sure if my mother was just worried about me getting sick again or if she knew something was wrong with how insistent she was being about heading backpared to how she usually was. Either way I didn''t understand asked her for five more minutes. That however was when my great uncle on my mother''s side decided to make his presence known." Her eyes became cold at this point.
"I thought that he just wanted to talk with her since he had visited me before at the school and seemed kind of enough and had mentioned the good rtionship he had with my mother. I had been wrong though. He wanted to use her and me as bait to get to my father. He was a man high up inw enforcement and thought that if he could catch someone like my father, it would secure him a good position for the rest of his life." Lena paused again, letting out a shallow breath as her emotions started to get the better of her again.
"She refused of course. She wouldn''t sell out my father because of how much she loved him and knew that he wasn''t as horrible a person as everyone else thought he was. Of course, this didn''t go over well with my uncle who hade prepared in case such a situation happened. My mother didn''t have the right skills to defend herself or even try to protect me, but that didn''t stop her from trying, but there wasn''t much she could do against three men while also trying to protect me." This was always the part that was the hardest to think about. Talking about it wasn''t any better as Lena left the weight resting on her chest getting heavier as she continued speaking.
"She had managed to use her phone to send a message both to Clive and my father as best could to let them know what happened, but by the time either of them got there, he had already disappeared with both of us and left no traces behind except a note that said if my father wanted to have us back he would meet them alone at a time and ce he directed." She felt her eyshes get damp as she blinked, but she refused to cry right now until she had finished telling Samuel everything that he needed to know.
"My father did everything that he could to try and get us back and did what that man asked even though he knew against his better judgement that he wasn''t going to be that easy to negotiate with. He wasn''t that kind of person. The kind of person who would even use his own family as bait to get ahead if he thought that it would get him to the ces that he wanted to go." Lena stopped speaking after she said this, trying to take a few seconds to reign her emotions in and breath before she finished saying thest part.
"What happened?" Samuel asked softly when Lena was quiet for a while longer and wasn''t certain if she was finished saying everything. She shook her head for a moment before she spoke again, not looking up to meet his eyes.
"He killed her when she tried to protect me after refusing to convince my father to give himself up for her sake even though he was willing to do it if uncle agreed to let us go. She knew better than to believe him though. He never would''ve let her live anyways. He wouldn''t ept someone who was part of the mafia back in his family, ever. Instead, my father had to watch her die in front of him as she shielded me." The princess had always been haunted by the sound of the gunshot going off so close to hear and watching the life leave her mother in order to protect she who was a mere child.
"My father didn''t let it end there of course. There was a heavy price for them to pay after what happened and wasn''t hidden either." Lena paused again before she spoke with a heavy tone to her voice.
"Aside from her father and brother who tried to help my father when they found everything out and came to speak with him, my father killed every other male on my great uncle''s family, including great uncle." Samuel had to take a moment to process what Lena had just said as it was something rather heavy.
It was one thing to consider what things might happen in the kind of family and world that Lena came from but another thing to her about such events from her that happened. Hearing this however, he could understand some of Lena''s past behavior better even if he still didn''t appreciate certain interactions all that much still.
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Chapter 152 - Only Because You Need To Take Care Of Yourself
Lena didn''t say anything else as she gave Samuel a chance to process what she had just told him. It was a rather heavy thing to tell someone about. Somehow she wasn''t all that surprised that talking about it didn''t make her feel much better. She wasn''t sure that the memories that haunted her would ever go away no matter how many years passed.
"Is that why you reacted so strongly when you found out what Jovani did to me, because we''re also family but not that familiar with each other?" Samuel asked finally breaking the silence after a few minutes.
"Yes." The princess replied, not sure what else to say. It was the only reason why she had reacted so strongly to Jovani. She didn''t want the same thing to happen again.
"I should apologize more than I thought. Truth is, I''ve been talking to him a while before all this happened and before I actually knew who he really was." The look on her face told him that she wasn''t all that surprised to hear it from him.
"I know, Jovani already texted me not long after we got back. It''s I suppose what he believed would be some type of apologize though rather weak in my opinion." She told him as she tossed him her phone so that he could look at the message his cousin had sent her.
"I would advise against doing anything that foolish again though, or at least bring it up to me until you are able to better figure out who to trust and not." She told him as he scrolled through the text message Jovani had sent her.
"I don''t think he''s a bad person." Samuel admitted as he handed her back her phone after reading through the message twice. She gave him a look that said she didn''t agree with that assessment.
"He hurt you. That''s more than enough reason to not like him even if he wasn''t the one who directly did it, his stupid actions resulted in it happening." He could tell by her tone of voice that she wasn''t going to change her mind any time soon about him.
"Are you still nning on having us meeting with him again?" Samuel asked out of curiosity. Lena sighed in response to this question.
"If I could get away with it, the answer would be no. However, since you''re part of the Vedova Nera family and we''re going to be getting engaged with the intent to marry- we need to so that I can figure out how to get a meeting with the head of the family in order to get his approval for the marriage since it''s going to also result in an alliance now." Lena replied, it was a headache she didn''t want to have to deal with still.
"I asked my mother about that, but she didn''t seem to know who the head of the family would be."
"No surprise considering she hasn''t been around them for thest twenty years. A lot can happen in that amount of time." The princess replied as sheid back down. Her mind was still reeling after everything she told Samuel and she was thankful that the conversation had taken a different direction rather than him asking more questions about what happened.
"Is getting approval that hard?" Samuel asked as he stared down at the other who had closed her eyes again.
"It depends. Technically because the alliance would be oddly in both of our favors, it shouldn''t be that hard to whoever it is to agree. Though on asion sometimes there will be a rejection if they don''t approve of either party or have a grudge against them. Nothing in particr sticks out in my mind about the Vedova Nera though in terms of our rtionship with them from the past since we control different sides of the state." She replied, her voice sounding a touch off as though she was getting tired.
"Well since there''s isn''t anything that we can do about that right now, why don''t we focus on eating something?" Samuel asked as he reached out to brush Lena'' hair out of her face, a small gesture he thought would be harmless but to try and keep her away if she was falling asleep.
He didn''t expect her to grab his hand however as she opened her eyes. Samuel expected her to tell him not to touch her again, but he was surprised when she pulled his hand closer and kissed his palm. It was a soft fluttering feeling and onlyst briefly second before she let it go. He wasn''t quite sure what to make of her action until he rubbed his palm with his fingers and remembered he had a scrape there for the scuttle he had with Russo and whoever the other two men were.
He was inclined to tell her that it didn''t hurt anymore so she didn''t need to worry about it, but he stopped himself from saying that knowing that he would break whatever moment they were having by causing her to feel either offended or flustered that he actuallymented on what she was doing.
"I still don''t feel much like eating." She admitted as she stared up at the ceiling. The light was still a touch too bright for her and was causing her to have a headache.
"Do you think that maybe it''s just because you haven''t eaten anything for thest three days so your appetite has naturally disappeared over time?" He suggested with a slight tilt of his head. It was the reason that made the most sense to him since the stress had been over for a while now.
"Even if it is, I still don''t feel all that much like eating." The princess replied. She didn''t honestly feel like doing much of anything, but she knew afterying around for three days she would have to at least consider changing clothes and taking a shower. That might help her to feel more human again.
"How about I feed you then, would that make you more incline to eat." Lena stopped staring at the ceiling to give him a look as though he was crazy.
"Do I look like someone who would enjoy being fed?" she asked with an incredulous edge to her voice.
"No, but I''m starting to find out you don''t look like a person who would be a lot of things, but yet you still do them." He replied as he grabbed her hand, returning the gesture she had done moments ago by kissing her palm.
"Wait.." He pause for a second being caught off guard by the expression her face.
"Is it possible that even the princess is capable of being caught off guard and blushing?" Samuel didn''t quite know why he felt such a sense of aplishment when he noticed the light tin of pink that was on Lena''s cheek as she didn''t meet his gaze.
"Don''t even." She warned still refusing to look straight him. While she appreciated hispany, it wasn''t beyond her to kick him out of her room if he only intended to try and tease her despite her current mood. There was only so much she could handle.
The small gentle gesture had caught her off guard though. She wasn''t used to such touches. They were small yet seemed to be weighed rather intimately to her. They weren''t something that she was quite certain how to react to either. It was one thing when she did them and another when Samuel did it.
"Alright, how about I let it be if you agree to it?" He tried to bargain, a small smile on his face almost as though he knew that he had put her in a annoying position.
"There you go again with the difficult stubbornness." Lena sighed though only half annoyed by it as she rolled over so that she wasying on her back.
"Stubbornness only because you need to take care of yourself." Samuel told as he stood up to go and grab the tray of food. He hoped that she would be less likely to refuse to eat if he brought the food to her rather than expecting her to move in order to eat.
"I take care of myself just fine." She argued, refusing to sit up even after seeing him bring the tray of food over.
"I''m just not in the mood to eat." She exined again.
"Why don''t you just at least try to eat something? If you don''t still feel like eating after taking a few bites I''ll take the food away and stop bothering you about?" Samuel was somehow was beginning to get very good at negotiating with her.
"Fine, but only because I know you won''t let me sleep until I eat." She told him with a sigh as she forced herself to sit up. Samuel only offered her a smile in return as he put the tray of food on herp.
Chapter 153 - Not Much Better
Lena ate most of the food that Samuel had brought for her. Less because she was hungry and more because she hoped that it meant that he would stop worrying about the fact that she hadn''t been eating. Everyone acted differently when they were overly stressed and for the princess that resulted in her not eating.
She had nothing against food, to her when there was too much going on it just became an unnecessary time sink that she could cut out in order to focus on other things. Besides, she ate enough during other times around the stressful one she didn''t really think it affected her all that much when she had moments such as these.
Even though she wasn''t currently feeling the affects of it, she was sure it probably benefitted her in some way other than getting Samuel to stop fussing about it. She didn''t exactly mean it in a negative way, she was just never thrilled about people trying to push towards doing such things when she didn''t have the ability to make her do it herself.
Somehow though, she found herself humoring him where she wouldn''t with other people. Even her family had a hard time coaxing her into eating or doing basic things when such a heavy mood hit her. Samuel though had not only gotten her to eat, he somehow ended up upying her bed with her as well. She might''ve been one to asionally steal someone else''s bed, but she wasn''t much used to sharing beds with others. Even when her and Leo were younger they each had their own bed and room.
She nced over at him knowing that by now he had fallen asleep by the way his chest was rising and falling peacefully. The light had been shut off again, but her eyes were still well enough adjusted to the dark that she could see everything fairly clearly still. It was odd for her but she was the one who had asked him to stay when he thought it might''ve been better to give her space for thest few hours of the night after she had eaten.
While she hadn''t expected it, she couldn''t me him for falling asleep. If he had been worrying so much about her while she had shut herself away, it meant he probably hadn''t sleep much either which would result in him being exhausted as well.
Lena wasn''t in much of a mood to sleep as she rolled on to her other side so that her back was facing Samuel. She had a feeling that the moment she closed her eyes or tried to sleep that the nightmares she was holding off would end uping back to haunt her due to everything that had happened. Even if the oue of the situation had been different, it was too close to what she had gone through in the past to not trigger such thoughts.
She wouldn''t do anything serious about Jovani though, at least not until he gave her a good reason to. Mostly that was because there were reasons she needed to keep him around and partly because Samuel had bothered about it because he didn''t think that he really was that horrible of a person even if he did make some pretty heavy mistakes.
"Why aren''t you sleeping yet?" Lena made a noise of discontentment when she felt two arms wrap around her waist and Samuel shift so that his chest was resting against her back. The princess could tell by his tone of voice that he was half asleep and perhaps not fully aware or didn''t care about what he was doing.
"I''m not sleeping yet because I''m not feeling tired." She answered inly as she tried to shift into a slightly morefortable position. Sharing a bed with someone thing, having said person intent on invading personal spacing by moving into such close proximity to each other. She didn''t exactly know how extract herself however and didn''t feel like arguing with him enough to get him to stop what he was doing.
"You should sleep. You need it before you get back to other things tomorrow." he half mumbled as he rested his face against the back of her head. The feeling of his breath against her hair made the hair on the back of her neck and arms stand on end. This was a feeling that she wasn''t used to.
"Just go back to sleep. You need the rest more than I do. I''ll be fine tomorrow regardless of how much sleep I get." The princess told him as she tried to shift his arm slightly on to have him wrap it tighter around her. What kind of amusing joke was fate trying to y on her by having her end up with someone who was so clingy and the exact opposite of her own personality at the same time?
Samuel said something else that she couldn''t quite understand, however by the fact that he wasn''t moving anymore and was being quiet beyond the feeling of his breath against her, she assumed this meant that he had fallen back asleep. She sighed inaudible. It would be a long time before she would consider sharing the same bed with him again after this. She would need time to adjust to this type of situation.
She didn''t even know how she would be able to set up boundaries over this type of thing. She wasn''t a very touchy person after what her uncle had done. Family was one thing, but strangers she hadn''t been around much was something different. She knew that Samuel waspletely harmless in his intentions and interactions with her, but her body reacted automatically and made her want to push back against it.
Although him touching her wasn''t much better than others, she tried to not be so heavily against it since he wasn''t technically doing anything wrong. His intentions were gentlepared to other people, she just didn''t know how long it would take her to get over her aversion to such things. The current situation however was probably one step towards that even if she wasn''t all that thrilled.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 154 - One Thing I Need You To Do
Samuel felt slightly more rested when he woke up the next morning. He would tell that it was bright outside, but wasn''t sure of what time it was because he couldn''t check his phone. As he began to wake up more, one of the first things that he realized was that Lena was no longer in bed with him. In fact, he wasn''t all that certain where exactly she was when he opened his eyes to look around and noticed that she didn''t appear to be in her room any longer. Did that mean that she decided to get back to regr life afterst night.
Sitting up, he noticed though that the tray was still resting on the end table where he had left it the night which indicated that it was unlikely she had left the room as she would''ve taken it with her. Where was she then?
He didn''t make it very far in trying to figure out where, when he realized that the bathroom door was closed and he could faintly hear the sound of running watering from beyond the door. An indication that the princess was most likely taking a shower. Rather than putting his shoes on as he had originally intended to do, Samuel decided toy back on the bed again and let for Lena toe out before he decided what to do until he knew what her intentions were.
It was a while before the princess came out changed into a dark blue blouse and ck pants. She looked a lot more like her old self he noticed as she looked her over, except for the bags that were still visible under eyes and the way her lips were drawn into a thin line which indicated to him that she most likely didn''t have a lot of patience today.
"Did you still not sleep at allst night?" Samuel asked as he looked at her, a touch of concern in his voice. She gave him an odd look in response to his question before she crossed her arms over her chest.
"No. I wasn''t tired, plus someone thought that mushing me against them was the correct approach to trying to convince me that I needed to sleep." The look in her eyes said she was unamused as Samuel sat up while trying to remember what had happened after heid down, but had no recollection of said event happening.
"I didn''t think you would remember that." Shemented as she turned way from to try and gather her things in the room. She wanted to to some tidying that hadn''t been taking care for thest three almost four days since she had been shut in there.
"I''m sorry, I honestly have any memory of that happening. Because I woke up on the same side of the bed I had fallen asleep on, I figured I must''ve stayed that way. It wasn''t on purpose." He apologized, feeling slightly bad that he had invaded her space like that while he had been asleep.
"I didn''t say it was a bad thing. I was just making a remark on an event that happened which I presumed you wouldn''t remember." She replied, ncing back at him as she picked up her jacket off the floor. She could tell by the weight of it that her gun was most likely still inside of it. She would worry about taking it outter. She wasn''t sure if she would still need it after all.
"You didn''t dislike it then?" he asked slightly confused as he began to put his shoes on so that he would follow Lena out when she was done as it seemed to him that she intended to work towards getting back to a somewhat normal routine.
"It''s not something that I''m used to, nor am I sure when I will get used to it." She replied as she brushed her hair back, it was still damp which lead it to being difficult any time that she had to lean over to reach for something.
"Does that mean you wouldn''t be against it happening again?" Samuel asked, he intended to hug her put was stopped when she put her hand out in front of her, a sign that she didn''t want him to touch her right.
"I''m not against it, but for right now I would like to be able to keep my personal space to myself while I''m sorting other things out." She replied. He gave a small nod of his head in understanding although she could tell he was slightly dejected over her decision to reject the contact.
"Like you, I need time to get used to new things that I''m not familiar with. Plus, there''s a lot that needs to be taken care of right now that affections will have to wait until ater time. I don''t even know what I''m going to have to deal with." She told him with a sigh as she headed towards the bedroom door. She had been intending to grab the tray but Samuel took it from her.
"I can handle this. The first thing you should do is probably go and talk with your father and let him know how you''re doing since he''s also been rather worried about you." He told her which caused her to sigh.
"I know, and I will, just after I do some other things first." She replied as opened the door, holding it for the other as he stepped out with the tray.
"There are other people here I still need to deal with. I''m sure you have talked with your mother, but that there''s still more that needs to be said before she leaves. Genson is also still here unless my father sent him away which is one other things I need to handle." She told him as she closed her bedroom door.
"The one thing that I need you to handle is texting or speaking with Jovaniter. You can use my phone as I don''t trust what I would end up saying to him in my current mood." Samuelughed when she said this even though he knew that she was being quite serious.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 155 - Still A Surprise
By the time Lena had gotten to her father''s office, she was ready to go back to her room and forget being around people. It wasn''t that anything bad had happened, it was just that too many people checking on her. Again, very kind of her family and she appreciated it, but too much interactions wasn''t beneficial for her fight now especially when her brother and cousins insisted on hugger her so much.
Her father at least understood how she was with her current mood and didn''t try to push any such thing, though she could tell that he wasn''t exactly pleased with the way she looked. She knew she looked exhausted, but she doubted that she would be able to sleep any time soon with all the thoughts going through her mind.
Since she hadn''t been sleeping and due to all the coffee she had drank only days ago, her father refused to let her have the pipe either which she knew would''ve helped in calming her nerves down a certain amount. She didn''t argue with him though as she knew he wouldn''t budge on it until he was certain that she was doing better.
"I guess allowing Sam to go in and speak with you helped?" was one of the first questions her father asked after they had been sitting silence for a few minutes. She didn''t really know how to start the conversation, but her father had wanted to give her to do so if she wanted before he started talking.
"It wasn''t a bad thing though he''s far more affectionate than I am." The princess replied as she tucked one of her legs up next to her while she sat on the sofa.
"I talked to him about what happened without him pressuring me into it. I''m not honestly sure how much it helped." Lena stared at the picture of her mother was on her father''s desk as she spoke. Despite how long the other had been gone, her father still kept the picture there since it wasn''t like he was going to be marrying again as far as he was concerned.
"It can take time before the benefits of such things take effect. The important thing is though you told him so he understands why you react the way you do to certain things. Early enough on in the rtionship as well that it shouldn''t create frictionter on." Zane replied as he stopped what he was working on so that he could focus his full attention on to Lena. She made a muted noise in response to this.
"It''s not like it''s going to change much. Certainly, he knows now what happened, but it''s not like I''m going to suddenly change how I am just because he now knows one of the worst moments in my life."
"You think that because you disclosed this that he''s now going to expect you react differently around him because he didn''t react badly to hearing about what happened?" Zane asked with a raised eyebrow not quite understanding the direction that his daughter''s logic was taking. Lena was quiet for a moment as she messed with the ends of her hair.
"Other people who know what happened have." She replied, pausing for a second before she spoke again.
"I''m not saying that Sammy-boy is like everyone else. I''m just saying that the only frame of reference I have to work with from the past is that others have expected me to get over it more quickly because of the kind of world we live in." She exined. Sighing as she spoke again.
"I''m not exactly sure how to move forward with such a person. I know the engagement and everything is still going to happen regardless of all this. But things aren''t going to exactly be the same because of this and knowing that Samuel isn''t even an outsider."
"I don''t think it really changes all that much though. It''s not like he knows about this world anymore than he did before. Certainly though he has suddenly been thrown into the middle of it." Zane mused as he tapped his pen on the desk. He understood where her issues wereing from, but he didn''t think that it was anything that needed too much focus.
"Have you even heard from the head of Vedova Nera? I''m sure that they must''ve heard about everything that has gone on by now." Lena asked, changing the subject slightly to a question that she was curious about but wasn''t thrilled about dealing with. Zane shook his head however.
"As far as I''m aware he hasn''t tried to make any contact with us. It may be that Jovani waited to allow any information about the situation to reach them until he knew how everything would y out." It was a feasible exnation, but there wasn''t much time until the engagement party was set to take ce.
? "Don''t worry too much about it. There ware things we are getting into ce and taking care of for that right now." Zane assured her.
"I''ve been working on pushing it back for another week and a half until we get everything that just happened sorted. To those who replied to the first invite I have already exined that it is being put off because there will be another important announcement that will be being made in conjunction with the engagement."
"If the head of the family doesn''t approve of the engagement though, we won''t be having anything to announce or do at all in the first ce." Lena replied, her tone a touch annoyed.
She didn''t think that things would end up ying out that way, but she didn''t like the silence since it had been four days since everything took ce with Jovani. She would rather know what was going on then have to inquire herself.
Hopefully however that would be solved once Samuel found out from the other when he intended toe and visit. She didn''t really want himing to the estate, but it was still the safest ce for everything to take ce since it was on their territory rather than his.
"We have time still for all of that. Speaking of things that need to be taken care of," Zane gave her a meaningful look but already knew what he was referring to.
"I know, I''m going to be having Genson leave soon. He will only be working at thepany for a while most likely. I wouldn''t have even brought him here if I didn''t think that he had useful information." Lena told her father. She didn''t quite understand where the particr level of disdain her for Genson came from, but it seemed like for a con artist who was supposed to be amazing at getting close to people, he somehow had the magic ability to get on the bad side of every person he worked with or was employed by. It was really a wonder that he was even still alive.
"We have plenty of resources at our disposal that are fair more reliable than he is." Her father grumbled. She felt slightly inclined to roll her eyes at the other. She knew why his mood was like this, but to the princess she had made the most efficient move at the current moment in time consider neither her father or uncle was there.
"I don''t intend to rely on him again in the future." She said in order to appease the other.
"I expect also that you will want to be a part of the conversation with Jovani since you don''t know everything that''s going on as well?"
"Yes, because I''ll end up being the meet to officially meet with the head of the family even though you will be requesting permission for the marriage between you and Samuel to move forward." Zane replied. He had already cleared his schedule for flexibility in case this happened.
"You should make sure Samuel understands that his mother needs to be around for that as well since it''s her side of the family that we will be speaking with. She will need to voice her approval of the rtionship as well." He exined.
"I will make sure I tell him. He''s most likely talking with Jovani or his mother right now since I asked him to take care of that. Which means he''s currently in possession of my phone until we get his sorted out." The princess replied. She felt inclined to get him a new one rather than allowing him to use the old or getting it fixed. She didn''t want to risk it being bugged or anything else as she barely trusted Jovani.
"Since everything that has happened now, do I get to hear why exactly Sammy-boy was heading back to the jewelry store before we were ready to go and pick up the family rings?" Lena suddenly asked. Her father gave her one of his odd smiles rathe than answering the question.
"That I believe is still something that you should ask Samuel about. Despite what happened, it is still a surprise after all for when you two get engaged." How unfortunate, this wasn''t the response that Lena had been hoping for. She didn''t get toment on this however before there was soft knock on Zane''s office door indicating that someone was requesting permission to enter.
Chapter 156 - Setting Things Up
"Come in." Zane told whoever was on the other end of the door. He was slightly surprised when Samuel was the one who opened the door and peeked inside.
"I hope I''m not interrupting anything. I just finished talking with Jovani and thought Lena might want her phone back and to know what was decided." He said, stepping in after the princess motioned that it was okay for him to do so.
"What did he have to say?" She asked as Samuel handed her phone back over.
"He though that three more days for now since it would be a week might be the best time to consider meeting again. I said that it would probably be okay but I would make sure with you." Lena nced over at her father to see what his response to this would be.
"I think that would be a fair amount of time. Lena hasn''t had the chance to talk with you yet, but it would best for your mother to stay for the extra few days as well. She will have to be here physically to confirm the fact that she approves of the engagement when we meet with the head of the Vedova Nera since you''re both part of that family." Zane said as he wrote the date down on the memo pad that as on his desk.
"Did Jovani mention anything to you about who the head of the family might be?" Lena asked as Samuel sat down next to her. He shook his head in response to the question having to brush his hair out of his face after he did this. He probably needed to think about getting it cut before the engagement party.
"No, he mainly just talked about my connection the Vedova Nera, what that meant and why he did what he was doing. He didn''t mention much else about anyone beyond the fact that he has a cousin who is a touch of trouble. I do remember that." Samuel replied as he tried to think of everything that Jovani had talked with him about.
"I''m guess the cousin that he was referring to was Marco." Lena said with a sigh, another headache that she was going to have to work out still. Dealing with whether it was better to go ahead with the business dealing knowing who he was or cut it off and risk problems arising from that. Samuel gave her a look that told her he wanted to know how she knew that.
"Remember when you came to get me because you were worried I was talking too long at the office that day we were supposed to shop for our engagement party dress?" She paused enough to know that Samuel remembered what she was talking about before she continued.
"He was the reason that was holding me up. Of course I didn''t know who he was at the time, he had just wanted a meeting to approach me with a potential business partnership. Now though it makes sense why he was more insistent about it than I am used to others being."
"Jovani mentioned that there was some kind of bet going on between them. Do you think that it has something to do with that?" Samuel asked.
"I don''t know but I have a feeling that it does. He perhaps thought that it would be an easy way to have an in and get closer to you. Why though is the question." Lena replied with a sigh.
She didn''t quite know how to say it without sounding bad, but the question that kept going through her mind was why exactly was Samuel important to them? He was part of the family sure, but not directly enough from what she knew to hold such high value that Jovani who should technically be somewhere in the line of session would go to so much trouble to get close to him.
"What do you think though, father? Better to break off the deal before it goes anywhere or keep him close and ept the partnership and see how it goes?" Lena asked hissing slightly under her breath as she shifted position. She had forgotten how sensitive the bruise on her stomach still was after having been doing nothing butying around until today. It was definitely going to take a while to heal properly.
"I think for now that it would be better to wait until after we met with Jovani. If there''s something he wants badly enough, I''m sure that he would be willing to wait a few extra days for the response from you." Zane replied as he pulled out his phone when he felt it buzz in his pocket.
"rice is calling." He said looking away from his phone as he looked over at the other two sitting closely together.
"I''m guessing that she wasn''t properly updated on what was going on and is worried?" he guessed looking more to Lena than Samuel as she would''ve been the one technically in charge of making sure that all of that had been taken care of.
"I told her that I would catch her up when I got a chance and that she would be getting a few extra days off until some things were sorted." Lena replied. She was inclined to roll her eyes but she couldn''t be upset at the other woman for being impatiently worried since it had been a few days since she had any type of contact after the princess initial exined the situation to her.
"Best to maybe let her know now before she ends up storming up here to find out what''s going on for herself?" Zane asked, taking note of the fact that the call was already ended before he had a chance to answer it and let rice know what is going on.
"I''ll text her. I have too many things to do to be able to talk with anyone extra right now. If anything, she cane over tomorrow and we can talk everything over after that." Lena replied as she pulled up the contact for rice and sent her a brief text to let her know that everything was okay and she was still alive and would be catching her up tomorrow if she wanted toe over.
She was one of the other few people outside of immediate family that Lena was close to. She had been close friends with her mother after all. They never spoke about the incident but she knew what had happened as Zane had filled her in.
While most of it was kept out of the mainstream media, all therger groups within the New Jersey area knew exactly what had happened. Zane himself had made sure to make it a point they were aware of what could happen to them if they crossed him the wrong way.
Mere seconds after Lena had sent the text, rice had already texted her back. The princess didn''t dare read it at that moment in time however. One nce told her how long it was and how much the other was scolding her for not being in touch sooner. It wasn''t entirely her fault that she hadn''t kept up with the other like she said she would. There had been a lot going on and Lena still wasn''t feeling in top shape.
Between the pain and theck of sleep over thest four days, it was a surprise that she could even function as well as she did. Tonight she was going to try and sleep though. She knew that she would need it and hopefully with everything getting sorted out, she would feel more like she could rest.
"If we are getting so many things out of the way currently, should I ask Genson toe in here as well so that we can get that sorted out before the day is over?" She suggested as she leaned back against the sofa to take some of the pressure off of her stomach. She nced over at Samuel, even though he seemed to be doing rather well she couldn''t help but wonder if his own injuries still hurt. They weren''t all that serious but she presumed that like herself, he hadn''t had a doctor to look him over yet.
"You honestly think that bringing him in here to talk everything over with me around would be a good idea?" Zane asked with a raised eyebrow. He was honestly surprised that she would make such a suggestion considering she knew exactly how much he hated the other man.
"I figure it would give you a chance to sort out whatever is going on between the two of you the same way that I am going to have to sort out my issues with Jovani in the next three days when I see him again." Lena replied as she moved to text Genson to ask him toe into the office, making sure to include the directions for how to reach her father''s office. Part of her reason for doing this had to do with the fact that she was interested in seeing how things would y out between the two of them.
Chapter 157 - Might Be Good For Her
Genson was rather surprised when he had been invited into Zane''s office. It was one of the few ces in the house that he had expected to never gain ess to, yet somehow the princess had invited him in. Interestingly, Samuel was there as well.
"To what pleasure do I owe this summoning?" Genson asked as he invited himself into the office but remained standing in the doorway. He could tell that Zane wasn''t pleased with him being there but allowed for his daughter to do as she pleased.
Compared to when he had said the other man before, his aura was much more daunting this time. He hadn''t remembered it being so heavy when he had seen around the estate before. Perhaps this time it only felt different because they were in a closed space in rather close proximity to one another. Either way, it helped to remind Genson that the other wasn''t a man to be messed with.
Speaking of which, he couldn''t help but notice that Lena looked a little worse for wear than he rememberedst time he saw her. Was there something else that had been going on that he missed? If her appearance was anything to go by, he would have to assume that the answer was yes.
"I brought you here to let you know that I no longer need your presence at the estate and would prefer if you would leave immediately since it is only the afternoon to go back to work with the original job that I tasked you with." Lena exined as she lounged on the sofa. Despite knowing that she didn''t look like she was in the best condition, she hoped that they she gave off her typical indifferent and intimidating aura that she usually exuded around people such as Genson.
"I see, and what about the bonus that you mentioned that I might be able to receive in rtion to my additional services?" He asked offering her a charming smile which he hoped would earn him what he was looking for. Zane was the one who cut in at this point however.
"I don''t think that will be necessary for you. Considering the amount of information you offered was rather limited during an intense time and also knowing that you willingly left out important details that could''ve saved more time and trouble, I don''t think you earned it." Genson''s mouth twitched slightly at the corner as he tried not to let his smile break. Of course that man would be the first one to pick up on the fact that he didn''t offer up all the information he knew. Could he be med though? It was always wise to hold back a few valuable pieces of information for bargaining purposes.
"I see. I understand while the two of you work quite closely together and I''m sure your input is valued. In this case I was referencing the princess with this question." Genson replied with a level tone. He knew better than to push back too much against the head of the Red Scorpions considering he already knew that the man didn''t like him very much and would likely take the first opportunity to emunicate him and prevent him from ever being able to work in their area again if he so chose to.
"I would agree with my father''s statement in this matter. Considering how I expressed the importance of the matter to you yet you chose to willfully not provide your fullest service to me which is a disappointment, the bonus will not be provided." Lena replied, choosing to side with her father. She was actually rather thankful that he spoke up first and made the decision so that she didn''t have to deal with the other being insufferable if she was the only one to say he didn''t deserve it.
"I see. Well since the two of you seem to both agree in the same manner, I guess there''s nothing for it but to take my leave. I guess in the future I should reassess my options if such an opportunity arises again." Genson replied not dropping this fake smile and charming tone as he got ready to leave the room despite the displeasure that was burning through his blood at being deny an extra generous sum of money. Oh well, one couldn''t always sessfully y all the cards that were present on the table.
"One more thing before you leave." Zane''s voice stopped him just as his hand rested on the door knob and he got ready to turn it to leave the room.
"If I find out in the future that you''re working two sides of this type of situation. I can promise you that you will not like the consequences that will follow." Oh? This man really was far more sharp then he gave him credit for. As he nced over to his left where the princess was sitting he could see the rather surprised look that had passed over her face when hearing this. So even she didn''t know about that.
"Message received loud and clear. I will be certain to finish my job in good standing since I value the money that''s being offered and make sure to not cross paths with you again." Genson replied before he left the room without waiting for any kind of follow up.
Now that he was aware of the fact that Zane was at least onto him, he had to wonder whether it really was worth it to be ying both sides of the field? Marcus was certainly willing to pay a pretty penny for any extra information he could dig up and provide him with, but was it worth making an enemy out of one of thergest mafia groups in the area?
Scratch that, soon it would probably thergest two in the area now that he put together that Samuel must''ve been part of the Vedova Nera family considering how interested Marcus was in the younger man. It made sense with to go with the bet with his cousin as well.
Marcus was a difficult person to deal with, there was no denying that either. However, the force that could do him him the most harm and make his life harder was definitely Zane or the pompous princess that he was currently working for.
He would have to take some time to think about all of this and determine what the next best course of action would be while he was heading back to work at the office. Was money or his life more valuable to him at this point? That was what the question really came down to. Whatever he decided, it would have to be in the next few days before things became moreplicated.
-----
"What do you mean when you mentioned Genson ying both sides of the table?" Lena asked once the other had left the office. Zane paused for a second before deciding to answer the question.
"I don''t actually have the evidence to back it up, but I am fairly certain that considering how much that man loves money that he perhaps was giving information to Marcus considering he has worked with the Vedova Nera family before." Zane replied.
"It would be one of the reasons that made most sense next to the money you offered as to why he would be eager to be at the estate. An easy route to any immediate information of what was going on." It made sense to Lena, but she didn''t like the implications of what that could be mean.
"Does that mean we shouldn''t let him work on this case either?" Samuel who had been quiet while the discussion had been taking ce decided to speak up now.
"No, because the money he is looking into has nothing to do with what is going on with this." Lena replied thoughtfully.
"He''ll get that job done right because he will want me to pay him in full and he would know better than to try and fudge anything with the system since I would know he''s the one to watch out for. In the future though he will just be ck listed from working with us again." The princess exined.
"Considering howte it already is, why don''t we take break to eat ate lunch?" Zane suggested as he nced at the clock on the desk. Lena made a face when he mentioned food. She still wasn''t feeling much hungrier than she had the night before when Samuel had tried to get her to eat.
"Come now, it would be good for you to eat more. You need it to help you recover." Samuel told the princess as he gently ced a hand over her own not caring about the fact that Zane was in the room with them. The father was actually pleased to see this small disy of affection directed at his daughter. He thought that it might do her some good.
If Lena knew what he was thinking, she wouldn''t agree with her father. She was not thrilled with such attempts. She had humored her fianc¨¦ in hopes of that being enough for him to let her be. Apparently however, she had been wrong.
Chapter 158 - Displeased
The next three days passed in rather the same form as the first one after Lena had decided toe out of her room. Samuel was push her about eating and taking care of herself, half of the time she wouldn''t listen to him though as she was still annoyed by everything that had been going on.
Her father wouldn''t let her go back to work until after her injuries were healed and she had spoken with Jovani. She didn''t think that her injuries should''ve affected her ability to work, but her father didn''t like her leaving the estate in such a state after everything that had happened.
At least rice hade to visit one of the days though she wasn''t much better than the rest about fussing over the princess and even Samuel whose injuries were mostly healed aside from his sprained wrist which rice determined would require another two weeks to heal adequately before he would be able to go back to training again.
Jeff had also finally regained consciousness that evening. Though he was still rather bad condition, the doctor said that it was a good sign he was awake and should hopefully recover rather quickly from that point moving forward. He would need to stay in the hospital for an additional two weeks before he would be ready to leave however. His brother had refused to leave him the entire time except for the few hours he had to work or sleep.
The morning that Jovani was supposed toe over was when Lena''s mood was worst of all. She didn''t really want to see the other again and wasn''t sure that she was going to like what he had to talk about either.
Samuel was actually probably the one who wasn''t having a hard time with it. As he had phrased it to Lena- there was no reason to treat someone guilty until proven innocent. Even though he was a strange person, that didn''t mean that he was a bad person or not on their side.
In order to try and smooth things out though, Samuel decided that it would be best for him and Clive to go out and greet Jovani first while Lena waited inside with her father and his mother. He only included taking Clive with him as he was certain Lena wouldn''t want him to go out and meet his cousin on his own after what happened.
The princess reluctantly agreed to this, only though because she inwardly swore to shoot the man if he ended upying a finger on Samuel again. He had done enough already and she wasn''t about to take another risk on him if he at all seemed like he was going to step out of line.
Upon entering the estate, Jovani didn''t seem Samuel to let him know to expect things to be less than friendly, he could stiff atmosphere as soon as he walked through the door. They agreed to meet in the greeting room near the entrance of the door since there really was no reason yet for Jovani to make himselffortable at the estate until they learned more about the true intentions behind his actions.
One of the first things that Lena took note of was the way that Jovani made sure that he was standing a half pace behind Samuel, almost as though he thought that the other was some type of protection between him and the princess.
"My, my. I can certainly that even after a week away feelings haven''t changed all that much." Hemented offering a small smile even though he knew that it wouldn''t be returned.
"I don''t believe that there has been any reason given for me to change my feelings towards you." Lena replied rather coldly.
"I don''t even think that the proper amount of retribution has been given in response to what you did." Even though she saw that his nose still had a bandage on it from where she had broken it, it did little to diminish her anger. Jovani let out a smallugh in response to this as he wiggled the fingers on both of his hands.
"Dear Princess,e now. I certainly hope you don''t mean that. I''m sure that you can understand that I need to keep possession of all my digits for important reason in the future regarding Samuel here." He told her, hoping she would understand if he phrased matters that way. He ced his hands on the younger man''s shoulders before he continued speaking.
"All ten of my fingers are very important if I''m going to making sure to keep this rather valuable young man, my cousin and your fianc¨¦ safe." Samuel tilted his head back to look up at the other as he said this.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" He asked before Lena had a chance to. Both Zane and Evalyn were choosing to remain quiet as they waited to see what was going to go on. Clive had also excused himself to attend to other matters once he had helped escort Jovani inside with Samuel.
"Exactly what it sounds like. Sam here is part of the Vedova Nera family. Though perhaps not part of the direct line, he''s still seen as someone important within the family." Jovani exined.
"It''s ratherplicated to exin, but as such it means that he''s granted and required to have a body guard orpanion however you wish to see it apanying him at all times. And with everything that has happened, it was determined that I was the best choice." He finished exining causing Lena to narrow her eyes at him.
"Determined by who exactly because I can''t say that I would agree with that choice." She didn''t miss the small knowing smile that passed over Jovani''s face when she asked this question. Was he trying to bait her into shifting the conversation into a certain direction.
"That''s something that I''m not actually allowed to disclose right now, but I can assure you that you will be finding out about that soon enough." Jovani replied as he stepped back from Samuel.
"Would that person be the head of the Vedova Nera family that you''re referring to?" Zane asked cutting into the conversation.
"Indeed, but he''s not ready for you to meet him quite yet. He will be though before the engagement party. At least I assume that you two are still nning on getting married despite this change of events with the permission of the head of the family?" He asked looking between Samuel and the princess.
"That''s what the intention is. I high doubt whoever the head of the family is would be willing to say no all things considered." Samuel replied as he looked over to Lena. He presumed at least that they would still be getting married. The princess had said as much to him and hadn''t made any indications that she had changed her mind.
"Well then that leads us to another point of dilemma that I know you won''t be pleased about Princess." Jovani said, as dropped his lighthearted demeanor and suddenly became more serious.
"I know that you won''t be all that pleased about this, however with the recent change of events I need to borrow Samuel for a few days." Lena wanted to immediately say no, but waited for Jovani to finish his piece before speaking up.
"It''ll only be for three days at most and you''ll be able to be in consistentmunication with him as much as you want. I swear on my life no one will hurt him while I''m there, not only because they listen to me but because he''s part of the family and they no better than to hurt anyone with the Vedova Nera blood running through them regardless of how long they have been in this world or not."
"And why should I trust you to do this after what just happened? Can''t whoever it ise here?" Lena asked, challenging what the other had requested.
"Not exactly, plus unlike Samuel who would be going into friendly territory- asking the head of a family to go into uncertain territory brings too many risks along with it. How about I make apromise? You can send one of your men with him if you wish who I promise will be safe or even his mother who I presume is sitting there could go as well to make sure I''m not lying since she is also family."
Lena didn''t like either one of the options that was presented to her, but she knew that she was going to have to make a choice on one of them if things were going to move ahead with her engagement to Samuel by the sound of it.
"I need some time to think about it before I make a decision." She replied. She was displeased with how things were ying out, but it wasn''t like she had many other options to work with. Jovani had made a point that she couldn''t argue with.
Chapter 159 - Not Staying Here
Zane decided that he would stay and talk further with Jovani about the matter while Lena and Samuel left to discuss what the best option might be. The princess was staunchly against it after Jovani had dismissed her suggestion that shee with them for the same reason he said that it would be unwise for the head of the Vedova Nera to their estate.
"You really think that it would turn out that badly?" Samuel asked as he sat in one of the arm chairs in the sunroom. Lena who refused to sit down with him was standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed on a scowl on her face. He continued speaking when she chose not to reply, too busy with her thoughts trying to figure out an alternative option.
"I know you''re worried because I don''t know anything about this side of family and more so after what happened with your mother. I can understand all of that." He started, causing the princess to look over at him. She didn''t like it when her mother was randomly brought into a conversation. It still wasn''t a topic that she wasfortable talking about.
"But Jovani I don''t think is that same type of person and since it seems like he has a lot of say in the family, at least from how he talks. I don''t think there''s anything to be worried about. Plus honestly, I want to learn more about this side of the world since I''ll be marrying into being together with you anyways." Lena sighed after hearing Samuel say this, her demeanor deting slightly.
"Little chickadee, while I do understand that and it wouldn''t be right for me to stop you from doing as you please in this situation, there''s a lot of things you don''t know though and that is what worries me." The princess exined
"We''re both the same age, but unlike you, I grew up in this world. I know what it is like and how to navigate it."
"But aren''t I going to have to learn how to navigate it once we''re engaged and then married?" Samuel reasoned as he sat up in the chair. Lena shook her head in response to what he said.
"Yes, but with me I can tell you what to expect and how things will plus there are a number of people that you can rely on here to watch up for. With the Vedova Nera though, I can''t say what to expect because there''s no one there that I know." This was the biggest thing that made her hesitate rather than agreeing to what Jovani wanted.
The princess knew how exactly how her family and everyone who was to them would move and react around Samuel as they already saw him as family since he was going to be marrying Lena. The Vedova Nera however sounded like they weren''t always consistent with their after she had heard Evalyn exin.
"It can''t be too bad though, right?" He tried to assure her as she stood up.
"I mean, Jovani could''ve killed me already if he wanted to since he was able to catch me so easily, but he didn''t. Plus, maybe it''ll be a positive thing to have them our side if I go with him for just a few days." He paused in what he was saying when she turned around to look at him, her eyes said that she wasn''t convinced by what he was saying.
"Besides, if my motheres along I''m sure that there are still those within the family that would know her and that would make it less likely for them to do anything to me if they would otherwise reject a stranger who was still considered." Lena scoffed in response to what he said and moved out of the way before he could hug her again. He thought for certain that he would be able to get away with it since he had approached her so gently.
"You would think that, but there''s where you don''t know how certain things work within this world." She replied with a tsk.
"Some families have codes that even rtives aren''t exempt from. Although your mother didn''t technically break anyways or say anything out of turn during these twenty or so years that she has been away, that doesn''t meant that the family will readily ept her back. It could still be seen as an act of betrayal that requires a certain level of retribution for." She exined.
When Zane had taken over, it was one of the first things that he had changed and not just for his family, but for those who had family as well. There were a certain amount of rules that he had no control over being able to change in terms of what would be considered grounds for punishment, but he did change the ruling so that issues rted to family would be dealt with within blood rtives and those on the outside had no right to add their input.
The only rule that had really stayed in ce which affected Samuel was the policy that allowed no one in the family to tell outsiders about what they did unless they were officially engaged or until after they had been married. It was the one thing those higher up in the Red Scorpion group even above her father weren''t going to allow to be changed no matter what. Both for the protection of those on the outside and for the protection of their family.
"You actually think that my mother would have to undergo so type of punishment if she suddenly came back to be a part of the family?" Samuel asked rather surprised.
"It''s something that you would want to ask Jovani. I can''t say for sure because I don''t know what rules the Vedova Nera operate under, but it is a possibility." As she moved so that she could look out one of the many windows in the sunroom that faced out towards the front of the estate.
"Maybe it would be better for her not toe with me then." Samuel said as he scratched the back of his head now not quite sure what to do. There really was a lot of things that he didn''t know that much about.
"You could try asking your mother about it as well. Although it was a long time ago since she was there and rules likely have changed since then. I''m sure that some of the things she remembered would likely still be in ce." Lena suggested. It was going to be a shift to think about her fianc¨¦''s mother being part of the mafia as well, she didn''t think that it could be possible with how gentle the other woman seemed to be though that was probably why she wanted to walk away from the family in the first ce.
"Maybe it would be better of Jovani stayed for a day until we have more time to think everything over and decide what would be best or for me to even make up my mind?" He suggested. He was realizing that he was going to need more time to think about everything before he made a solid decision.
Lena was facing outside still when he made this suggestion but the reflection on the ss helped him to see the displeased face she made at his suggestion. He knew that Princess wouldn''t like it that much, but one day wouldn''t have been that bad.
"I don''t like the idea of having a stranger I don''t know all that well staying here for the night." She replied honestly, not turning away from looking out the window.
"If he wishes to stay somece and he and father haven''t work something out by the time we head back, I''m sure that there''s a hotel that would amodate him better than here."
"I know that, but maybe him staying here and talking would make it easier for you to get used to him since it sounds like he''s going to end up being with me a lot anyways."" Lena didn''t reply right away as she was considering what the other was saying.
"If you''re going to insist upon it, we can go and talk with him and father again and see what they had discussed. If nothing is worked out, I will considered it. Though, I don''t like the idea of him working with you as a guard." Lena replied as she turned away from the window to walk towards the door, she figured that she had given everyone else enough time to either work something out or discuss other matters that were important to them.
Samuel was quick to follow her after she had started to leave the room. He hoped that she would end up changing her mind as he really wanted her to stop being so hostile towards Jovani sooner rather thanter. He didn''t think that he would be able to allow the other to be his guard if the animosity between him and Lena didn''t change.
Chapter 160 - More Trouble Than He Appeared
Even though Lena and Samuel had been gone for near half an hour, Jovani was still standing where he had been when they left. He and Zane had stopped talking when they entered the room.
"Did youe to any decision?" The princess asked as she looked over at her father who seemed more rxed than he did earlier.
"Based upon what he says, the best route would be for Sam''s mother to go with them." Zane replied. Evelyn had also taken part in the conversation after Lena had left. She wanted to get an idea from Jovani what had changed before she made a decision to agree on anything.
"Would things be safe for her to go back with us after she has been gone for so long?" Samuel asked, interjected into the conversation.
"Absolutely. So long as I''m there with both of you, no one would even consider touching either one of you." Jovani assured.
"In fact, I''m more than certain some of them will remember your mother and be surprised to see that she came back after being gone so long without one word about her decision to leave. Evalyn nodded her head in agreement with this.
"I''m not exactly sure that everyone will feel warmly towards my return, but the family isn''t one to hurt those who return of their own ord so long as they haven''t broken any of thews while they are away." She added.
"Why does it have to be three days?" Lena asked brining the conversation to the point that was bothering her the most. She didn''t understand why whatever needed to be dealt with couldn''t be finished up in one day so that Samuel could return the same day or following morning.
"Because Princess, there are a lot of matters that need to be addressed and dealt with." Jovani exined as he crossed his legs.
"Three days are the minimum amount of time that it will take to sort everything out. Unlike yours, not all of our family lives closely together. It will take them a while toe back and be there for the whole process. Samuel hasn''t been initiated into the family yet after all." He reminded. This was something that would''ve been done when he was a child automatically as Samuel would''ve been born on groupsnd and thus any children in such a situation are automatically considered part of the family.
This wasn''t the case however for Samuel since he was born on neutral territory. By blood he was part of the family bot not initiated into it officially which was what mattered. The princess narrowed her eyes at Jovani after he said this.
"I hope you don''t intend to tell me you expect to put him through a normal initiation just because he''s been outside of the family for the past eighteen years." There was an edge to her tone that told Jovani that it better not to be what he was intending to do the. If so, the princess wasn''t likely to let the other man go back with him to the Vedova Nera family.
"Of course not. Even most of those who are the older generation within the family understand that we don''t put our own blood through such things. It will most just be making sure that he understands the code of the family and there are no risks of him acting out of turn or confidence." He replied as though it wasn''t that big of a deal.
"You really should give me more credit princess. I have been around long enough to know what I''m doing and how to handle this situation in order to make sure that not a hair on the head of your fianc¨¦ is touched for both of our sakes." Jovanimented as he looked over at Samuel, he could tell the younger man had questions he wanted to ask.
"Don''t worry, some of these matters will be exined to you on the way there. Most of it you should know, but a lot of it won''t apply to you. I''m sure your mother would also be happy to fill you in on the smaller details if she will being back with us." Jovani told his younger cousin.
"You''re talking about this as though the decision for him to go back with you has already been decided." Lenamented, not liking the way the conversation was being lead.
"Well hasn''t it? I mean, you''re intent on going through with the engagement. I think that I have done my part in that line to assure you that nothing would happen to your dear fianc¨¦ and my cousin. As such, is there any real reason why he shouldn''t be allowed toe back with me?" Jovani asked, tilting his head slightly. It was obvious by his tone that he thought he made the perfect point that the princess couldn''t really argue with.
She could think though of a hundred different reasons why Samuel shouldn''t go with his cousin even if his mother would be there with him. She still didn''t trust this one a ounce more than she had when she first met him and talked with him over the phone. There was still something about him she didn''t like, she just couldn''t pinpoint what it was.
"I haven''t agreed to anything yet and would prefer if there was another day to discuss matters before a decision is made." The princess replied ncing over at her father.
"Do you think that it would be too much to take an extra day to further discuss matters since it''s nearing the afternoon?" She asked. Zane was quiet for a moment as he thought about it. To him it didn''t seem like there was much of a reason to keep the conversation going any longer.
He didn''t trust Jovani anymore than his daughter did, but he hadn''t found any reason to believe he was a threat from the conversation that they had. Thus, he couldn''t think of a decent reason not to agree to let Samuel go back with him today. If the princess didn''t want it however, he would give that to her.
"Very well. We can take another day to discuss matters. I think that there''s more of a discussion that Samuel needs to have with his mother anyways before they leave." Zane finally agreed as he looked around at those in the room with him. Jovani didn''t seem pleased about this decision but he wasn''t about to protest it since Zane had sided with this daughter.
"Very well. Would it be eptable for me to take up residence here until tomorrow. Perhaps it would help to create more good will if you show that I''m not much of a threat while residing with the family?" Jovani questioned. Rather than looking at the princess, he nced over at Samuel who he thought would be most likely to say yes to this. Lena opened her mouth to protest this but stopped for a second.
"Very well, but I don''t want you making so much of amotion around here. There are plenty of guestrooms that you can use. Keep to yourself and don''t harass any of the staff while they''re working or ask too many questions." Lena conceded even though she wasn''t happy about this, she knew that Samuel would be.
"I''m sure that Jovani knows how to mind himself and won''t create too much trouble." Samuelmented as he look over at his cousin who had somewhat of a smug look on his face.
"I will do my best to make it as though I''m not even here today. I understand how to respect a space that isn''t my own and to stay out of the way so that I don''t end up causing any unnecessary trouble." Jovani agreed as he stood up.
"In fact, I will most likely want to spend most of my time with my cousins here. There are a lot of things to catch up on that I''m sure will make things easier when we head back eventually." The princess didn''t want the other man anywhere near Samuel, but thinking logically, she knew that it would be the safest ce for them to discuss certain matters while everyone else was around.
"Fine. There''s only one other rules that needs to followed as well and that is for you to not even step one foot while you''re here in the sunroom." The princess warned. It was the one ce in the house that she refused to allow any strangers to enter because of how important it was to her.
"Dully noted princess. I will make sure to not even think about investigating that room." Even though Jovani said it in a light tone, she could tell he meant that as he reached out his hand to shake hers. She hesitantly shook his hand. She just hoped that it didn''t turn out to be a bad decision to let the other stay.. Something about him gave her the impression that he was more trouble than he appeared.
Chapter 161 - Staying Over
Lena found herself spending a lot of the day with Jovani and Samuel even though she didn''t want to be around the former much. Her father was still refusing to let her work for the rest of the week and because Samuel was still worried about her- wherever she was, that was where her fianc¨¦ wanted to be.
She wouldn''t have minded if it wasn''t for the fact that his cousin happened to want to spend time with him as well. It was odd to her how intent and interested he was in getting to know the other even though they had hardly met. Did it have something to do with the fact that he didn''t get along well with the rest of his family?
That didn''t quite make sense to the princess though seeing as Evalyn was there that day too and Jovani didn''t seem to share the same level of interest in catching up with her. Sure they had talked for a while, but only while Samuel was there and once he had discussed some things with his mother and came to understand more about the Vedova Nera based upon what she remembered, he went back to being around the princess.
Lena opted for sitting outside on the second floor terrace. If she had been in better condition she would''ve gone for a ride, but rice had advised against her doing too much physical activity until after her injuries had healed. She would have chosen to ignore what the other had said if it wasn''t for the fact that her father had happened to overhear it as well.
Thus, she was stuck with either reading or staring up at the sun and hoping it didn''t make her go blind. Reading only worked temporarily for her however as trying to focus made her head hurt plus the chatter of conversation from Jovani and Samuel that was going on near her made it hard to focus.
Watching them interact it was oddly easy to tell that they were somehow rted. Samuel certainly didn''t carry the same dangerous aura about him the way that Jovani did despite his calm exterior demeanor. They were both however very expressive and got excited about small things that she couldn''t quite understand. Perhaps that was just because she had be disenchanted about life at an early age and learned to not care much about small trivial or physical things. Very few items carried sentimental value to her. Most of which were ones that either her mother and father had gotten her or the few odd things her brother had brought back from Ennd for her that he picked up because he thought she would like them.
"No pocket knives." The princess interjected as she set down the open book so that it wasying on her upper chest as she red over at Jovani for his suggestion. He already had the knife out however to show Samuel, both heads turned to look at her at the same time with the appearance of children who thought they were about to get into trouble.
"Shouldn''t it be safe for him to look at it? The de isn''t even out?" Jovani asked as he looked at the princess.
"It''s not like he can actually hurt himself on it, I mostly just wanted to show him the symbol that has been engraved on the handle." He defended as he showed her the knife.
"A pocket knife can''t be much worse than handle a gun, can it?" Samuel agreed as he looked over at the princess to wait and see what she would say.
"I doubt you''ve ever handled one before and it can be too easy to cut yourself if you''re not careful even if the de isn''t drawn. You can show him but don''t be careless." Lena replied as she kept an eye on what they were doing.
Pocket knives weren''t more dangerous than guns, but it was certainly easier to cut one''s self on them depending on how they worked. She never kept one on her simply because she felt that it was more trouble than it was worth to take the extra steps to pull it out and use itpared to a gun or fists.
"Is that the family emblem?" Samuel asked in awe as the looked at the carefully carved glossy looking ck widow that adorned the case of the pocket knife that Jovani was showing him.
"It is. It''s the one that has been passed down for years through the generations. There are two of them, usually one given to the head of the family and the other belongs to the one who will be his sessor as sort of a bond." Jovani exined, tilting the case of the knife just that the light shone out of it and revealed that the red was mark was in fact a small ruby that had been encrusted into the design.
"Does that mean that you''ll end up being the sessor?" Lena asked looking up from the knife to see Jovani''s reaction to this question. A small smirk twitched at the corner of his face in response to this question.
"That might be the case. Honestly though with everything that has been going on with the family recently, I don''t think that the head of the family has chosen yet who will be taking over once he retires."
"Because of what has been going on between you and Marcus you mean?" Samuel rified curious to know what his cousin meant by this. Jovani tilted his hand slightly as though to indicate a so-so answer.
"Partly that, but other matters as well. As I exined before it hasn''t just been my cousin who has been causing problems within the family. There was his father before that." He replied, setting the knife down on hisp.
"Not just that though. Other tragedies have struck within the family as well that have kind of caused things to go off-kilter and created a problem with how to move forward. Much of the main family for one reason or other has died over the years causing the line of potential session to get smaller and smaller." Jovani stopped after he said this though, ncing over at Lena with a smile she didn''t understand before turning back to Samuel.
"But that''s something we can talk aboutter.. Probably not best to have such stuffy conversations today before any decision is made about whether or not you''ll being back with me." Lena narrowed her eyes at him when he said this, what exactly was he trying to hide from her?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 162 - He Could Be A Sociopath
"Before we change conversation there is one thing that I want to know about." Lena said as she sat up from where she had beenying on the futon.
"And what would that be?" Jovani asked, tilting his head slightly.
"How did you know where to find Samuel on the day that you picked him up. I highly doubt that you used a tracking device of any sort considering it doesn''t seem like you were nearing at him at all before that moment."
"Oh, that was actually easy to do. I had a car trailing the ones you use at the estate for a while before that point." He asked though it should''ve been obvious by his tone.
"And I know you''re wondering how you didn''t pick up on it?" The princess didn''t say anything which let him know he was right so he continued speaking.
"Simple- I just used different cars with different license tes and drivers. Someone as sharp as yourself would of course be quick to pick up on the fact that the same car or driver was following you around, but if it was a different car and driver or at least different tes each day, you would be less likely to pick up on it even if you were trying to be careful."
"Since when though?" Lena pressed, that was the part that she really wanted the answer to. If he wasn''t working with someone on the inside of the family, he had to have had a way to find out what type of car she drove or who to look out for as a driver.
"Why when we bumped into each other at the amusement part of course." Jovani replied, a smug smirk on his face as he said this.
"Wait you mean you were the person who returned my wallet?" Samuel asked rather surprised. How had he not picked up on that even though he had spent a lot of time talking to the other in person.
"Really, you didn''t put that together until just now? I thought for sure you must''ve known even though it was a very brief encounter." Jovani seemed equally surprised that neither one of them had put those two pieces together. Lena tasked in response to this. Of course should''ve known but she hadn''t been doing very well that day so even though she suspected that person, she hadn''t thought it would''ve been Jovani. He had been dressed so casually that day and his hair was done differently that only his face would''ve been a giveaway, but the princess hadn''t paid much attention to.
"After handing it back to you, I just waited back in the amusement park until you left and managed to snap a photo of the car you used and the driver to hand out as reference to look out for. Everyone already knew who Clive was so there was no need to worry about that because he would be easy to locate if he was driving either of you around." He continued.
"Speaking of which. I suppose now that you know that much I should give you back the picture I pinched from you." Jovani told his younger cousin as he pulled out his wallet and rummaged through it to find the picture he had taken from Samuel. As it turned out it was the photo that Samuel had been looking for after he had dropped his wallet that day.
"I thought that it must''ve been taken!" Samuel eximed as the other handed it back.
"I''ve had it with me for so long that I didn''t think I could''ve left it just anywhere or back with my family. Why did you take that though?"
"Simply for protection purposes for the rest of your family." Jovani exined as he put his wallet back causing the other to give him a confused look.
"With me you don''t have to worry about me trying anything underhanded with your family or anyone else you''re close to. However, I cannot vouch for what kind of methods my cousin might''ve tried to use in order to win the bet that we had. It was honestly only by purely luck that you dropped your wallet that day which gave me an excuse to look through it before I handed you back."
"You mean to say that you''ve been providing protective services to his family prior to all of this happening?" Lena rified, she didn''t really like the direction that this conversation was heading now.
"Yes exactly. Of course, they don''t know about it. I tried to do it carefully while respecting the fact that Evalyn hadn''t told her husband or other children anything about that side of her past. At the same time however, I didn''t want to leave anything to chance."
"Does that mean that I still have to worry about anything happening to my family now?" Samuel asked, concerncing his voice. He didn''t like the thought that his younger siblings might''ve been in trouble or his father.
"Overall, not really. Because you''re officially part of the family and they know who Evalyn is, the protection will remain in ce until everything with my cousin is sorted out. If your mother decides to tell her husband at least after this about what was is going on, we could more directly protect them, but that''s between them to sort out." Jovani exined.
"You talk about this cousin like he''s someone to really worry about. What exactly is going on between the two of you aside from this bet?" Lena asked giving him a hard look that told him she expected him to give her an honest answer about it.
"Well to put simply- he wants to be the one to take over the family, but there isn''t much approval for that because of the code that he lives under. It is far harsher than the one that my side of the family agrees in and aligns more with his father''s idea of how things should''ve been run." He answered.
"In short, he could be exined a bit of a psychopath.. Maybe sociopath, but I like to believe that he still has a bit of a conscience in him somewhere."
Chapter 163 - An Explanation
Lena couldn''t tell by the expression Jovani''s face if he was being serious when he said this about Marco or if he was making some kind of joke.
"In what way do you mean when you say that?" The princess rified as her mind started turning on what this would mean with everything moving forward. For one it meant that she was going to have to be very careful about who was invited to the engagement party. She didn''t want to deal with another situation with someone who had the potential to be more threatening than Jovani was.
"I mean in the sense of someone who would be willing to do irrational things to get what they want because they think that their views and values are the absolute right way to live within the mafia lifestyle." Jovani replied as he fiddled with the sheath of the knife still in his hands.
"I can''t exactly say why or where it started since it came from his father but he didn''t used to be that way until he got older. It could be said that in some ways the Vedova Nera is a rather harsh group to work with in the way we run things, but we do things straight forward and upfront." He exined. He was trying to think about the best way to exin how they operated.
"Marcus''s father was Francisco. For a long while he and the head of the family worked well together considering that they were brothers. One of four brothers to exact." He paused again as he set the knife down.
"I''m not exactly sure what caused him to change, I think that it was the frustration that there were other groups encroaching upon the family territory and rather than ''dealing'' with them, the head of the family worked to create treaties with them so that they shared the territory rather than continued to rule it with an iron fist. Francisco didn''t agree with this method as he thought the end result of this would be that it would make the family appear weaker and decrease the chance of being able to handle an attack." Lena listened quietly as she was processing everything he was saying.
That was certain something that had never been a problem within her family before. Julia and Zane had always worked well together and shared a lot of the simr views and values. Certainly her father worked hard to change some things once his father had retired and he was inplete control, but the changes he made were softer changes to benefit making the Red Scorpion harder to those on the outside but more careful of those within the family.
"What did he do then in response to what he didn''t like?" The princess asked, Jovani sighed in response to this question and rolled his eyes.
"He thought that he would be able to sessfully stage a coup if he waited long enough to prove that hisints and concerns were warranted by what woulde in the months after they began to share their territory. They didn''t of course as the head of the family knew exactly what he was doing." He answered.
"This didn''t satisfy Francisco either though, because he was upset about the lower approval rate that followed his baseless ims within the family. He didn''t really have much of a leg to stand on when it came to trying to overthrow his brother, that didn''t stop him however and the end result was that he was emunicated."
"It wasn''t just because of that however that he was emunicated. Behind the scenes Francisco was trying to take into his hand to use underhanded methods to eliminate what he perceived was potentialpetition among other families. This included innocent members of family that could be used as bait if and when necessary to get what he wanted.
"That would create a reasonable exnation as to why Marcus is doing what he is doing, for revenge is it?" Samuel asked. At least what he understood from his perspective it sounded like a sun who was trying to get revenge for his father who had been wronged.
"Not quite." Jovani corrected as he folded his hands on hisp, looking over at his cousin as he answered his question.
"It would certainly make sense for what he''s doing to be actions rooted within the desire to get revenge for what happened to his father. The problem with that however is the fact that he used to think that father was wrong when he was younger as well."
"Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that crazy runs in that side of my family from the mother''s side or something. But as Marcus got older he started to think that maybe his father wasn''t wrong in what he wanted to do. Maybe it was time for a change to the way things had always been one. One that relied on a harsher set of rules and a different way about handling situations." Jovani had honestly been disappointed when Marcus had started talking to him like this. His once sweet cousin who had promised to take over the family with them and run it together in the right kind of way was bing like this father.
"I would like to say that it is water under the bridge for us now that we both decided to go our separate ways. That was until he found out about Samuel and reached out to me with the bet."
"You never really did exin what the bet was." Lena pointed out, interjected into what he was saying.
"I suppose I didn''t did I?" He answered back thoughtfully.
"It was a pretty straight forward bet honestly. He was one who originally found out about Samuel and after not hearing from for over a year, he sent me a text and his picture. The bet was basically whoever managed to get to him first and convince him toe back to the family would be the next in line to seed the current head of the family." The unspoken part as he looked between them was clearly saying- "And you can see who won that bet.".
"Why did the bet be about me though considering I have never been a part of the family?" Samuel then asked. This was something that Lena had been wanting to understand as well.
"Complicated matters that will be exined to you once youe back with me and I can better exin things with the help of other members of the family." Jovani replied brushing off his question. He had his own reasons for not wanting to say anything yet and he hoped that there wouldn''t be too much pressure for him to have to say anything before he got to do what he wanted to.
"Since you won though, why doesn''t Marcus just ept the fact that that things turned out this way and let everything be." Jovani let out a sharp bark of augh in response to Lena''s question.
"That''s the part that I think you''re not understanding princes- he might''ve lost the bet but in his mind it isn''t a good enough reason to drop everything. In his mind he probably thinks that I cheated in order get ahead, but fact is I just happen to be a better strategist than he is." It was one of the few qualities that he was proud of when he was younger.
As a kid it made him look impressive because when he and his cousins would y games such as Risk or War, he was always the one to win orst longer than most of the others. He knew how to think ten steps ahead and how to make feints as well to get people to believe what he wanted them to. He had tried to teach Marcus what he knew, but the other never became quiet as good as him.
"While I don''t think that he''s going to start anything anytime soon as he''s probably still nursing his wounds from such a blow to his ego. I can''t speak of what he might do in the future. I can''t even say currently where he and the few members of the family who decided to leave with him went. I would assume though that he still resides somewhere with Jersey since he came to visit you Princess, but where exactly is something that I can''t figure out."
That news didn''t bode well with Lena. She didn''t like having an unknown potential enemy so close to the family. If it was true that he was potentially a sociopath, he wouldn''t exactly be that easy to pin down either.
She would have to find a way to address this problem before it became too big. The Vedova Nera and Red Scorpions weren''t the only groups such a person couldtch themselves onto if they requested assistance with something.. Who would be the most likely was the question that she would have to look intoter.
Chapter 164 - Like Himself
It was during the pause in this conversation that Leo decided to make his presence known. Without anyone saying anything he could tell how intense his situation was and decided that it was a good time to interject for them to have lunch.
"Why don''t we take a break from all this seriousness to go to go eat ate lunch? I think Ryan even took the time to make something sweet for this asion considering everything that has been going on." He chose to cut into the conversation because he knew his father would have been pleased that the Princess was worrying about such things while she was still injured. He knew in home mind that it was an important conversation to have but not one that needs to take ce during that exact moment in time.
"Oh? Is this the younger brother I''ve heard about but haven''t had a chance to meet yet?" Jovani asked as he tilted his head back to better assess the younger man. Looking the other over you could see some of the simrities between him and the Princess facial features in the looking''s eyes. However, he could also see how the other looked a lot like his father Zane which led him to believe that perhaps the Princess had gotten more of her looks from her mother. Leo regarded the other man with an odd look in his eyes it was a mixture between interest and annoyance which is unusual for the younger man who generally got annoyed by very little.
"And you must be the man from the Vedova Nera family who was responsible for the recent issues we''ve been having to deal with." While he certainly didn''t hold as much hostility told Jovani as Lena did, Leo didn''t feel the need to show him much kindness either considering he was the one who ended up causing both Samuel and Lena to return hurt.
"Well now, I can see I''m getting quite the reputation for being that person." Jovani replied with a touch of amusement in his voice."
"You only have yourself to me for that." Lena replied before turning her attention to Leo who was still focused on Jovani.
"Did Ryan say what exactly he made?" Leo looked up from the other to give his attention back to his sister.
"He didn''t, but he said he thought it would be something that you''d quite like." The younger brother replied, his attention suddenly being caught by the pocketknife that Jovani had picked back up to ce back into his pocket.
"He''d show it to you if you were interested in it." Samuelmented when noticed what caught Leo''s eyes.
"Maybe another time." The younger brother replied as he looked away from it. He couldn''t deny that he was interested in it, but lunch was waiting and Zane wanted to make sure that Lena was going to being to eat as well since her appetite wasn''t fully back yet.
"Perhaps when Ie to visit next time?" Jovani suggested with a smile.
"Considering we are going to be family soon. I would like to get to know the brother of my cousin''s fianc¨¦ as well as the rest of the family I''m starting to get to know."
"That''s only if Lena allows you to be invited back after all this." Leo replied as he walked over to where his sitting was still sitting on the futon.
"It''s going to be unavoidable probably." She admitted even though the thought of it made her grimace. Jovani honestly wasn''t that horrible of a person. The princess was one who didn''t easily let go of a grudge once someone had hurt her family. If Jovani wanted her to ept him, he was going to have to do a lot to make her change her opinion of him.
"I''ll be busy a lot at first, but you can be certain of the fact that I wouldn''t miss the engagement party for the world." He replied as he looked at Samuel with a warm smile.
"Why does it seem like you care so much about someone you''ve hardly met?" Lena finally asked as she stood up. Another one of the questions that had been bothering her for a while now.
"Simple- I''m happy to have someone decent within my family that I can be to close to again." Jovani replied.
"Growing up at a time when the family was a mess, it was hard to find people to be close with once everyone got older. They either did their own thing or they left. The closeness that most of us had as children disappeared by the time we became teens." He exined. As he stood up. Turning around, he held out his hand to help Samuel stand up. He thanked him for the assistance as he stood up.
The unspoken part that Jovani didn''t want to say as he looked at his younger cousin was that Samuel reminded him of himself when he was younger. Although he grew up as part of the Vedova Nera family, he didn''t have to worry about working too deeply within the family until he hit sixteen because of how far down he was in the family line.
He was only taught as much as he needed to in order to navigate the world, but the only thing that was expected of him was not to say the wrong thing to those outside of the family and to respect the code that the Vedova Nera lived by. Beyond that, he was pretty much left to do his own thing and the skills he learned were the ones that he specifically picked out to each himself.
Once everything had started to fall apart around the family however, Jovani was one of the ones to step up along with his cousin Marcus in trying to fix things and keep it stable.. He wasn''t entirely keen on bringing Samuel into everything since he was ultimately an outsider and would have a lot to learn, but he knew it was the better choice than risking Marcus doing anything that would turn into a regrettable action in the future.
Chapter 165 - A Fun Place
Lena only agreed to eat lunch because she wanted whatever dessert Ryan was promising afterwards. She thought that sugar might help her mood a little since she was still feeling off after everything. Zane had joined them for lunch in the main dining room along with Julius''s daughters, his wife, and Clive. Julius wasn''t there because there were work matters that he needed to take care of that had been put off for too long. The same reason that Leo had been absent that morning when Jovani had first arrived.
"You two are cousins?" Zoe asked as she looked between Samuel and Jovani.
"You don''t look anything alike though." Jovani chuckled at thisment. He would''ve put his arm on his younger cousin''s shoulder if they had been seated together.
"That''s because we''re distant cousins. The family tree is a little bit hard to exin, but we''re more like second or third cousins so the simrities aren''t as noticeable as the ones between you and your sister and the princess here and her brother''s."
"Is he going to being to live with us as well?" Lisa asked, turning to look at Zane after taking another bite of the pasta that they were having for lunch. Zane in turn looked at Lena who made a face that said she wasn''t certain.
"That isn''t something that has been decided upon yet." Zane replied, looking at Jovani who seemed rather content to be sitting at the table with the rest of the family. Leo wanted to say no because simr to Lena, he wasn''t thrilled about having anyone around that had hurt his family, but he knew that that decision wasn''t up to him.
"If he does, I don''t want him stealing my room." Zoemented with her mouth half full. Thisment broke some of the tension at the table. Where had the young girl gotten the idea that anyone would be stealing her room if they were going to be staying with them.
"You do realize that there are more than a dozen empty rooms left in the house that wouldn''t require us to touch yours?" Leo asked looking over at his cousin amused at the presumption she had made.
"I know! But that didn''t stop father from making me and my sister share a room a while back when some of mother''s family hade over to visit one of the times." She defended. Zane was the only one at the table that remembered that. Only because Julius had called to ask for his advice since his daughter was throwing a fit over having to share a room with her sibling for a reason that she didn''t quite understand.
"That was a different situation from this one." Zane rified, trying his best not to chuckle at her offense since he knew it would only make it worse.
"Your father had a very good reason for doing that which he told youter on and you agreed it made sense." He reminded the young girl who pouted despite knowing that he was right.
"Yeah, but I still don''t want it happening again." She grumbled as she went back to eating quietly.
"How about I make it up to you if I end up imposing too much on this space since it isn''t exactly my ce?" Jovani suggested. He had an idea in mind that he thought they might love. Zane cast an uncertain look his way that told him to tread carefully on what he suggested.
"Actually, the princess here spent some time there and I think she can vouch for how fun it could be. Some ce that I spent a lot of time with my cousin when I was younger." Lena gave him a skeptical look when he said this as there was only one ce that she thought he could''ve been talking about.
"Are you trying to tell me that everything that you put me through was built for children to do?" Jovani offered the best innocent look he could because he noticed that Clive was not paying attention to see what he was going to say as well.
"Kind of." He replied drawing the words out slightly, took a drink before continued.
"I did modify things a little bit since it was rather outdated from thest time I was there to fit something I thought would be more fun and better suited."
"So it was." The Princess replied tly. She felt rather offended to find this out. She had thought that there was something childish about the parts that she hade across despite how warm it was and by the look on Clive''s face it was evident that he had felt simrly about it.
"You can''t deny that it was safe though and would''ve perhaps been fun if things were different."
"Was it really fun?" Zoe asked as she looked over at Lena was confirmation of this fact.
"I''m the wrong person to be asking that question to." She replied. She hadn''t really thought that it was much fun. It was stressful, hot, and annoying at the time. Not the kind of ce that she would choose to spend time in if she had the choice.
"I also wouldn''t advise that you agree to go with anyone anywhere just because they make a promise to do something fun with you." Lena added on after that. She didn''t think that Jovani would do anything to them, but she didn''t want them getting any kind of wrong ideas while they were still youngish.
"Does that mean we can''t go and see this ce?" Zoe asked, disappointmentcing her voice.
"Why don''t you ask your father about it when he returns and let him decide?" Zane suggested. He didn''t like the idea of it, but ultimately it would be up to Julius to say yes or no.. He already had he feeling though that his brother''s answer would be a no as wouldn''t be thrilled about his daughters being around someone in a ce that he wasn''t familiar with.
Chapter 166 - Someone Else To Take Care Of Him
A/N: Hello dear readers. I hope you''re still enjoying the story.
I know some of you have already, but those who haven''t I kindly ask for honest reviews. I have some hesitant new readers and would like them to know from other readers the book is worth the investment or not.
Thank as always for the support.
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Ryan didn''t disappoint Lena with the dessert. He had made a tres leches cake to have after lunch. She knew that it had to be because of everything that was going on that he specially made it as cake wasn''t usually something that was served after dinner, never for lunch.
This made it worth it to the princess to sit through the odd atmosphere around the lunch table and eat despite not having much of an appetite still. She knew though that once everything was back to the way that it should be that she would be perfectly fine. This meant that she just had to put up with things until Jovani left and whatever needed to happen with the Vedova Nera family was taken care of.
Later that night she decided to skip dinner because she was still full from lunch and had a lot on her mind to think about. Jovani had retired as well stating that as much as he wanted to keep talking with this cousins and getting to know more about them that there were things he had to take care of since he wouldn''t being back for the night and he had left Alonso in charge of the work that he usually took care of.
The man was more than capable of taking care of what needed to be done without any direction. It was more for the sake of his mental state that Jovani was messaging him. Simr to Lena, the man wasn''t thrilled about his walking into territory after seeing how the princess had reacted to the other after everything had went down.
Of course Jovani brushed his concern off and told him that there really wasn''t anything to worry about and instead that everything would work out for the better if he was the one to concede on this small point. So far he didn''t feel like he had been proven wrong in thinking this way.
He was fairly good at working with even the most difficult of people even if he couldn''t exactly get them to warm up to him. He could prevent himself from being shot so to speak by those who were more hostile towards him. One of the few skills that he had in his favor after he suddenly had to step up and work in a world that he didn''t know beyond the basic skills how to navigate.
Charm and humor proved to be an effective weapon against a number of different situations. One could say the coldest and harshest things to another without raising their temper if they did with a charming smile and the right amount of humor. It also worked equally well as a tool for getting information.
Except for in the case of Lena Scarlet it seemed. She certainly was tolerating him rather well, but he could sense that it was really only for Sam''s sake rather than anything else. She was great at asking questions to get the information that she wanted to know, but she didn''t have much to say about herself or the family.
Not that he was looking for anything that he could use against them. Rather Jovani was one to poke for any kind of weaknesses that might need shoring up. Especially if Samuel was going to be marrying into the family. He didn''t want there to be the risk of anything happening since he hadn''t gotten ahold of his cousin yet. Though, the other wasn''t the only threat that he would have to worry about.
A little bird had informed him that Genson was also working with Lena, though not much on the dark side of things as with an on-going issue within the business side. However, he knew what kind of man the other was since he had worked for his family in the past after all.
Genson was no better than a poisoned tongued viper in Jovani''s opinion. Great at tricking people into believing that beyond his pompous and overly arrogant attitude that he was harmless until the right situation presented itself for him to strike and end up as the one out on top.
The Scarlet princess was certainly sharp and intuitive in her own right, but he wasn''t fully convinced that she would be able to put those small pieces together herself since there wasn''t much of a reason to think that they were connected after all if one didn''t step back and look at the big picture or knew what could be going on in the background.
He was going to have to rely on someone else to help him with that piece and hope that they managed to be the ones to solve the problem first before Genson tricked his way into being the one to work at Lena''s business.
"Alonso. I have already told you that there isn''t anything for you to worry about. They might not be the warmest people here but it''s not like I''m at risk of getting my throat slit in my sleep." Jovani joked as heid on the bed. He had taken off his suit that he only had back dress shirt and pants. He feet were crossed as he lounged on the bed with his shoes still on.
He might''ve currently beenying down, but he wasn''t quiet ready to retire for the night yet, there were still a few other pieces that he needed to have taken care of before that. dismissing Alonso''s concerns were one of those.
"You might joke about that, but the princess''s re that day is something that I''m still worried about. She would''ve killed you on the spot if he hadn''t intervened." Alonso argued.
"With so many people in the family it wouldn''t be a hard thing to make you ''disappear'' overnight without anyone knowing the better what happened to you or who did it. Nor would they care." Jovani couldn''t stop himself fromughing over what the other was saying. He knew that there was a partial ring of truth to such a concern, he personally didn''t think that it applied to this situation however.
"Trust me, you don''t have to worry about that happening. She won''t touch me so long as Sam vouches for me. I would have to do something worse than I already did to make that happen." Jovani reassured his friend.
"It''s not the warmest wee I have gotten in being allowed to stay somewhere that is certain, but the rest of the family isn''t as cold as the princess. Though, I don''t think her brother likes me much either."
That was a bit of a pity to Jovani honestly. He actually found the younger brother to be an interesting one. He was perhaps the only member of the family that he didn''t know much about. Part of that he knew was due to the fact that he had been sent over seas when he was younger and had only recently returned for a brief extended period of time.
He was perhaps someone who would''ve struck his fancy in bing closer or decent friends with if the reception he had received from him and the fact that he was fairly certain the other wasn''t nning on staying around long told him that it wouldn''t be worth it at this point to try and get close to him.
"All I''m saying is that I just don''t think that you should keep being as nonchnt as you always are in these situations. One of these times it''ll end up costing you your life and then what am I going to do?" Alonso continued toin.
"Be happy because you get an unexpected promotion and pay raise and don''t have to spend the next few decades stress yourself into getting white hair due to all the worrying you''re done?" Jovani joked.
"That isn''t even remotely funny." His friend replied dryly after there was a short pause on the other end of the phone.
"Taking over your job would lead me to have even more stress. I want you to keep yours so that I can retire early once things shift around in the family and there''s someone else to keep an eye on you." He continued.
"You know that isn''t how things are going to end up working out. It''s more likely that I am will be assigned to worry about someone and request you to be there for backup as you always have been so reliable when ites to that." Jovani corrected.
"But I will put in a good work to request that you be able to retire early one a few years have passed and things have been sorted out. I''ll even make it a promise so I won''t forget it." He assured the other.
They talked for a few more minutes after this before he ended the call. There was still someone else that he need to speak with that felt far more pressing to him at the moment in time.. Once he was finished with that, he might be able to think about getting to sleep depending on how long the call took.
Chapter 167 - Strange Feelings
Lena didn''t know what to think when she found herself sharing the bed with Samuel again. She didn''tin against it, she just found it odd how he suddenly became sofortable invading her space when he hadst told that that he wasn''t sure when he would befortableing into her room on his own.
Tonight unlike previously, it didn''t seem like it was because he had anything in particr that he wanted to talk about. He was justying there next to her. One thing that she was at least thankful for was that fact that he hadn''t brought any food with him. Tonight she would''ve staunchly refused to eat. She already felt like she had eaten too much early and it had given her a headache.
"If you''re going to keeping in here like this so often why don''t you just n on moving in once the engagement is official?" She suddenly suggested causing him to turn and face. She was fairly certain that he hadn''t been sleeping yet based upon his breathing.
"I didn''t think that was something that was going to happen that soon?" He asked in reply.
"Technically, yes. Considering though how you have been inviting yourself in here recently it doesn''t seem to me that you would have a problem with it any longer." The princess replied. That had been the only reason she wasn''t going to shift things around so quickly- she didn''t think that he was going to befortable with it.
"Perhaps not like this. You can use your own bed at the first as this isn''t my ideal situation from the start since it''s not something I''m used to. However, I don''t think that it necessarily needs to wait unless you have an objection."
"Only objection is to sharing the same bed together? Why are you worried that I might do something to you?" Samuel asked a ghost of a smirk on his face as he aske this question.
"I don''t really think that is something that I need to worry about much." Lena replied with a slight roll of her eyes. Samuel certainly was more confident than he had been in the past with everything that had been going on, but the difference in their strengths was still something that she wasn''t worried about that much.
"I might beg to differ." He replied. It was a gently action, but due to how dark it was, she couldn''t quite see his movement and before she knew it, she found herself suddenly being pinned to the bed. Samuel made sure however that he wasn''t at any risk of hurting the injury on her stomach as he loomed over her. It didn''t make her feel any less instinctively defensive about it considering the current position.
"What do you think you''re doing exactly?" She asked, looking up at him, now he was close enough that she could tell that there faces weren''t that far apart.
"This is the second time that you''ve mentioned that you don''t think that there''s anything to worry about with us being in the same space like this. I''m just wondering how many times of this it''ll take before you change your opinion?" She knew by his tone and the slight glow she could see in his eyes that he was teasing here. She didn''t exactly appreciate it though.
However, this was one moment where she would have to admit that there wasn''t much she could do about the current situation that she found herself in. With her injury she couldn''t exactly use her legs to push him off like she normally would. Nor could she risk pulling too hard against his hands either even though his grip wasn''t much tighter than it was thest time she found herself in this situation.
"Probably too many times because I know you too well to know exactly how much you''d risk pushing your luck in this kind of position." the princess replied back. Shifting slightly when he leaned in closer to her.
"I''m not so sure about that. Even you know how stubborn I can be when I want to be. I could probably hold out long enough to make that happen if I really wanted to." What happened next she wasn''t expecting when he leaned his face down even further so that there noses were touching. It caused an odd sparking sensation in her stomach that she wasn''t quite sure how to process.
She had been certain that Samuel was going to kiss her considering he had the advantage to do that in their current position without her being able to protest too much. Not that she would though. It wasn''t beyond her to bite his lip if he pushed it too much in the current position, but with him she didn''t think that would happen since he was still being careful with her even now.
He instead moved to rub their noses together in a motion that was traditional for an Eskimo kiss. It was a small harmless, gesture that he did but she found herself once again in a situation where she wouldn''t quite understand why she found herself reacting in such a strong and strange way to these little things that probably didn''t mean much to others.
"Stop doing that." her voice and breath came out shorter than she had meant for it to when she told Samuel this. Now it was starting to be an unfair situation that she found herself in.
"Why? I don''t think that I''m doing anything particr harmful." Samuel asked as he looked into her eyes.
"Because I don''t know what to do about the way I''m feeling." Lena replied honestly, turning her head to the side in hopes of hiding the fact that she was blushing again. This really was starting to be too much for her and she didn''t know how to handle it all.
To make matters worse, it didn''t seem that Samuel was all that displeased by the way she was reacting to him.. Even if anything, it seemed to make him happy.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 168 - Making It Worse
Samuel paused for a second as tried to study Lena''s face in the dark. It proved to be rather difficult with the way that she had tucked her face away from him.
"Well why don''t you just embrace them for the time being if they aren''t bad?" He suggested. It had been what he was working on doing when he noticed his feelings for the princess had started to grow. He just let it take it''s course and waited to see what direction it would lead him in.
"Because it''s different." was the only response that she could give him. She couldn''t say that what she was feeling was bad per say, it was just a confusing feeling that she wasn''t sure what she do with it.
"I think that right now I would rather prefer some space to deal with this." She told him after there was another moment of silence between them.
"If I do leave, does that mean I''m allowed to go back with Jovani tomorrow?" He suddenly asked, a topic in Lena''s mind that wasn''t even rted to what was going on at the current moment in time.
"That has nothing to do with this." She replied back, making the mistake of turning her head to re at him only to realize how close their faces were.
"Of course it does. Because those feelings you''re talking about would be more than enough of a reason for you to not want me to go back with him." Samuel pointed out.
"I don''t want you to go back with him because I don''t think it''s safe and I don''t trust what might happen when you''re somewhere that I know nothing about." the princess argued.
"This and that are the same, love." Samuel replied with small smile before leaning down to give her a quick kiss. This didn''t make anything better for her, if anything it made the strange sensation worse. She certainly wasn''t used to being in this type of situation and she couldn''t say that she was enjoying very much.
"Samuel." She tried to warn after the kiss was broken, but she knew her voice didn''t sound as firm as she wanted it to. The soft look in eyes was still there as he stared down at her while waiting to hear what she was going to say.
"I said this and that aren''t rted. We can talk more about that tomorrow." She repeated. She wasn''t per say trying to deny the fact that they were rted as much as she hadn''t given it much thought to consider if it was a possibility.
In her mind it came down to the matter of sensibility and protection. It wasn''t sensible to her to let him leave with Jovani even if they were cousins after what just happened. She couldn''t trust that the other would even let Samuele back despite what he said once they were in Vedova Nera territory. She wouldn''t even have the ability to push too far if such thing urred to demand he be returned since he was part of their family and they weren''t technically doing anything wrong by keeping him there.
"All you have to give is a small yes or no if you''ve made up your mind." Samuel replied. He knew better than to push his luck too far with the princess, but since she wasn''t really pushing back against him too much, he took it as a sign that he wasn''t pushing boundaries he ought not to.
"Tomorrow." Lena repeated again taking in a deep breath as she turned her face away from him again.
"Now, let me be so that I can sleep tonight and think things over." The princess insisted without turning her face to look at Samuel again.
"If you don''t have an answer to the question I think that it would be better for me to stay here so that you don''t worry as much while you''re thinking things through." He replied. He didn''t really want to move from his position on top of her, but he could that he was likely reaching the limits of what he could get away with from the princess.
"I''m asking for space because you''re making things worse right now." She replied, trying to say it in a level tone that got the point she was trying to make across without sounding to cross. When Samuel didn''t reply though she got the feeling that he didn''t quite understand what she meant by that.
"I don''t mean that in the bad way, I''m just saying your current actions aren''t helping me to be able to think clearly about anything. That''s why I''m asking you for space." she tried her best to exin what she meant, but she wasn''t sure she was doing such a good job of it.
"That''s okay, you still have time to decide what you want to do. I''ll stay here though because I think sometimes it''s good not to be able to think clearly about everything and just be swept away by the emotions around you." Samuel told her as he kissed her cheek releasing her wrists and shifting so that he was back to lying down next to her.
He had wanted to stay in that position a while longer to see what other reactions he could get from the Princess since recently it seemed like it was far easier than it ever had been in the past to cause her to be flustered and caught off guard. Was this what she had always been hiding under her hard exterior or was this just the temporary result of everything that had been going on recently taking it''s toll on her?
Samuel wasn''t sure which it was, he knew however that it was something that he wanted to continue exploring over time in order to understand which part of Lena was real and which parts were just used a means of defense.. It would probably take some time for that to happen, but at the moment he felt like it would be worth the wait to sort out.
Chapter 169 - Three Days
Samuel didn''t leave Lena to think that night. He was determined that he was going to stay next to her until she gave him her decision on the matter of him going with Jovani in the morning. She did manage to get more sleep than she had the night before, but it hadn''te easily.
Samuel was for the most part a much harder sleeper than Lena was and that was how she managed to leave the room before he woke up. Since she knew that the trip to where the Vedova Nera were located wasn''t as long as it had been for him to move from his house to live at the estate, she didn''t think that it was that big of a deal if he left a littleter. He need to pack anyways since they would be gone for a few days anyways.
She had decided to take that morning to talk with Jovani again, or rather to tell him her terms on what she would ept if Samuel was going to go back with him. She had a lot boundaries that she was expecting the other to respect. Not only in terms ofmunication but also interactions and what she considered as safety measures.
Jovani like the princess hadn''t slept much either though for much different reasons that were perhaps more pressing than what she had been dealing with.
Still, he indulged her even though he already knew that there was nothing for her to be worrying about. Samuel would being back in the same if not better condition that what he left in.
"Princess, I swear there is really nothing for you to be so stressed about." Jovani assured her from where he was sitting in the arm chair in the guestroom while she stood by the door.
"I know that the situation that unfolded wasn''t the best, however the intent was never to harm Samuel. Simply just to make sure who he was engaged to was good enough."
"You still haven''t exined to me why exactly that matters." Lena pointed out. It was the one question that she was intent on him answering before he left with Samuel to know what exactly she should expect the other to be getting into. As with previous times though, Jovani simple smirked at her which only increased her annoyance with him.
"And I believe that I exined before when it came to that as well that it would exined in due time. Like with your family, mine is also bound by certain rules that make it hard for us to take about things without outsiders until we get the right permission." He replied as he stood up from the chair, he strolled across the room until he was standing in front of the princess.
"As as Sam goes back with me and we get a few things settled I can assure you that you''ll definitely get all the answers to the questions that you want to ask." He told her, locking gazes with her as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"And that''s exactly the reason that I don''t want him to go back with you. Because there are things that you purposely aren''t bringing up."
"Dear princess, I already just exined that it isn''t by choice. I have family rules that I am bound by that won''t let me speak freely even if I wanted to. I value my life far more than I do breaking the rules for someone who''s impatient." He exined as he patted her shoulder gently before stepping around her so that he could leave the room.
"I guess though that since it seems like you made up your mind- I can let Sam know when he gets up to expect to pack and get things ready for us to go back together." He paused at the door''s entrance to turn and look back at Lena who had closed her eyes to take a deep breath in order to settle her temper.
"Even thoughyou haven''t explicitly said it to me, I already know that you won''t say no to him going with me because there''s answers to questions you want plus you still intend to get engaged to him which we both know requires this process to take ce." He said before he left the room.
Even though her answer to the question was going to be yes, it didn''t mean that Jovani''s attitude didn''t bother her any less. Family rules certainly did bind people from talking about certain things. That rule though was usually reserved for those outside of that side of the worldpletely though. Not for those within families that were soon going to be joining together.
Lena wasn''t going to bother brining that up to him though, she already knew that he wasn''t going to change his mind on whatever it was he was holding out on saying unless she used less than savory means to get the information from him, but that wasn''t really an option at the current moment in time. She wasn''t looking to start a war between families.
Instead of standing there and continuing to be annoyed by the situation since the decision had already been made, she decided to head the kitchen as she was certain that Ryan would already be up and she could get some coffee since she wasn''t in much of a mood to eat anything and wasn''t intending to eat breakfast with everything that needed to be put into ce before Samuel left.
"Didn''t your father say though that you''re supposed to be avoiding anything that could mess with your sleep schedule until you got it sorted out?" Was the first question that Ryan had asked when she came into the kitchen requesting coffee.
"He did, but it isn''t likely that my sleep schedule will be returning to the way it used to be any time soon and with everything that''s taking ce, it would be better this morning for me to have some coffee." The princess replied as she leaned back against one of the counters in the corner as she watched him getting everything ready for breakfast.
"It isn''t likely that he would find out about it anyways since I don''t n on living the kitchen until I''m finished with it." she added on in an attempt to persuade him further that it would be perfectly fine for him to do it without worrying about whether or not he would get in trouble for giving her want she wanted.
"First sweets when they shouldn''t be served before dinner and now coffee when you''re supposed to be resting and taking care of yourself." Ryan said with a sigh shaking his head.
"What exactly has been going on recently?" He asked, going over to her the requested coffee even though he still didn''t think that it was the best idea. Lena would''ve done it herself, Ryan was very particr about his kitchen though and didn''t like people mess with his organization.
"A lot of things that are annoying." The princess replied as she closed her eyes. She was tired almost to the point of being exhausted at this point. The problem was however that she couldn''t sleep even when she wanted. Part of that was Samuel''s faultst night. Whatever he did to her she wasn''t certain how to process it. The other part was her mind couldn''t shut down and she felt that if she were to sleep too much, she''d end up having nightmares again.
"Want to try and talk with me about some of them?" the chef asked as he poured the cream and sugar and stirred the coffee.
"Perhaps at atter point in time." She replied as she took the cup of coffee he handed her.
"Something to do with the annoying guest we have over currently. I would interested in what you think about him." She said before she took a sip of the coffee. She greatly appreciated the warmth.
"which one? You''ve had a couple over recently." He pointed out with augh.
"The one that has been hanging around Sammy-boy." She rified.
"Hmm, I don''t think he''s a bad person. Difficult and maybe overly clever, but unlike that other one you uninvited over, he''s more straight forward and less sneaky." He replied as he began to heat a skillet and went back to chopping potatoes.
"Is there some kind of problem with him?" He then asked.
"A number of problems with him, but I can''t argue with your assessment." Lena replied as she watched what he was doing.
"He''s apparently Samuel''s family and due to some important matters, he''ll be leaving with Jovani for three days." She exined.
"And you''re worried because you don''t know him." Ryan surmised and the princess nodded hear head in response to this.
"If he''s family, I wouldn''t worry too much if they get along. Three days is a bit of time but it''s not like you won''t know where they are or what''s going on." He told as he poured some oil into the skillet. Lena made a ''hm'' sound in response to what he said. It was along the lines of what everyone had been saying though she didn''t like it anymore.
There was something else though that Ryan had said that caught her attention that she wanted to know more about.
Chapter 170 - Dont Think Too Much About It
"When you mention the other guest who was sneaky, where you referring to Genson?" Lena asked.
"Yeah, the guy exuded so much fake charm and pleasantness that I wouldn''t be surprised if it made most of the staff around her ufortable." Ryan grimaced as he spoke.
"Probably didn''t think that I noticed much of anything though since I''m just the cook around here."
"I would expect that if you''re making thatment that you did notice something?" The princess then asked, finishing the rest of her coffee before setting the ss down. She wanted more but she doubted that Ryan would be so willing to refill her cup quickly.
"Aside from the fake that he''s fakest person that I have ever met in my life?" He asked ncing back at the princess with a small smirk as he continued to gather ingredients for breakfast.
"Anything." She replied. Had Genson really banked on the fact that everyone would be too distracted to notice if he nosed around the estate? Or was that he didn''t think that it would be that big of a deal since he had been invited here?
It had been a spur of the moment decision for Lena to do it because she went for someone that easy to contact in order to gather information about the Vedova Nera as soon as possible, but perhaps it''d turn out to be worth it if it did turn out he was working with someone else aside from her.
"Well, I can''t say that I heard everything that was going on, but he made at least two different calls while he was here. One out in the hallway, I caught him on the phone hiding near one of the corners when I wasing back from moving some things around in the cer. He seemed nervous about whoever he was talking to because he kept ncing around himself to make sure no one was around. If that isn''t suspicious, I don''t know what would be." Ryan answered as he tried to remember everything that he saw that he felt would be important to reiterate.
"The second call was made in the dining room when I was getting his food. I decided to bring it out myself because I wasn''t sure what kind of person he was. He hung up though the moment that I entered the room and put his phone way before I could see if there was any ID on it. One of the other staff saw him nosing around on the east wing of the building. No clue what he was looking for."
"That sounds like the kind of job that would be for Hester to figure out." The princess mused. She doubted that Genson would be foolish enough to make such calls unless he had a way to make it hard to be traced. Didn''t mean though that people even as skilled as him didn''t make mistakes at times.
"You think that it''s somehow connected with everything else that''s going on?" Ryan asked. There was a lot he didn''t know within the family, but if there was one person who would be likely to tell him anything, that would be Lena."
"It''s hard to tell. It''s something my father would jump on if it turned out to be anything important. He already doesn''t like him. Probably something to do with having worked with him in the past."
"Is there anyone that could actually stand him? I would be surprised if there was." Ryan replied with a smallugh.
"He''s good at his job so on a professional level, it''s less about like and dislike and more about the fact that he can get the job done." The princess replied.
"How long his luck willst is the question though." Genson was quite a lucky person from what she knew. Most of his past before he got into the job was a mystery, but he was one of those who somehow managed tond on his feet in the business and pick up good business rather quickly.
"I doubt that it would extend very far for much longer if he ends up double crossing your family." Ryanmented. Taking a te, he dished up some of what he had made.
"You should eat something though before you leave here. I know you''re going to say you''re not hungry, but if you don''t try everyone is going to keep worrying and fussing over you and I know you don''t like that. So eat." He insisted as he handed her the te.
Lena didn''t reject the te, but she did give him a look that said she wasn''t thrilled about it. The food did smell good though and even if she wasn''t hungry, she could reply on Ryan to make something that tasted pleasant so eating wasn''t was slightly less of a chore in that way.
"You don''t want your fianc¨¦ worrying too much about you while you''re going anyways. Don''t think that I haven''t seen the way that he has been glued to you since you two came back." Lena made a huff sound in response to this as she picked up the fork to start eating. Ryan had made quiche, biscuits and fried potatoes.
Lena had wanted to argue that ''glued to her'' was a rather strong way to phrase how close Samuel had been sticking to her, but she couldn''t actually deny that he wasn''t that far off the mark with that when she thought about it.
Samuel didn''t seem to leave her alone all that much, not even at night when she was trying to sleep.
"Is that something that you would refer to as concerned affection?" This question caught Ryan off guard and he had to look over at the princess to make sure that he had heard her question right. In all of his years working there, she had never brought up such things before.
"I would think so. I wouldn''t call it an action out of obligation or pity from this perspective. Sam doesn''t seem like that kind of person. Not to mention you guys did have a bit of a rough start to the rtionship with the way you reacted to him." Ryan replied.
"If you asked me before I would''ve said that I think he''d have been more likely to avoid you during this time or be very particr about what he did so that he didn''t annoy or upset you." He continued.
"Considering the fact now though that he doesn''t seem to care about your ruff attitude or whether he''s invading your personal space too much but how to say in a more gentle and caring manor considering what happened. I would say it''s because he cares about you." Lena was quiet after he exined this which he wasn''t sure if that was because she was processing what he was saying or if his exnation didn''t make sense to her.
"It''s one thing when it''s family doing it and another when a stranger tries. Sam doesn''t really fit into either one of those categories yet though so I''m not sure how to react to what he''s doing." Lena exined as he looked up from her te to see Ryan''s reaction. He was one of the closest people she had in the estate that she would consider a friend who she could discuss this type of stuff with without him either teasing her about it or having bias opinion since he was outside of her family.
"I think that you should take it for what it is. Sam isn''t a bad person that much we can both agree on. So I don''t think that you have to worry about there being any hidden ulterior motives behind what he''s doing. Maybe just take it for what it is and see how it turns out. You guys are going to be getting engaged soon after all." Ryan pointed.
"I know that. A lot more than was expected is going to be changing with that. Some of which is going to require Sammy-boy to leave for a few days." The princess. Thinking about that wasn''t exactly helping her appetite.
"Leaving for a few days?" Two surprised in one morning felt like a lot of Ryan who usually was used to not hearing much about events unless kitchen staff where gossiping about things they heard which generally wasn''t anything that surprising.
"As it would turn out I''m not getting engaged to someone from outside of this world. Instead it''s to someone that didn''t know that he was a part of this world until recently." Lena replied as she set her te down. She had managed to eat half of what was on it, but she was no longer in the mood to finish the rest of it.
"So that''s what all of this recent fuss is about." Ryan mused.
"Yeah and that means it''s going to be turning into more than simple engagement party." The princess replied with a sigh.. She still had to wait to find out what exactly was going to go on with that until after the next few days passed.
Chapter 171 - Getting Ready
Jovani had more than one reason for wanting to let Samuel personally know that they would be heading back together. One of the biggest reasons was his nosiness. Since he knew that Samuel would have to pack before they left, he thought that it would provide a good opportunity for him to nose around the other''s room and see what kind of things that he had.
His cousin didn''t mind of course so long as he actually helped him pack rather than just looking around at everything that he had. There wasn''t much to see since he still hadn''t had the chance to go back and collect more of his things from his parent''s house, but it did give Jovani some insight into what a simple person he was.
He really wanted to get a chance to meet his other cousins, but he doubted that would be allowed any time soon until they were older. Evalyn hadn''t even decided on how she was going to go about exining everything to her husband. She wouldn''t be able to keep it a secret any longer once the engagement happened since they would also be announcing the unity between the Red Scorpions and the Vedova Nera through this engagement thought that had never been the n.
"It seems that you''re quite a few years older than your siblings?" Jovanimented as he stared down at the picture in his hand of the three of them together, he guessed Samuel''s parents must''ve taken it since they weren''t anywhere in the frame.
"I''m eight years older than my brother and ten for my sister. With everything that happened around the time my mom got pregnant with me, they decided to wait a few more years to make sure everything remained stable before they decided to have anymore kids." Samuel replied as he nced back from filling up his suitcase to see what picture the other was looking at.
He only bothered packing the things that he thought he would need for three days since that was the amount of time that had been agreed upon. Jovani hadn''t really thought that packing clothes was necessary as he was certain that there was some things back at the estate that they were heading to that would fit him, his cousin though didn''t want to take such a chance and preferred instead to stick with packing his own stuff.
"I would love to get the chance to get meet them before they get too much older, though I already know that probably wouldn''t be allowed. Though, they wouldn''t happen to being to the engagement would they?" He presumed that the answer to that would be no, but it never hurt to ask such questions as he helped Samuel pack thest of the few things that he intended to take with him. He finally got his issue with the phone sorted as well so he would be able to stay in touch with Lena easily while he was away.
"No, they''re too young to be here my parents decided. Instead they''ll be staying with my paternal grandparents." Samuel replied as he closed up the suitcase. Replying to this question though made him have a question of his own that he wanted to ask the other.
"I wouldn''t happen to have any grandparents on my mother''s side would? She always said that they were dead before all of this, but I''m now not sure that''s actually true?" It was quite a normal question to ask considering the circumstances Jovani couldn''t deny, however, he knew that the answer he had to that question probably wasn''t the one that the other was looking for.
"Sadly, no. Ratherplicated story to exin, but to put it simply they longer walk on this earth. They weren''t terrible people though." He added on at the end.
Samuel''s grandfather was the old head of the family, one that neither he or his wife had been brought up often after they had passed away. It was due to some rather unfortunate circumstances and had caused quite a bit of chaos and distress to the rest of the family. Thus they decided that it was better not to discuss it except for on the death anniversary as it was something that was too hard to speak about.
"Is it something that I can hear more aboutter?" Samuel rified. He got he feeling based upon his cousin''s face that the death wasn''t something natural or because it was there time to pass on. Still though, it was something he wanted to know because it was tied in with a part of his family that he knew nothing about.
"Next year you''ll be able to hear about it when the time marks it being another year since they passed." He replied with a pressed smile.
"Enough on that though, we are working on a rather tight schedule if we want to leave here on time and have dinner without imposing on the staff at the estate and everyone else. Are you sure that you have everything that you need?" Jovani asked as he looked around the room and then at the closed suitcase Samuel was carrying. Though it didn''t look thatrge, he knew that the other had put quite a few things in it.
"I think so. I don''t imagine that I would need to take too much with me since we''ll only be gone for three days." Samuel replied as he picked up the suitcase.
"In all honesty, you''ll probably end uping back here with more than you left with." Jovani only half joked. There were actually a number of things at the estate that he felt would be better off going to Samuel for various reasons rather sitting around and collecting dust.
"I hope not too much. I''m not sure that I would actually have enough space in this room if you intend me toe back with a lot. I haven''t even finished bringing the rest of my own stuff here." If he did end uping back with too much he got the feeling that he would have to request to have the size of his room upgraded if there was arge guestroom in the house or one that he could use for storage.
"I don''t think that it would end up being too terribly much." Jovani mused as he tried to think about all the things that he would want Samuel to have.
"We can figure it out once we get there and you have a chance to see everything yourself." He suggested before sighing.
"Honestly, I wish that you could be there for a week as there is a lot that needs to be taken care of. I know though that this won''t be the only time that you''ll being to pay a visit so the three days for now will have to do."
"Is there really that much that you want to go over with me?" Samuel asked hesitantly. He knew that there was a lot that he didn''t know about. He felt though that if there was too much to process and learn about, it would be better to do it over a longer period of time. He wasn''t sure his mind would be able to handle digesting too much information at once. Jovani smirked at him in response as he took the suitcase from the other one.
"Indeed there is, but nothing that I can afford to tell you about until after we leave and reach our destination. I think that there will be something fun surprised for you out of this." was all he said as he got ready to leave the room.
"Come now, we don''t want to bete and I know you''re still going to want to say goodbye to your princess and convince her once again that everything will be fine while you''re gone." Hemented as he motioned for his cousin toe after him.
The only reason that Jovani had taken the suitcase from the other was that he imagined even if Lena wasn''t one who was used to giving hugs, his cousin would want to because it seemed like the kind of person he was after watching him carefully.
Truthfully, the princess didn''t have to be on his case from him to understand how much he needed to watch out for his cousin and make sure that he was safe while they were aware. Not because of hisck of physical abilities, on the contrary he seemed to be turning into quite the fighter if the damage Samuel did to his men was anything to go off.
Rather, it was more to do with the fact that he was just the kind of person that made one want to protect and watch out for him even if he could take care of himself as he had far more of a pure spirit than ny percent of those who came from the world that Jovani and Lena came from.
Only some odd twist of fate would put someone like him into a situation where he would belong to one of the top three most prominent mafia families in New Jersey and not know anything about it until now. Perhaps it would turn out to be for the better though.. His pure spirit might be exactly what they needed at this point in time.
Chapter 172 - Leaving
Samuel had forgotten that he was the only one who had to pack anything as his mother''s wardrobe was limited due to what she had brought from the hotel. She hadn''t been expecting to stay for so long but Agatha, Julian''s wife had clothes that she could borrow for a few extra days.
Evalyn wasn''t so worried about how that would work out once they reached the Vedova Nera estate, she knew that there would be clothes leftover that she could borrow for the three days before they would being back.
Lena still wasn''t anymorefortable with him leaving than she had been the night before or after talking with Jovani that morning. She no longer worried as much as to whether his cousin was going to do anything to him, but that didn''t mean she wasn''t worried about him going to an unfamiliar ce and everything that he might have to deal with when he got there.
If it turned out that there was someone there who had a high level of power than Jovani, then his safety might not be as promised if whoever they were didn''t approve of Samuel even if they were family. These were just some of the concerns that had been going through Lena''s mind.
Knowing that she wasn''t going to be seeing him for a few days, she epted the hug that her fianc¨¦ wanted to give her even though she wasn''t any closer to figuring out her feelings than she had been the night before.
"I''ll just be a few hours away." He reassured her.
"It won''t be as bad as when your father was in Ennd and really not much different than when we separated before my birthday."
"Those two things aren''tparable." The princess argued after the hug had ended, she shot Jovani one more cold look that told him he better make sure pay upon death that nothing happened to Samuel, or there would be more than just a little hell to pay for it.
Jovani offered her a mock salute in response to the re, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew to take it seriously. It didn''t matter to her that he knew what to expect when they got there. She didn''t like that she knew nothing of the ce, the people, or the way that the family was being run.
"Of course it is." He argued.
"I''m going to be spending time around family again. Just this time it''s family that I''m getting to meet for the first time in a setting that I haven''t really been that familiar with. Everything around that though I''m sure will just fine." Hisparison wasn''t incorrect, the unknown part was just the biggest issue.
"Plus, once I''m back we will be able to go pick up the rings and that takes us one step closer to the engagement actually happening. Or at least it should as I don''t think there''ll be anything else that''ll happen along the way to hold it up." He was joking about thest part to try and lighten the mood.
Aside from Lena, Leo also expected a hug from Samuel and to also tell him to be careful and make sure that he took care of himself while he was there and let them know if anything at all happened. He hardly liked Jovani more than his sister did, but only because of what he did not because of what he thought he might do.
Zane also had a few things to say to Samuel before he left which surprised the other since he didn''t think there was much of a reason for Zane to want to speak with him. Most of it was warning him to be mindful of where he was because what he was getting ready to step into was quite different from the family dynamic that he was used to being in.
In concept, Samuel understood that quite well, but not having experienced it before, he knew that he was going to have to be more mindful of what he saw going on and who he interacted with. There was most likely going to be a hierarchy that he would need to get ustom to moving within now that he was going to official be a part of the family.
Jovani although impatient to be leaving, stood by quietly as he watched all the interactions going on between everyone. Even though they had only been around each other for a few weeks, they had certainly been getting closer with one another. It made him wonder how well Samuel would be able to fit in with the Vedova Nera family. Though, it was rather different now since most of it was mixed family rather than actual blood rtions. They were still a rather close group.
Clive knowing how much the Princess was worried about the situation offered to drive Jovani and them to the estate, but he waved the other man off. iming that it would be pointless to do that since he had driven himself here and it only made sense that he drove his car back and forth anyways.
Once they were outside and everyone and all their things were packed into the vehicle, Jovani rxed considerable since it was just him, Samuel and Evalyn.
"Now that this has been taken care and we are ready to set off, there''s a lot of things that I can finally get to talking about." Jovani remarked as he leaned back in the driver''s seat and turned to two passengers who were sitting together in the back.
"I think that you will find that you fit in with everyone and the expectations much easier than you might think. I''m the kind of person who prefers to tell others straight out what to expect so I hope you''ll ept my apology over the fact that there was much I couldn''t discuss with the Red Scorpion family. Rules and all that." Jovani exined rather quickly as he turned around so that he could start the car up.
"Is it that you didn''t want to talk about things or that you''re not allowed to? I never remember such a rule being in ce when I was around." The unspoken part was that that was almost twenty years ago.
"You''re right, that rule didn''t used to exist when you were there, but things changed over the years due to a number of different events." Jovani answered as they pulled out of the driveway.
"It used to be that events could be talked about within other mafia families if it was relevant to them and only people who were excluded were those who werepletely outside of the family." He exined.
"But, then some trust issues happened and people either used things that we said against us, or we had people within the family gossiping to try and create excuses to break ties with smaller groups or take them over because of something or other that they would end up saying. It created quite a mess that I must say." He sighed at thest part and shook his head.
"So now the rule is that we cannot talk about anything within the family regardless of anything until we get the correct permission from the head of the family to do so or there is important reason to do so."
"Couldn''t you have gotten permission before you showed up here though? I mean you had a week to ask." Samuel pointed out. Jovani offered a small smile in response to this.
"Ah, under normal circumstances that would be how it would work. However, because Samuel is part of the family but never having been around them before, I''m not quite allowed to vouch for the fact that he''s a safe person to talk with anything about along with the Red Scorpions." Jovani rified.
"Which is exactly why I need to steal you for a few days to get everything sorted out plus the permission for the engagement as well."
"Who is the head of the family now by the way? You never did offer a name when that question was asked earlier. I''m sure that''s something that you would be able to say now that it''s just the three of us." Evalyn asked, watching as Samuel pulled out his phone when it buzzed. He had expected it to be a text from Lena, but was surprised when it was from Leo instead. Apparently Lena was already in a worse mood since he left. He would have to text her sooner rather thanter by the sound of things.
"Very sharp as expected, Ev, but that''s something that you will have to wait to find out about now that we are on the road. I''m sure that you can manage a few hours until you find out and I think the surprise might be well worth it as well." Jovani replied.. At least in his opinion he thought that the wait would be well worth it.
Chapter 173 - Hierarchy Of Power
The drive to where the Vedova Nera residence was located was more pleasant than Samuel had expected it to be. Not say that he minded being around Jovanni or that he wouldn''t make goodpany. It was more that it was a different experience from when he drove with Lena who seemed to prefer to keep a peaceful quiet between the two of them when they were together.
Compared to the princess, his cousin was far more talkative about the things that he didn''t mind bringing up. There were still a number of things however that he didn''t answer when Evalyn or her son asked about it. He put it in the category of having to wait until they got there.
The things he didn''t mind talking about where rted to family, what the residence was like, what to expect when they got there as far as manners, introductions and behavior.
It sounded like a lot to Samuel, but he knew that was because he didn''t grow up in that kind of world. It was something though that he had to remind himself that his mother already knew about because she had spent eighteen years in it before she left. Of course she would already know about a lot of this stuff and not be affected by it.
"I also hope that you don''t mind suits, Sam because you''re going to be expected to be wearing a lot of them now once you''re epted into the family." Jovanimented, ncing at the navigation system to make sure that he was still going in the right direction. It was his first time heading back from this direction and he wanted to make sure that he wasn''t going to end up getting lost on the way.
"I haven''t worn a lot of suits, but I wouldn''t say that I mind them all that much. It is something to do with being professional in appearance?" He inquired remember that Lena had mentioned before that once they were engaged as he was going to be showing his face more that he would need to change his wardrobe around as well.
"Something like that." He confirmed.
"Many of the families have a different dress code that needs to be followed. The one that the Red Scorpions follow is slightly different than ours just in that they aren''t as much of a stickler for the professional look and shift in what they were depending on the situation and the job they are working with. Like the princess and that jacket she likes to wear." He said thinking of an example that he could give to the other to understand what he was saying.
"For the more legal side, they will dress in suits and simrly professional clothes that match the expected dress code for such things. When ites to within the family and needing to show a disy of power, they chose to wear jackets and other simr style clothes with their symbol embedded on them so that others are aware right away who they are messing with. Also a way of showing where they sit in hierarchy of power."
"Hierarchy of power?" Samuel repeated, asking for rification by his tone.
"I''m sure you''re aware of the fact that there are a number of different families with New Jersey. Even if you''re not part of the mafia, they cover enough of that on the news and such that most of the prominent groups are known." Jovani started.
"In some cases they''ll say that they don''t know which group was behind some crime or other because no symbol or such was left behind to indicate which family they were part of. A lot of times that''s because smaller groups are poking around inrger territories that they either don''t belong to or they''re looking to take ground in but don''t want word to get out as whom exactly they are as they would risk getting easily crushed." Jovani borated.
"But if there''s a symbol or in some cases referred to as a ''calling card'' then you can guess that Mafia family most likely has enough power to be putting themselves out there without worrying about anything happening. Also in such cases, more powerful families will leave a mark behind if the incident is caused by a scuffle within the families, sort of like a warning to let others known that they''re not to be messed with unless they want to face the consequences of such actions."
"So you''re saying because Lena''s able to wear that symbol on her jacket that it is a sign of the amount of power that her family has? And if so, how does that work within the Vedova Nera family?" Samuel then asked. He presumed at least that they had their own symbol of power by the way that Jovani had talked about them being one of the top three prominent Mafia families.
"That is indeed correct. As for us- we prefer to go with something that is a little less shy than that. We wear ours on the cufflink of our suits." He replied Indicating with his left arm where his was.
"It''s noticeable if one is looking for a symbol or such, but subtle enough that if one isn''t paying attention, they wouldn''t notice it. Great way to know what people really think about the family if they don''t know who they''re talking to or dealing with." There were people who argued that it wasn''t a big enough of a flex of the power the Vedova Nera had, but Jovani liked it because of the sneaky element behind it. Plus, it was a great way to gather information and fit into crowds that wouldn''t so openly talk if they actually knew Jovani was with the Vedova Neras.
"That''s why the dress code is more strict though because our symbol is more subtle thus we can always wear it or have it on us without it easily being noticed hence the purpose of wearing suits in almost all situations unless at the residence where anything can be worn outside of business and other affairs." He rified.
"Oh, plus whatever the code is at the Red Scorpion''s estate. Since they already know who you are and you''re marrying into the family, there''s no reason for you to have to dress in such a stuffy manner there unless you wish to. That rule would only apply to business deals and such things that you did with them since you''re representing both families at that point." He added on.
That was something Samuel would have to get used to. He could handle wearing suits every now and again, but knowing how things worked, he already understood that he would have to wearing them a lot which he knew would get troublesome after a while. He preferred a more casual dress attire to things such as suits.
"It''s just part of what you have to deal with getting used being part of the family you were born into." Jovanimented when he saw the look that was on his cousin''s face.
"We don''t always get a choice in such matters, we just have to deal with them because it is what is expected and if we want to change anything- we have to rise to the point where we have enough power to petition or force it to happen." He exined.
"I wouldn''t imagine using power on something like that though, not immediately at least. I''m sure there are much bigger things that would need to be addressed with that kind of power first." Samuel replied.
"Right you are. Some might consider such things as a sticking point if it had to do with a power disy or wanting to draw more attention to themselves, but just as a matter offort over anything else, it would be pushed further down on the list of priorities." Jovani agreed with a nod of his head.
"Now though, I think it is time to draw our attention to what will soon being up in front of us and what I guess you will soon be able to consider a third home." He said as he came up to a gated entrance. It had taken over five hours, but they had finally reached their destination.
Samuel couldn''t see much yet though because of the gate they were in front of it which seemed to span out on both sides for quite a distance. Far different from the way the Red Scorpions had setup their estate.
Jovani had to enter a pin and give voice recognition and exin that he wasing with two guests who were part of the family before they were allowed to enter. One could never be too safe in such situations.
Samuel was a mixture of impatient and excited to catch a glimpse of what the residence would look. The drive up felt like it was longer than when he had firste to visit Lena.. He presumed though this was due to the way the driveway wound around and the fact that they had to wait for the gate to close behind them before Jovani continued forward.
Chapter 174 - Vedova Nera Estate
The estate certainly looked on the outside as extravagant as if not more so than the one the Red Scorpions had. The only difference was it didn''t look like they had as muchnd as Lena''s family had. Most likely because they worked within a different sector.
Jovani couldn''t stop himself from rolling his eyes when he saw that Alonso was already standing outside and pacing. Was he really still worrying that much even though they were on their way back? It wasn''t like either of his cousins were any threat to him. Perhaps he would really need to force the other to take a vacation some time sooner rather thanter once thistter had been settled.
"I thought that I told you to wait inside for me and that I would call you once we got here?" Jovani told the other as he rolled down his window to talk to the man as he pulled up to the front.
"You were taking longer than you said you would to be back. It is only normal for me to be concerned." Alonso retorted as he leaned down to talk with the other. It took a moment before he noticed the two guests sitting the backseat, one of which was giving a rather hard to read look.
"If I didn''t know any better, I would say that the princess is already rubbing off on that one." Jovaniughed as he noticed the look on Samuel''s face that was directed at his right-hand man. He couldn''t me the other though, it wasn''t like Alonso had been that gentle with him on their first meeting.
"Sam, you can rx around him, he won''t do anything since you''re part of the family now. What happened wasn''t even intentional. The hope was for a more smooth transition, but you were far more of a fighter than I had been informed that you would be." Jovani told his cousin. Samuel nodded his head in response to what the other said, but it didn''t quite seem like he had been convinced based upon the look that was on his face.
Jovani helped himself out of the car while Alonso opened the backseat passenger door for the other two.
"I hope that there will be no hard feelings moving forward?" Alonso asked as he offered his hand for a shake an attempt at a truce.
"Maybe." was the reply that Samuel offered in response to this question even though he shook the other''s hand. The more awkward situation for Alonso was when he realized that the other person who had apanied them was Evalyn. He hadn''t really paid much attention to her until she stepped out of the car.
He had only spent a few years around here before she suddenly disappeared and left but it was enough to remember what she looked like and who she was. His level of respect towards her was even higher than it had been with Samuel.
"You know that you don''t need to do that. I''ve been out of this family for so many years that I don''t hold the same type of position that I did before. I expect you to not act so formally towards because of that." Evalyn told the other as she patted his shoulder and indicated for him to rx.
"You can try and tell him that, but I doubt he''ll listen to you, I can''t even get him to do it around me. I don''t think he''s capable of learning how to rx and not be so stiff all the time." Jovanimented as he handed his keys off to a valet who helped get Samuel''s luggage out of the car before taking it way to park in the garage.
"That only has to do with the fact that I have had to spend so many years working with you that I no longer am able to rx due to your reckless behavior." Alonso shot back as he red at the other who only smirked at him in response.
"Reckless behavior is all part of the job. You can''t get to the ces you want to go if you don''t take the necessary risks and experiment along the way." He remarked as he headed for the entrance of the estate.
"It''s rather hot out here so let us head inside before we end up getting fried by the sun." Samuel was going to pick his suitcase and follow after his cousin and mother but Alonso beat him to it.
"This is my job while you''re here, plus I already know where your room is. As a guest and member of the family, you don''t have to worry about such things while you''re here." He exined as took the suitcase and started walking ahead to where Jovani was waiting with the door open before Samuel had a chance to protest this.
The way the estate was setup gave off a rather confusing feeling due to the color scheme. The lower half was a of a ck color and the higher part was white though in some ces it looked as though it had been being remodeled topletely take on the darker color. The floor was a covered with a blue hard marble floor that looked both beautiful and expensive. The furniture was a mixture of ck and dark red and there was far more of it in the weing room than there had been at Lena''s estate.
The living area had a simr color pattern but rather thanmps, there was silver chandeliers that hung down from the ceiling and helped to caste a high level of light all over the floor. There were also six windows evenly distributed on both sides of the room that allowed light to enter the house through filtered white curtains that were used to cover them but not block out the natural light.
Unlike the estate where Lena lived however, the kitchen and dining area where in the exact opposite direction from where the second floor, study and other living spaces were. That would take a little bit of getting used to.
"It''s a bit much to take in I''m sure even though you already had been staying in a ce asrge as this already, but you''ll get used to it quickly." Jovani said as he noticed the two were talking everything in. Even though Evalyn had lived there for years, much had been changed since she had left.
"I can give you a tour of everythingter, but right now there''s some rather important business that we should be attending to instead."He informed then as he looked at his watch. He wanted to get some of it out of the way before dinner time rolled around.
He indicated for them to follow him down a hall to where the study they would be meeting in was located. Down this hall, Samuel took note of the line of portraits that hung on the wall and seemed to follow the length of it in the direction of the office. Based upon the way they were framed and the names under them, it made him think that they were most likely the portraits of the previous heads of the Vedova Nera family or at least of those who were important within the family.
"Shouldn''t there be othersing?" Samuel asked as Jovani pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the office door so he could open it for them. The color scheme inside the office was different from what they had seen of the rest of the house. It was done in ck and red which remind him of Lena''s room. The furniture was a dark royal blue shade that at least Samuel didn''t seem like it fit well with everything else in the room.
"Eventually, yes they will be joining us. For now though it''s just who have stuff to talk about. Normally Evalyn wouldn''t even be let in on this type of conversations, but since it pertains to her as well, she should be here. Alonso will also being along shortly since he''s the right hand man and the one trusted with confirming everything that is discussed during this meeting." Jovani exined as he shut the door behind him after the other two had entered and taken seats on the sofa across from the desk that was in the office. Jovani took a seat in one of the arm chairs and crossed his legs.
"This meeting will take a little while I must warn and to you, Sam. What we talk about here is something that the princess is not not be informed of until the three days here have passed and it''s time for you to head back. Is that clear?" The look that Jovani gave him when he asked this was probably one of the most serious ones that he had seen on the other''s face.. Was it really that important to inform her? He supposed he would find out once they started talking, but for now he would agree to that since it seemed like the other wasn''t going to start talking until after he had consented to following this rule.
Chapter 175 - Frustrated
Lena knew it and was fairly certain that most of those in her family could tell that her mood had dropped after Samuel had left and even more so that after hours she had only gotten two text messages from him. One about halfway through the trip and another after they reached the estate.
She knew that this was likely due to the fact that there was a lot they would be busy with. Not being there to know exactly what was going on though made her worry about what to expect over the next three days. It wasn''t like she had much to do to distract herself either.
Her work ability was still limited by the fact that her father didn''t want her to leave the house as her injuries were still not quite healed enough for him to feelfortable with it. He didn''t like the idea of it knowing that there was someone else out there aside from Jovani that he would have to still worry about.
Lena didn''t think that it was that big of a deal however. She got the feeling that Marcus probably know about what had happened already if Genson had said anything to him. That didn''t necessarily mean that he knew they were on to him which could still work in their favor.
The princess also wanted to get back to work because she wanted to know how Genson and Eve were doing. Not being there physically meant that she had to trust whatever information that they were giving her to be true and not manufactured. The only other person that she could rely on was James, but he wasn''t capable of the same level of authority and control that she was.
Leo only decided to text Samuel after some time went by and Lena remained unreasonable about not wanting to do much of anything except spend her time on the second floor patio, preferably without any otherpany. She wasn''t a person who did well with inaction and or being held back from doing what she wanted to do.
It didn''t matter to her that her father''s concerns were reasonable and it made sense for her to rest. She didn''t feel that there was a reason to rest without Samuel being gone because it just put her more on edge without something to do to distract herself.
Her emotions being out of sort still from the night before wasn''t helping that matter either. She tried to think about what she felt and how to deal with it, but she couldn''te up with a reasonable answer on how to sort them or how to react to those type of situations in the future.
Emotions weren''t her strong point, not after what had happened with her mother. She didn''t think that it was worth getting close to people anymore after that, at least not beyond her family. The world she lived in was too dangerous to draw other people into.
That was one of the biggest things that she had learned from what happened with her mother. People who wanted to harm someone would target the most vulnerable people they were close to. In her father''s case that had been her mother because she came from a world where she didn''t need to know how to protect herself in the same her father had learned how to.
In Lena''s case that person would be Samuel. Which as her biggest reason against going through with the rtionship. She would''ve refused anyone her father or others had suggested she be with simply because she was determined to take over and lead the family alone because it would decrease the risk of anyone else being targeted if it clear from an outside perspective there was one that was intimate or close with.
The biggest reason for her thoughnded on the fact that like her mother, Samuel was or at least it was believed at the time to be someone who was outside of the mafia world. Someone who hadn''t experienced what they experienced on the dark side of the world. Someone who hadn''t learned the same type of survival skills that she had to nor knew how to think or react quickly to dangerous situations.
It wasn''t that she didn''t want someone weak next to her, she didn''t assess people that way, at least not inwardly. What she said and how reacted on the outside to it came as a the pr opposite of that but that was because she was frustrated over the fact that her father wouldn''t agree to call of the arranged marriage.
Zane knew the risks as well as Lena did, but he refused to do it simply because of what happened with his own wife and that was the only reason that the princess would offer to him about why she didn''t want anything to do with Samuel or the arranged marriage.
In his mind though, things had changed and he didn''t want his daughter to be stuck in a space where she didn''t think that she could be close to anyone because the end result would be that she''d lose them if she took such a risk. No one could deny that it was tragic what happened to her mother and Zane''s wife.
He had learned a lot from that experience however and was more than certain of the fact that the additional precautions in ce and the way things were, it wouldn''t turn out the same way. Plus, he knew that his daughter would figure out how to take the extra steps that he didn''t think he would need to take with his wife in order to make sure that nothing would end up happening with Samuel.
The princess however wasn''t convinced back then and was only slightly more so now convinced, simply due to the fact that she knew whether they stayed together or not, Samuel had been pulled into her world from two different sides and there was no way that he was going to be able to leave it now even if they did breakoff.
Still though, he response to her father not agreeing to break off the rtionship was to react harshly to it instead and push back on convincing the other that he wasn''t going to be a good fit and that she didn''t like or want anything to do with him from the start.
Perhaps it was something that she hadid on too thickly from the start, but her world wasn''t a generous one and she couldn''t afford to extend generosity that didn''t exist in many areas within this world from the start. She knew that it wasn''t a great way to handle the situation, but in her mind it was the most sensible route to take.
Plus, at the time it was easier to do as well since he was an outsider and someone she didn''t much about except for the few pieces of information that her father had ryed from Samuel''s parents. With an outsider, it also didn''t much to convince herself that he was someone not to trust or be gentle with since she didn''t know that much about him in the first ce.
What she hadn''t expected though was for the awkward and somewhat nervous boy that she had first met to be more stubborn that she expected even if he didn''t have the right skills to protect himself, he certainly wasn''t going to leave without pushing back.
Nor had she expected that things would advance to the point that they were currently at where he wasfortable enough to tease her as much as she had done to him before. Albeit not quite as harshly. She had assumed though that Samuel''s pride would''ve gotten in the way at some point and caused things to break off once he hit the point that he no longer wanted to deal with her attitude anymore.
That never ended up happening though. He ended up sticking around despite everything and even pushed back against her at some point she didn''t expect. She never hated him in the first ce even if she disliked being forced into something that she wasn''t keen on.
Now though, her feelings were shifting from feeling indifferent towards him but not minding thepany since he was more reasonable and easier to talk to than most of the people outside of her family were to something that she wasn''t quite sure what to ssify it as.
Perhaps something more along the lines of affection but not quite at the point that she was ready to admit that she loved him. She didn''t think that she had been together with him long enough for things to be heading towards that point.
Trying to figure it out was causing her to be frustrated to the point that she decided to take a nap as she knew that she probably wouldn''t be able to sleep muchter that night until she was certain that everything with Samuel would turn out okay.
Chapter 176 - Distractions
Lena didn''t get to sleep long before Ryan was the one who had decided toe out and talk with her. She mildly wished that she had bothered to lock the door once she had heard it open, but less so when he announced his presence.
"What are you doing out here sulking when you should be focusing on other stuff?" He asked a he took a seat in one of the chairs that wasn''t that far away where she wasying down.
"Sulking? I think you must be mistaken because I was actually sleeping." She replied in a somewhat tired voice as she didn''t bother opening her eyes.
"Oh? I''m sorry, Leo had said that you came out here to sulk since Sam was gone so I thought that I should check on you after the conversation that we had this morning. Lena scoffed when she had heard this. She had already expected that it would''ve been Leo who said something to him. First to Samuel and now to Ryan. Of course she wasn''t in the best of moods at that moment in time but that didn''t mean that she needed someone to fuss about her.
"No point in leaving now.. I''m already awake and won''t likely be sleeping anymore tonight anyways." The princess informed him as she heard movement that might''ve been him getting ready to leave her so that she could sleep more.
"Don''t you need sleep with everything that''s going on and soon to be happening? You don''t want to be looking bad on the day of your engagement party." Ryan pointed out.
"Sleep won''t affect that. That''s why people are hired to make sure that the important people involved look the best regardless of what situation they are dealing with." She replied with a roll of her eyes. The outside light wasn''t as bright as the ones indoors which meant that her head didn''t hurt as much as he had expected it to when she opened her eyes.
"Still though, some people will notice. So I think it''s better for you to get sleep. Also if you want to have coffee in the future, you need to sleeping well first so your father doesn''t insist that you don''t have it because it makes your insomnia worse." Ryan argued.
"My insomnia and coffee have nothing to do with each other." Lena retorted.
"Such threats won''t stop me from getting it from other sources anyways."
"Only when you are actually allowed to leave here which might not be until after the engagement party." Ryanughed as he stood up. Lena turned her head to give him a re when he said this.
"Don''t even joke about that. I refuse to be stuck here for that long. I expect that by the time that Samueles back for most everything to be ready to return to normal." She informed him, an edge of annoyance to her voice. She didn''t think that she could handle being away from work for another week and change with everything that she needed to take care of.
"I think that''s something you''ll have to figure out with your father because he''s just as stubborn as you and won''t change his mind unless herpletely certain that it''ll be safe for you to do that." The chef pointed out.
"Off that conversation, why don''t youe and join me for a while? I figure that you''re not in much of a mood to be eating dinner, but I still need some help with getting things together with the dessert and some of the other food options for the engagement party. He was going to leave picking the desserts to you anyways since he didn''t have a preference."
"What''s the bribe behind this?" She asked not trusting that he was going to so willing let her to do with without expecting her to do something in return first most likely in regards to her heath.
"Come now, I''m not always thinking of ways to get you to agree to take care of your something or do something in return for these type of things." Ryan replied with mock hurt in his voice.
"Honestly, you''d be doing me a huge favor by agreeing to do this right now because the longer it gets put off, the less time that I have to make sure that everything on the actual day of the event." He told her. It seemed like a reasonable thing since there was a lot of things that they were on a time crunch for still with the unexpected turn of events.
"Fine, but if it turns into something else once I''m actually in the kitchen with you, I''m not going to trust you again after this." The little queen warned as she got off of the futon. Her stomach was hurting much less now when she shifted from sitting orying down to standing up. She knew that it would still be a bit though before the bruise disappeared.
Somehow Leo ended up joining them in the kitchen as well which annoyed Ryan more than it did Lena as the other wanted to assist with the actual cooking process rather than beingpany and assisting with the test tasting process.
For Ryan this was a big no in his book as he was very particr about he kept everything in the kitchen and didn''t want someoneing along and messing with the organization that he had put together. Leo wasn''t purposely disorganized, he just had a bad habit of forgetting where the things he grabbed were ced or not putting them back in the most organized order.
The princess let the two work this issue out among themselves as she stood towards the back and watched them bicker. She knew better than to request to be a part of the cooking process but wouldn''t let Leo to let it be because she knew that her brother could be stubborn about such things. This was made slightly worse by the fact that the kitchen also happened to be rather full due to the other kitchen staff preparing dinner as it was almost time for that.
Ryan eventually ended up kicking him out when he didply with the few things that he asked him to not do. He knew the other was used to being independent and doing his own thing after so many years of living on his own in Ennd. That didn''t trante well to the chef though when it meant that he was trying to impede on his workspace and take over recipes that he didn''t actually seem like he knew what to do with them.
By the time that was all sorted out, it had taken more than two hours and a lot of waiting before Ryan had anything ready for the princess to test. Since she knew what or rather who the problem was, he didn''t bother apologizing to her for the extended wait.
"I''m not sure which ones you might like better. I went through a lot of different options since I know the theme is emerald and rose gold." Ryan exined as he set the desserts in front of her. He gave her three options to start with. One was a red velvet cupcake with rose gold frosting and rose gold white chocte pears on top, the second was a pistachio cupcake with green butter cream frosting and the third was a key lime cupcake with a rose gold butter cream frosting.
Ryan had decided on cupcakes because they took less time to put together than actual cakes did but also were easy to convert into a cake if Lena decided that she liked any of the choices. He would make more of course as he didn''t think the decision would be that easy plus they would want to have a variety of options at the table to choose from.
The princess was quiet at first as she began to try each one of them, starting with the pistachio which thought would be her least favorite and ending with the red velvet which she knew was good. Ryan had tried them too as a test in order to make sure that everything was measured correctly and it was the perfect level of sweetness.
"If I had to pick only two I would go with the red velvet and the pistachio. There''s nothing wrong the key lime, it just happens to be my least favorite out of the three options." The princess replied as she carefully considered once she was done eating one of each.
"I can do all of them if you want and other options are still toe. You need to decide what the cake will be. If I had the guest list it would be easier to know how much I need to make, but I don''t think that''s finalized yet." Ryan told her.
"I can ask my father about it tomorrow. I probably need to check with him about the few missing pieces with that anyways. I expect more people will be invited toe as there''s another Mafia group who will need to be present for this event." The princess told him as she picked up another one of the pistachio cupcakes to eat.
Chapter 177 - Things To Get Used To
Samuel found that during his first two days at the Vedova Nera estate that there were a lot of things that he would have to get used to. Being an outsider to a mafia family dynamic was a lot different from being right in the middle of it. Jovani hadn''t been lying when he said that there would be a lot for the other to get used to.
From new family members, the way staff addressed him, to the clothes he wore, and the way that he was expected to hold himself. apparently having too casual of a demeanor was frowned upon for his position within the family which happened to be the thing that Samuel was struggling the most with.
He was a veryid-back person by nature and while he had no problem standing up for himself when situations called for it or changing his bodynguage, it wasn''t something that he wasfortable doing all the time. His cousin had told him that was something he would have to wait until they got back to talk with Lena about.
He only vaguely understood why his cousin didn''t want her to know to this part yet (Lena wouldn''t have allowed him to go back to the estate without her if she knew.). On the other hand, he also felt like it was just something that his cousin was doing to give the princess a hard time.
Jovani even somewhat admitted to this matter when Samuel had brought it up the morning of the second day they were there.. By saying in so many words ''she would be pleasantly displeased to find out about this small bit of information. He didn''t agree about his method of handling the situation, but it wouldn''t do much good to say anything to his fiance now since she would be finding out the day after next when he got back.
Samuel had been when he had the time texting the princess and sending her pictures of the estate or the people he who were his real family and those considered close enough to be family. His was nowhere asrge as Lena''s family but it was still a lot for him to get used to.
He was honestly surprised that while Lena asked a few questions about what was going on that she didn''t pry too deeply into who people were or what he was expected to be doing there. The most invasive question she had asked which he had to defer to Jovani to get an answer on was about the number of guests who were expected to show up for the Vedova Nera family since they would have to include that for the engagement party and Ryan wanted to know in order to make sure that there would be enough food served.
"Well, that would just be, you, me, Alonso, Jasmine, and Hector." Jovani replied as he sat lounging in his office. He didn''t have much to do that day and was considering taking it rather easy since his cousin was there and so much had been going on. He had a lot to teach the younger one even though he was rather quick to pick up on things which was a delightful surprise.
Jasmine was Samuel''s cousin from his second uncle''s son who reminded him a lot of Lena if she was a more gentle spirit and only released her ire when something upset her rather than being in a bad mood all the time. She was probably the quietest out of the family but whenever she spoke it was always something well thought out and deep. Hector was the cousin that came from his second aunt who had been born three years after his mother. He was considered close enough blood family that he would be attending.
Hector was an interesting person that Samuel hadn''t quite figured out yet as he went between rather noisy and fun like Jovani to being quiet and observant the next second. He was quick to wee Samuel to the estate and didn''t have a problem with him from the start despite the position that he would taking, if anything he seemed a bit pleased that someone other than Jovani would be there to help out.
The only reason as it turned out that they were at the estate in the first ce was that they were informed that Samuel would being and Jovani requested their presence toe and introduce themselves to him because he wasn''t certain after this when the younger man would being by next time.
"Oh, also my fiance will being as well. You have kind of already met her. She isn''t here right now though so you''ll have to catch her during the engagement party as she should be off work that day all things considered." Jovani added thoughtfully after he considered whether he was forgetting anyone or not.
"I''ve already met her?" Samuel repeated rather surprised as he tried to think of any women he might''ve met recently would it could be.
"Yup, but don''t think too much about it otherwise you might stress yourself out over it. It''ll make sense to both of you once you met here there. She''s quite a lovely person though that might be a biased opinion since I love her." he joked with augh.
Since there he didn''t seem to be anyone else they were forgetting, Samuel sent the list to Lena who thanked him for it.
Even though he had tried to talk with her the night before when it waste and she stopped replying not long after- he got the feeling she still hadn''t gotten much sleep. He did hope though that what he was doing would help her to rx though with the updates and messages.
"Should I tell Lena that we''ve met your fiance before?" He then asked ncing up at Jovani as he continued texting the princess.
"Nah, that can wait." He replied waving off his cousin''s question.
"I think we still need to work more on getting you straightened out on how to maintain your authority and the posture that goes with it. I''m sure it''ll impress her if you can change that in three days before we head back and figure out how to properly straighten your cor as well." Jovani got up from where he had been sitting toe over and fix his younger cousin''s shirt cor.
"Don''t wrinkle it and fidget with it so. You''ll make the staff frustrated with how often I''ll need to be steamed if you need to do that." He scolded as he fixed it along with his sleeves.
Just as he finished there was a knock on the office door which he replied immediately that the other person could enter as he already knew who to expect it to be.
"I brought the things you asked for." Alonso was the one who entered the room carrying a ck case in his hand. By the way he held it, Samuel could only assume that it was something important.
"Perfect. I was hoping they''de back good as new before the end of the time frame. Come in and set them down." He motioned for the other to put them on the table that they were by.
"I know that you''re getting jewelry from the Red Scorpion family, but we also have our own that you''ll be expected to use for the engagement and marriage. Also the cufflinks that I told you about." Jovani exined as he opened up the jewelry case.
Inside there were two silver cufflinks that looked as though they had been recently polished and cleaned up. The top part had a sleek ck spider emblem on it with one small red dot.
Seeing it up close, Samuel could see why the other had said it was a more subtle sign of power. It wasn''t that noticeable unless one was really looking to try and see it. It mostly blended in with the color of the suit that he was wearing.
The two rings were silver banded as well. The one which he presumed was for the woman to wear had a ring of white and ck stones going around it with one red one in the middle. It looked fancy but not overly done as well. The second one was more in and only held an emblem of a spider in the middle presumable a ck widow but also had writing scrawled around it that said ''Protect what is important''.
"They''re the family rings so it''s expected that they would be handed down during the next marriage in the family." Jovani exined causing Samuel to look up at him.
"Shouldn''t they be going to you instead?" The other just shook his head in response to this question.
"Nope because of the way the rules work which doesn''t bother me in the slightest." He replied.
It felt wrong to the younger cousin but he knew that was just one of the rules that he was going to have to get used to.
Chapter 178 - Final Touches
"He says there''ll only be a total of four other peopleing including Jovani." Lena informed her father as she read the text that Samue had sent her.
"Did he happen to mention if one of them was the head of the Vedova Nera?" Zane asked as he wrote down the information that his daughter had given him. The princess simply shook her head in response to this question.
"He left that bit of information out and I get the feeling that that would be thanks to his cousin." She replied as she texted her fiance back. Both of them were impatient to find out who it was so they would know what to expect, but so far they hadn''t been given any indication as to who the person was or if Samuel had even met them even though he had been there for almost two days.
"I''m sure that it will end up sorting itself out one way or another." was the response that her father had to this matter. He presumed that whatever it was, they would be finding out as soon as Samuel was back anyway so it didn''t matter if they hadn''t been told yet.
Lena didn''t like it because it felt too much like information was being withheld from them again without it seeming like there was an important reason behind this decision.. If there wasn''t a good exnation for it, the princess was going to have quite a problem with him when they got back.
The work she was currently doing amounted to what her father would approve of her to do beyond making phone calls to ensure that everything else was running smoothly. He had taken over quite a bit himself and directed James to handle whatever he couldn''t while he was out of the office.
Julius was also taking over more with Leo as Zane didn''t trust his daughter enough to not try and leave to head to work and take care of other matters if he wasn''t there to keep an eye on, she happened to be just as stubborn if not more so than he was. It was a good thing in every other situation except for the current one when he wanted her to pace what she did.
Lena couldn''t stand it though as she prefered to have distractions when things were bothering her rather than being left with too much free time to think about them. Doing got her somewhere, thinking just ended up stressing her out and putting her in a bad mood.
There was only so many distractions inside a house where someone wasn''t the kind of person to do things for fun or have many hobbies. The princess was usually too busy to invest time into such matters. The only thing that could be considered a hobby was horse riding, but their doctor had ruled that it was still too early for her to think about getting back to that with the injury on her stomach. The bruise needed to heal a bit more before the concern of further injury could be ruled out. Lena knew that he was just trying to do his job, but it wasn''t the answer that she had wanted to hear.
"You shouldn''t keep looking like that so much, it''s only for another day that you have to wait. The world won''t end by the time he gets back and you''re more than likely able to head back to work." Zane told the princess when he saw the way that she was staring at the phone. Her mood had been going through various stages of the annoyed and put out aura that was she was giving off right now.
"That is still to be determined until I am able to return to work and confirm that matter for myself." Lena replied as she set down her phone. She knew that Samuel must have been busy again as he didn''t reply to her text after she had sent it.
If the other wasn''t busy he would reply to what she sent rtively soon after, but if he was distracted with whatever Jovani or other people were needing him to focus on, he wouldn''t reply for long stretches of time and considering howte it already was in the afternoon- it wasn''t likely that he would be replying again before night which was the one point in time that Lena didn''t want to spend that much time talking to him during.
She was still trying to use that time to sort out her sleep schedule before Samuel got back as he knew if she didn''t, he would want to keep sharing the same space as her thinking that it would help her to feel more at ease if they were together. Which would''ve been the case if it wasn''t for the odd way that she had been feeling anytime they shared such close proximity together in those type of situations.
If she thought too much about it, she could vaguely remember the feeling of how it felt when he had held her down the night before he left. It caused a strange sensation in her stomach that she wasn''t fond of and usually made her quickly think of something else.
She didn''t quite believe though that that was what love felt like. Not that she was against loving the other as she kept arguing with herself about, She just didn''t like things that she couldn''t easily exin or work through her mind about. Such foreign emotions fit into that category.
She knew that it was something that she could ask her father about, he probably had the best understanding of what that emotion was. She chose not though because she knew that it would require bringing up a touchy subject that they never talked about in terms of how it impacted him and his emotions over the years.
"What else do we need to have in order for the engagement party?" the princess suddenly asked, trying to think of something to shift her thoughts in another direction even though her father had already noticed that something was on her mind.
"I think that most everything has already been taken care of beyond Samuel and Jovaniing back and discussing the expectations of the Vedova Nera in rtion to the engagement." Zane replied as he looked at the list of things that had been crossed out and those that still needed to be taken care of.
"It would be on rather short notice, but I think that we can amodate any expectations that they might have." he added as he wrote something else down.
"Everything else is rted to the pieces that Ryan needs to put together and picking up the rings beforehand. If the outfits are already still decided upon. I think that is everything aside from sending out the rest of the invites." Lena made a ''hm'' sound when he said this.
It wouldn''t be too much to handle then as long as nothing unexpected came up that needed to be changed or the Vedova Nera made some type of oundish request that would cause things to be put off further. It would just be a lot of finishing touches that they would need to take care o. At least that would be one less thing for her to worry about.
One thing that she could focus on would be to decide what kind of gift to get Samuel. With everything that had happened, she hadn''t had a chance to get him the cufflinks that she had originally wanted to. Now though she knew that she would have to think about something else instead.
She may not have known much about the Vedova Nera, but their symbol of power was one that everyone was aware of and getting cufflinks for Samuel could cause a sh with this. Not that it would create a huge problem, but everyone knew that the family symbol was the first to be worn even above gifts that were given.
For Samuel, on the side of the Red Scorpions, he already had that in the form of the ring he would be wearing which would indicate who he was associated with. It would be good enough for him Lena already knew this as he wasn''t the kind of person who liked anything that was too shy.
This would require her to take some time to think of something carefully but before the next week was up so that it would be ready by the time that the engagement party took ce. She would be annoyed if Samuel was the only one who had a gift to present. Hence, she was going to have to spend some time focusing on that over other things which might provide her with enough of a distraction from the work that she wasmenting about not being able to do. At least until she figured out what to get him which would hopefullyst until he got back at which point she would have other things to focus on.
Chapter 179 - The Head
? By the time the third day had passed and Samuel was set toe back, Lena hade even more impatient than she had been when he wasing back with Jeff from being with his parents for his birthday. At least she knew the reasons why it might''ve taken Jeff to get back to the estate. With Jovani, she couldn''t be certain of anything.
Samuel did keep her updated as they got closer, but closer only meant being more than an hour away. Seemed to her like the other was driving slower than necessary for the trip back or it just felt longer to her than the trip did when they left.
She also felt somewhat annoyed that Jovani didn''t give her any updates while they were considering it also seemed like he had told Samuel not to let too much slip until they got back. She would tolerate him for Samuel''s sake, but she still felt like he was going to be too much trouble.
Zane was trouble for her too that day as he wouldn''t let her be outside while waiting since they were getting closer. It was drizzling that afternoon and he didn''t like the idea that she might catch a cold since she hated using umbres to which she rolled her eyes as she was no longer a child and hardly got sick in such situations.
She conceded to it however only after Clive had assured her that he would take her ce and text her when the vehicle was in sight. Her father couldn''tin then with that arrangement..
It was only going to be those greeting Samuel when he got and hearing first what was going on as both Leo and Julius had to step out because of work and wouldn''t be back until after dinner time. Julius would be patient enough to wait until he got back but the princess know that her brother would be displeased to wait so long to hear what happened.
It was almost an hour and a half after Clive had stepped outside before he texted to say that they had gotten back. They knew already to only expect Samuel and Jovani plus whoever the head of the family was as Evalyn had decided to stay back because there were some matters she wanted to talk care of before telling her husband about everything that she had been keeping a secret.
Lena tapped her fingers impatiently on the table in the guest room right inside the door as she red at the door while waiting for it to open. If she had the ability to the door would''ve probably had a hole burned into due to the intensity of which she was staring at it. Each second felt like it was taking too long for them toe inside.
When the door did finally open, no one was standing in the doorway much to Lena''s annoyance. The only thing that she could hear was the sound of two hushed voices bickering. Over what it was exactly she wasn''t certain nor did she care, she just wanted to be able to see Samuel in order to tell that he was okay.
When someone finally did step through the door, it was Samuel who looked rather different from how he did when he left the house. He was wearing a rather expensive ck suit for one that fit him quite well with a matching ck undershirt. His usually loose and slightly unruly hair had been styled so that it looked neater and slicked backpared to how it usually was.
It wasn''t just those things that the princess noticed, the way he carried himself was different, it was in the way that one did when they were aware of the amount of authority they held when they entered a room. Though his eyes still retained their normal softness, there was a more serious feel to them tied with the expression he had on his face. What exactly had Jovani done to him in the three days that they had been gone for?
"Well, what do you think? Biased opinion but I think he''s quite more charming and fitting to the role than he was when we left here." Jovani pipped up as he stepped in after his younger cousin, a pleased look on his face when he saw how intently Lena was studying Samuel.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Lena asked as she continued to stare at Samuel who was returning her look with less uncertainty than he did before.
"I simply mean exactly what I said. I am curious to know what you think though." He replied as he looked between Lena and Zane thetter who was also being rather quiet as they observed Samuel. Zane seemed to pick up on something sooner than Lena did by the look that passed through his eyes. He didn''t say anything though.
"Is there a problem with how I am now?" Samuel asked as he approached the princess, trying to determine if the way that she was looking at him was a good sign or a bad one.
"Different, but not in a bad way." The princess replied as she looked up at him once he was standing directly in front of where she was sitting.
"Is this change that was required by the head of the family?" She asked ncing over at Jovani with this question. He had an amused half-smile on his face in response to this question.
"Something like that." Was the response he gave causing Lena to shift more of her attention over to him.
"Where is the head of the family then? I thought that you said he wasing here to discuss the matter of the engagement." The princess then asked wondering why this mysterious person hadn''te with the other two.
"You haven''t put it together?" Amusement sinking into his response as he smirked while pointing at his cousin.
"Couldn''t you tell that he''s standing right in front of you right now?" He then asked causing Lena to freeze as she turned her attention back to Samuel who was now smiling at her.
"Suprise?" He offered not quite sure what else he should say to the stunned look that was on her face.
The pieces seemed to fit together in her mind but at the same time, something about it felt odd to her, almost like this was another joke being yed on her because it seemed like such a strange thing to be real.
Lena was almost going to ask if this was some kind of joke until she took note of the ring that was on Samuel''s finger. It was different for the head of every family, but at the same time was easy to tell apart by one look at it. A clear indicator that there was no joke beyond what was going on. Samuel was indeed being dered as the head of the Vedova Nera family.
"Is this the only reason why you didn''t want to tell me?" She asked shifting her attention back to Jovani who shrugged in response to the uncertain look that was on the princess''s face as she tried to process what she was being told.
"Something like that among other reasons. It is enjoyable I can''t lie to see the surprised expression whenever it passes over your face." He told her only partly joking about that. He did enjoy riling her up.
"The other part is to do with the fact that there were a lot of pieces that I needed to get in order before announcing it and I knew that I couldn''t do it the right way if you knew before he left." The other admitted before Samuel spoke up, not giving Lena a chance to get annoyed with the other.
"He knew that you would want toe with if you knew what was going to happen and he wanted space to discuss things within the family that were there and make sure that everyone was agreed upon. Something you couldn''t be a part of." Samuel rified though it did little to clear her confusion and annoyance at the situation.
"What does this mean about everything going forward and about who''s supposed to vouch for all this of this if he''s the head of the family?" The princess asked not certain how it would work like this since hadn''t been the head of the family up until that point.
"I suppose that would be his mother or me, but you don''t really need anyone since he''s officially been epted as the head of the family." Jovani replied with a shrug.
"With that in mind, I don''t think that there''s anyone who will object with the engagement or the wedding that will follow. Marcus perhaps would be the only one but his vote no longer counts since he''s not a part of this family." He added on. The only reason Marcus would object was simply because he could, not because he would have an actual objection either.
Chapter 180 - Adjusting
Lena was now going to have to take time to process something else that was shifting for her. The fact that Samuel was the head of the Vedova Nera family wasn''t going to change much in terms of their rtionship- that was going to be the same as it always had been.
The image change and the fact that he was going to have a lot to do like the princess was what she was going to need to get ustomed to. The fact that he was the head of a mafia family made hiding anything from until after the engagement kind of moot also. Lena was sure that her father was aware of this as well when they exchanged nces. Now though wasn''t the time to be discussing any of that with everything else that had been going on.
ncing over at Jovani, she didn''t miss the semi-smug look that was on his face as he leaned back on the sofa with his arms spread out over the top on either side. What exactly had he taught the other over the three-day span that they were gone? Lena figured that she would figure it out soon enough, the important part was that it didn''t seem like anything bad had happened to him like she had been worried about.
"What exactly do you need to be around for before the engagement? Is there anything that is missing aside from what you took care of over these three days?" Lena asked. Even though he had kept his word that nothing would happen to her fiance, that didn''t mean she liked him any more than before.
"Oh, I suppose that I did forget to include that part.. With the shifting in position and all that, I''m going to be Sam''s right-hand man considering I''m the one who''s most qualified to teach him everything he needs to know and catch him up at the same time." Jovani replied as he looked over at Samuel who nodded his head.
"So we''ll still be getting to see a lot of each other for quite a while. Hopefully, during that time we can work on getting to be on better terms as well." He was probably reaching a bit far to hope that the princess would be so quick to ept the arrangement, but it didn''t hurt to extend the kindness first.
"I think it''ll be a while before that will happen." The princess replied as she gave him a look that showed theck of enthusiasm that she felt over the news. She knew that she would have to let it be though because he wasn''t wrong about that. Jovani was the one who could teach Samuel best about how to run the Vedova Nera if he had been keeping things steady for however long.
Plus, he was also the only one she knew in the family which meant the only one that she could trust being around Samuel without incident, or at least it seemed so.
"You''ll try to be nicer to him for though for my sake though, right? Since this is how things have to be for the time being." Samuel asked as he gently tilted the princess''s chin up so that their eyes could meet even though they were already sitting so close together.
Even the charming smile he gave her somehow seemed different from the ones he used to try and fail to use to get her to do something that he wanted on the rare asions that he had tried to bribe her without using food.
"Maybe." was all the princess replied before she looked away from him. The new change in look also didn''t help to settle the strange feeling that she had for Samuel. It was a new look that suited him rather well even if it was vastly different from how she was used to seeing the other.
"We will hold a inter-family celebration for this at a different time." Zane announced as he folded his hands together and rested his elbows on his legs.
"For now, I don''t want this getting out either until after the official announcement is made at the engagement party. I think that it would be safer for the time being, don''t you agree?" He added thest part while looking at Jovani to see what the other had to say about the matter.
"I do in fact agree. I think we should also perhaps make it a more general announcement as well?" Jovani suggested, the head of the Red Scorpions gave him a look that said he expected the other to borate what he meant by this.
"I mean, you can announce that there will be a marriage alignment forming between both of our families because Sam is recognized as being a member of the Vedova Nera. Beyond that though, I think that we should keep the fact that he''s the head of the family a secret still." He exined pausing to make sure everyone seemed to be following what he was saying before he continued.
"We will release a statement saying that the new head of the family has confirmed and recognized, but we won''t say who it is for the time being. There have been some rumors of who people think that it will be, so I don''t think they would specte that it would be Sam."
"In order to give him enough time to adjust to everything and be ready to official take over during ater announcement?" The princess rified, not quite following what the point in doing this would be.
"No at all. The reason for not giving such information is simply that it creates the opportunity to do information collecting." Jovani replied with a small smirk.
"If people don''t know who he is beyond being a member of the family but not that he''s a head- they''ll speak freely around him if they think he doesn''t hold prestige beyond being a member of the Vedova Nera family." It had worked well for Jovani when he first started to raise in the ranks within the family but no one was aware of it. His cousin was green enough too so that no one would suspect him of holding such a high position.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 181 - Bait
"Sounds like the equivalent as using him as bait." Lena replied, not exactly thrilled with Jovani saying even though she couldn''t deny that it was a useful tool to use to collect information.
"In a way if that is how you want to look at it. It''s not like he would be any sort of danger. I would always be around with him and most of it would be during meetings or gatherings that ur." Jovani replied with a shrug.
"Unlike you, we do tend to host more social events and not do all of our business outside of the estate. I think we have a great ce that we could to host this specific event to announce the new head of the family."
"Don''t media nose around too much about that kind of stuff?" Zane asked. It had been one of the reason that he had stopped hosting such events after he had taken over and with everything that happened with his wide, media liked to try and cover tragedy too much and poke into things that weren''t any of their business. Things that Zane wouldn''t stand for.
"They can, but you can limit who you let nose around to those whom you know to bepletely harmless and make sure that one uninvited sneaks in." He replied. It had taken a while for him to learn a lot of this himself though he had more people to help watch out for him.
"It''s not something that I would think about changing any time soon." Lena remarked.
"I can understand some of the benefits of media, but I also that they can cause more trouble than necessary even if one does try to manage them the right way."
"To each their own." was all Jovani replied.
"I know that there is still a lot to cover, but there are things that we need to do as well. You''re wee to stay here while everything is being sorted. We have another appointment to make however." Zane told the other as he stood and indicated that he would need to borrow Lena and Samuel for that.
"I see that''s no problem. We can discuss matters more seriously after. I do need to speak with Julian as well about the business side of matters also." Jovani replied as he stood up as well more out of politeness than actually needing to do anything.
"I will take up your gracious offer and spend the night here since it is alreadyte in the afternoon, but tomorrow I do need to head back to sort out some other matters in order to able to shift a certain amount of things here if I will be mostly upying this space rather than the Vedova Nera estate."
He shook Zane''s hand but only offered a nod of his head to Lena whom he presumed wouldn''t be thrilled about shaking hands with the other still. At least she didn''t re at him this time which he took as a sign of progress between the two of them.
"Julius will probably be back before we are, so feel free to update him about matters and exin what is going to happen following this." Zane told the other man as he walked past him to the door. He made a mental note that once they left he would text Julius to let him know and that no decisions were to be made until after he had gotten back and they had discussed matters between them.
It would be a good investment opportunity between the two families, but it could also be a difficult thing to sort between two sides who were trying to get the best benefit out of the alliance. Not that he thought Jovani was the type of person who would trying anything like that, he just didn''t know if he could trust anyone else in the family.
"Did we really have to depart already?" Samuel asked once they were outside and heading to the car where Clive was already outside waiting for them.
"Yes." Was all Zane and Lena both said before they got inside. Samuel this time was ced to sit on the outside while Lena was in the middle seat between her father and fianc¨¦.
"Today is the only on the scheduleing up that would work for all of us to go and pick up the rings." He exined once they started to drive away.
"I know it''s a sudden unexpected event, but it is something that can''t be put off in the case that any further adjustments need to be made." ncing down he realized that Samuel still had the ring on that Jovani had given him as the family symbol.
"You should take that ring while you''re out around other people. It''s too noticeable." He told the younger man as he pulled open the cubby that was seated in the middle between the two front seats. He pulled out a ring box and opened it up so that Samuel could put the ring inside. It was something that Zane used to do back when it wasn''t announced whether it would be him or his brother Julius taking over after their father.
"Also, the hospital said that we would be safe to stop by and visit Jeff as well. His health is stable enough at this point that visitors other than his brother shouldn''t have a negative impact on him or cause too much excitement." Lena added. She presumed that Samuel would want to see the other man after everything that had happened since he hadn''t yet got the opportunity.
"Is he going to be released soon?" Samuel still felt guilty over what had happened, but he wasn''t quite sure exactly how he was going to be able to make it up to the other.
"Another two weeks is what the doctor says. Then he will still need to be careful after that." Zane responded.
"His injury is healing well, but the doctor wants to make sure because of where he was shot that there noplication will be present as he begins to get more active." Two weeks meant that the other wouldn''t be able to be there for the engagement party. He would have to be more careful in the future so that nothing like this happened again.
Chapter 182 - Soon
Samuel was surprised to see how happy the jewelry store owner was to see that Samuel was perfectly fine when they stepped inside to pick up the rings. He guessed that the older man felt really endeared to the family after what Zane had done for him.
The rings were a perfect fit at least so there was no concern about having to get them adjusted again with how close the engagement party was going to be. Even the gift that he had gotten had been put on hold even though he was picking it up farter than he had originally intended to. The owner even slipped it into box that he had provided for them to carry the rings out in so that the princess wouldn''t see it by ident.
Even though it had caused a certain amount of trouble, he still thought that it was worth the trouble to get it as a proper engagement ring for the other. He just hoped that she would like it. At ater point they coulde back to get the rings from the Vedova Nera adjusted if necessary.
Somehow the ride wasn''t as tension as it had been in the past. Neither Lena or Zane spoke all that much, but Samuel didn''t feel like the silence was a tense one. Though the princess didn''t seem exactly thrilled about being seated in the middle, she preferred to be able to look out the car window when they drove because it felt more peaceful to her.
Having Samuel back with her somehow made it less annoying though so that she could put up with it until they reached the hospital. There were still a lot questions that she wanted to ask, but knew that she would have to wait to talk with Jovani again as she presumed that there was still a lot Samuel hadn''t been told yet or didn''t quite understand.
When they reached the hospital, Zane didn''t bother asking the receptionist where the room was located as Jeff''s bothered had already told him what the room number was. Like thest time that Zane had been to the hospital to see Clive, a lot of heads turned when they noticed him walking through. Even if he was dressed down or wore no symbol to indicated who he was, enough people knew without having to ask.
Samuel took note of this and wondered if in the future people would look at him the same way once they knew that he was the head of the Vedova Nera family. He couldn''t tell though if it was because people knew who he was and that was what made them pay attention or the reputation that he had gotten that caused people to be more aware when he was around.
Samuel didn''t see himself creating the kind of reputation that Lena had said her father had. He understood the need to kill in order to protect and that he might find himself in such situations in the future. He didn''t however that he could do anything on the scale that Zane had done. Or would he if anything like that happened to Lena. He caught himself ncing over at her when he thought about this, she didn''t notice this or the look in his eyes as she was too focused on paying attention to the room numbers and who else was around them as they walked down the hall in the hospital.
Jeff''s brother was standing outside of the room as they approached. There was a limit of only two people at a time thus he stepped outside to allow the others to see his brother. He wasn''t thrilled about it, but knew that nothing would happen since they were part of the family.
Samuel didn''t miss the odd look that the other gave him as he walked past. He wasn''t sure if it was anger or sadness. He couldn''t me the other if he thought that he was responsible for what had happened with his brother.
Jeff was probably most happy to see that Samuel was okay. They hadn''t told him much about what had happened beyond the fact that the other was okay and he didn''t need to worry about anything which was what the doctor had suggested. He was concerned too much extra stress would have a negative impact on the other man. The first two go in and see him were Samuel and Zane while Lena waited outside with the other.
Samuel beat the younger man to apologizing for what had happened and telling him that there was nothing he needed to apologize for. It had been his fault after all that everything had happened the way it did. Jeff didn''t seem thrilled about this, but didn''t argue with the other when he saw the look that Zane gave him.
No one was upset about what happened. Jeff had done the job that he was supposed to do. It was just a situation where the oue wasn''t going to work out well because of the number difference. The only thing to be thankful for was the fact that the younger man hadn''t be killed enough though the bullet hit dangerously close to that point.
He also wasn''t happy to hear that the doctor had expected him to stay for so much longer in the hospital in order to properly recover and ensure that there was going to be noplications.
"It''s not like you''re going to have your job taken away because you''re spending too much time recovering. If you''re up for it and we can take better precautions next time to make sure something like this doesn''t happen again, I would be happy to have you working with me still." Samuel told the other who seemed to brighten up when he said this.
"Is this something that has been agreed upon over all?" Jeff then asked. He wasn''t sure if Samuel had the power to have thest say in this matter or if that would fall on Lena since she had been the one to originally assign him to his position.
"Samuel is saying that it is and that''s what counts. Since you''re working him, he gets final say in this matter." Zane replied. He had nothing against it if that was what the two of them wanted to stick with. He didn''t think that his daughter would object either.
Even if Lena was concerned about it, in her father''s mind he doubted that she would argue with Samuel over the decision if it was something that he wanted to do. It was interesting to him to see how the dynamic between the two was being formed.
It was different from the one that he had with his own wife, but it somehow seemed to fit the two who were on the exact opposite side when it came to personality. It was feeling more and more to him that he had made the right call in keeping the engagement between Samuel and his daughter as had originally had been yed despite her objections.
They discussed some of the other matters further before Samuel stepped out of the room so that Lena could speak with Jeff. He also did it because he wanted to apologize to the young man who seemed more than a little anxiously worried about his brother.
"I''m sorry for what happened. Your brother is a good person and it was my fault for not being more careful in my actions." This seemed to catch the other by surprise who turned quickly to look at the other before averting his gaze again.
"You don''t need to apologize, it is part of the job that everyone here signs up for. Stuff like this could happen at any time and we still ept that risk." He told Samuel even though the tone of his voice told him he didn''t quite ept it.
"That doesn''t mean it is any easier to handle. You''re family after all. I couldn''t imagine being able to handle it well at all if something like this happened to one of my own family members." Samuel admitted as he shifted so that he was leaning against the wall in the corner in order to give the other more space.
Soon, that family would be expanding to include Lena as well. It did already in his mind, but something about the engagement made it feel like that was going to make it more official once it had actually happened.
He was going to need to get back to his old training schedule as well not that things were sorting out. He wouldn''t tell Lena for the time being that Jovani had agreed to teach him so techniques to improve his aim so that he could better handle a gun. He would need to tell her thought that he was ready to get back to working with rice now that his injuries should''ve been held enough for it.
Chapter 183 - No
A/N: Mass release will being next week.
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They didn''t spend more than an hour at the hospital as they didn''t want to cause too much excitement or stress for Jeff since he had long way to recover. The biggest reason why Lena had wanted toe along and talk with him was to let him know herself that everything was fine. She had been the one to assign him to Samuel after all and even though she was certain of the fact that Samuel likely had told him everything was okay, she knew he would worry if she didn''t talk to him herself.
Also, she wanted to see how he was doing for herself. There was a small part of her that didn''t trust doctors enough to know what they were talking about or be honest about situations if they thought there was a chance for repercussions if they were too bluntly honest about the expected oue.
Seeing Jeff for herself, it didn''t seem like he was fairly that badly though he did still look sick and exhausted. Once he was out of the hospital, it was likely he would need another month to recover before he could go back to his normal work schedule.
"Who should be assign toe along for security to the engagement party beyond those who are obvious?" Lena asked on the way back to the estate.
"I have been working on a list that I think would be an effective group." Zane replied. They had already both agreed prior to this to make sure that things were more secured than they had originally intended for them to be since they knew there would be a different set of threats to worry about considering the second announcement that the would be making.
"Does it have to be a lot of people?" Samuel asked. With it being his first time attending such an event and one that was mafia centered, he wasn''t exactly sure what to expect or what kind of concerns there would be. Somehow though he felt like it probably wasn''t as much sunshine and roses as typical engagement parties were where the worst one might have to worry about was having that obnoxious family member who tried to make everything about themselves or ruin the asion because they were jealous.
"Yes, because even though the risk of something happening is rtively low. Therger the crowd that is gathered, the higher risk that something might ur that needs immediate action." Zane replied. Although he never had to deal with such a thing when he got engaged and married, an assassination attempt had been tried against his father during his engagement ceremony.
"Everyone will of course be double checked before they are allowed to enter and I''m sure that Jovani will be bringing his own set of people to make sure that everything is secure as well." Lena added on.
"Generally when it''s a engagement between two different families urring, protection is provided from both sides since the group that will be attending is a mixed bunch that both families know but the other might not be aware is a threat." She borated.
"Though, outside of immediate family and such, the number of people who are attending will probably be capped at around eighty just to be safe."
"That still sounds like a lot of people." Thinking about this made Samuel realize that he didn''t even know where the engagement party was going to be taking ce. He doubted that it would be happening at the estate since he couldn''t think of a space that would berge enough to hold that many people.
"Where will it be taking ce anyways?" He asked figuring that there was no reason why he wouldn''t get a reply since he thought of it as something that hadn''te up rather than being kept a secret.
"A venue has been rented out for it." Zane replied to this question as they approached the estate.
"Another one of the acquaintances that owes my father for something that he did to help them out." The princess added. She was happy to be back to at the estate again as there was other things that she could now focus on. The only thing that would''ve made her happier was if Jovani was already gone so that she didn''t have to deal with him for a few days Things would feel a little bit normal if that happened.
The conversation here now that they were back. Zane still had a number of things that he had to take care of and since there wasn''t anything important that he needed to answer, he knew that he could leave the rest of the questions that Samuel might have for his daughter to answer.
Eventually, his time wouldn''t be so packed and he could enjoy things a little more like he used to before everything had started to change.
Samuel made sure he remembered to grab his ring before he got to follow after Lena who was waiting on him to head back inside. Clive would followter after he had parked the car in the garage since they wouldn''t need that specific one for the next few days.
"Sleeping arrangement the same before?" Samuel asked once they were inside causing the princess to stop before she turned to look at him with slight re. She was quiet for a minute before she replied.
"No." was the only response that she offered in response to his question. She wasn''t ready to deal with that again. She still needed her space in order to sort her feelings out before he upied her space at night again.
"Wouldn''t that be better for you though since I have been gone for the past three days?" Samuel tried to insist but Lena wasn''t very swayed by what he was saying. Perhaps because it was him who really enjoyed it more than she had and wanted to keep things to the new shift that had taken ce.
"Only after the engagement is finalized and you stop asking me about." The princess told him finally when her fianc¨¦ continued to try and reason with him on the matter. She wasn''t going to change her mind about this matter.
"But don''t you enjoy mypany at night?" He asked trying a different tactic in hopes that it might get her to change her mind.
"I enjoy my space and peace when I''m trying to sleep that doesn''t include people who aren''t able to keep their hands to themselves." She replied not even turning to look back at the other as she made her way to the sunroom.
It was almost time for dinner but she wanted somece away from people to breathe for a while before it was time to eat. Considering the fact that she hadn''t seen Jovani anywhere, she presumed that either meant that Julius and Leo were back and getting caught up on what was taking ce or he was busy doing his own thing. Either way she was happy to see that he wasn''t around.
"What if I don''t do anything except for share the space with you then and nothing else?" He asked standing near by as the princess sat down on the futon, she gave him an unimpressed look.
"That doesn''t sound like something very convincing consider what happened the other night and how unwilling you were to listen when I said I needed space."
"That was only because I was enjoying the reaction you had in response to what I was doing." Samuel defended. It was true, it was probably one of the few times that Lena''s reaction to something he had done was so soft and genuine that he wanted to soak up as much of her reaction as he possible could.
"You''ve never been like that before and it''s actually quite adorable when you''re caught off guard by unexpected things and give such a raw reaction." Lena missed much of what else Samuel had said following him saying that something she did was adorable.
Adorable wasn''t a word that the princess was often associated. Fierce, scary, intimidating, rough, brusk, hard. Those were the words she was used to hearing. Certainly she hand been called beautiful on a number of different, but that didn''t feel the same as being called adorable. How was she supposed to react to that?
"It''s exactly like that. I can''t help but want to draw out that reaction more every time you look surprised and flustered or like right now when you blush. Can you me me for that?" Samuel gave her his best charming look when he asked this question.
"Yes I do me you and no matter what you try and say my answer isn''t going to change." She replied when she averted her gaze and shifted her position so that she was no longer looking at him.
"My answer is still no and you can wait until after the engagement party is over and maybe longer before that will happen again." She was going to have to learn how to better control her reaction to things that Samuel said and did that surprised her if she didn''t want to deal with him continuing to react in the current manner.
Chapter 184 - All The Small Things
Everything was starting to add up for Jovani, in what he hoped would be a positive way. Samuel was taking over which meant that he was going to get the chance to step back and take care of the things that he needed to focus on while helping his younger cousin learn to take over.
He could now finish the deal with Julian and work with more open terms than he had originally been. The trading route would be very useful for the expansion he wanted to do with the Vedova Nera. It would also be useful in helping to block Marcus out from expanding in that direction as easily.
All that would be left after that was dealing with Genson and helping to get the rest of the family settled in their correct roles. If he could manage to do all of that, he would be able to enjoy his position as Samuel''s right-hand man rather than being the one who had to be in charge all of the time. He was good at it, but that didn''t mean it was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
He had his own fianc¨¦ after all and did intend to get married at some point in time. Perhaps sooner now that things were moving in the right direction. He wasn''t getting any younger as the days passed by and having kids in the future sounded like it would be nice. Given that his fianc¨¦ would want them as well.. It would be one of those big discussions to have consider the type of lifestyle that they lived in.
"What you''re telling me then is that even now Sam outranks me in position?" Leo asked half joking but also having a hard time processing that the other was going to be head of a mafia family despite his gentle demeanor.
"That''s one way of looking at it." Jovani agreed as he sat with his legs crossed and his right hand propping his head up while his elbow rested atop his left leg.
"Are you sure that there hasn''t been some kind of mistake with this? I mean, if it has been twenty years, couldn''t you be mistaken? He doesn''t seem like the type of person who would fit into this lifestyle." Leo reasoned as he tried to think this through. It wasn''t a bad thing per say. He knew that it would make things easier for his sister, but having someone like Samuel with such a gentle spirit actually being part of this world in a muchrger capacity than was original expected felt wrong in a sense.
"No ce for errors in this this." Jovani repliedzily as he closed his eyes, he was only having pay attention to the other who he had been discussing this with for the past twenty minutes. He didn''t mind the conversation since the other seemed less cold to himpared to before, but there was still a number of other things that needed his attention.
"The only possibility of that would''ve been at the feet of Evalyn if there was some type of mistake in who she was." Jovani exined with a soft sigh.
"But considering she confirmed who she was and knew all the pieces of the family along with iming the exact time when she left as the same type the Evalyn from Vedova Nera family did, there''s no mistake."
He wasn''t there to make anyone feel better about the situation, just to simply exin everything as it was and answer any questions or bring up any facts that were important to the situation. How other people reacted or processed it really wasn''t any of his business.
"Isn''t it something though that you don''t really need to worry yourself about though? I mean it will be for your father and Lena to deal with along with me and that side of the family since you''ll be heading back to Ennd if my guess is correct?" He asked this question and looked at the younger man through half closed lids. He was mildly interested in knowing why it seemed like the younger brother cared about the fianc¨¦ much more than family usually did.
"Even if that was true, it doesn''t mean that I can''t worry about what the oue will be." Leo retorted, seeming to be slightly annoyed at something Jovani had said.
"My sister has already been through a lot and now her fianc¨¦ who was believed to be someone on the outside of this world is suddenly being tossed in at the deep end which puts him at a greater risk. It''s only natural to worry about what the oue could be in this type of situation." Jovani hummed in response to what the other said as he continued to survey Leo''s expression before he spoke again.
"Or perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that you have a bigger soft spot for said fianc¨¦ than you want to admit? Something that isn''t perhaps unknown but could make things ufortable if it went any further?" He mused watching the sh of emotion that went through the other''s eyes when he said this.
"Is that the reason behind why you''re running away back to Ennd? Because you don''t want to be around someone you can''t quite have but enjoy being around a little much?" Leo rolled his eyes when the other said this though his bodynguage told Jovani that he might''ve hit a nerve with what he said.
"I''m hardly running back to Ennd. Me going back there was always part of the n. I am just sticking around until after the engagement party because that was what I had promised." He exined.
"I only originally came back to take a break between high school and university. My goal though has always been to go back and look intow and business. Since my sister is going to be taking over the family, I''m mostly free to do as I please since I''m not going to be the person that everyone will be looking towards to rely on."
"You didn''t deny though that there are some feelings for Sam in there somewhere. Is it his personality that attracts you to him or the fact that he belongs to your sister and is something that you can''t have? Humor me with an answer?" Jovani asked with a small smirk.
"It has nothing to do with the fact that Sam isn''t something I can''t have. I don''t have that type of rtionship with my sister." Leo scoffed as he looked at the other.
"What about you, do you usually try to annoy people or work to get under their skin?" Jovani couldn''t help but let out a soft but harshugh in response to what the other asked. He was an interesting person indeed.
"I wouldn''t deny that it is enjoyable at times to do such things. Mostly though I ask because I''m curious to know about how other people work and what is going through their minds. All the same things that make up people are usually in painting a full picture." The older man replied.
"Why don''t you just be honest about what you''re looking for then rather than asking in such indirect ways." Leo asked as he tried to understand how the other''s logic worked.
"Tell me if I asked you straight up if you had a crush on Sam would you be so quick to give me a honest answer if I asked it so directly out of the blue?" Jovani asked in response to the other''s question. He raised his eyebrow at the silence that followed this question as the other averted his gaze slightly.
"And now you know exactly why I take a more indirect route to asking my questions. Plus, if you poke slowly and carefully until someone gets annoyed, they''re more likely to give honest responses when their emotions get the better of them." He exined.
It had taken Jovani years to master the art of that, but it had been well worth it for the number of doors it had been able to open for him in the form of hidden answers and unexpected conversations.
It didn''te without it''s fair share of injuries either. It had taken him quite some time to learn the right bnce between annoying people enough so that they would give him the answer he was looking for but not to the point that they would end upying into him.
"You might find it to be a useful skill that you want to learn as you grow up as well. Beneficial if you ever think about expanding territory into some ce like Ennd." Jovani told the younger man as he uncrossed his legs so that he could stand up.
"But if there are no other questions from you, I think that it would be about time for me to take my leave so that I can take care of other things." He couldn''t stop himself from ruffling the other''s hair before left the room, he quite enjoyed annoying the other for some reason.
Chapter 185 - Another Issue
Two more days passed by before Lena was allowed to go back to work. Her father wanted to let things settle for a day after Samuel had gotten because since there was still so much that needed to be discussed. Jovani at least left like he had said he would the next day since he still had things he needed to take care of. It ended up beingter in the afternoon than he had wanted it to be as there was a number of questions that Zane had wanted to ask him about.
Without him around, Lena was able to feel like things were more on a normal level though she still had to process the fact that her Samuel was head of the Vedova Nera family so not everything would be returning to the same normal that they had before.
The two nights after he hade back she had at least been able to keep her own bed space at night even though he had tried to reason once more with about which shot down.
Aside from the fact that she didn''t still quite know what to make of her feelings for Samuel that were changing, the rest of her feelings were shifting back to the normal that she was used to and that was what drew her towards wanting her own space back. It wasn''t like it was that far away from the date of their engagement anyways.
Clive was happy to be the one to drive them to work. Lena hadn''t bothered letting anyone aside from James know that she would being back simply because she wanted to see how they would react to her sudden reappearance. Aside from exining that there were family issues going on, not much of a detailed exnation had been given as to why she would be absent for a few weeks..
Everyone had their own spections about what was going since it had happened right after the new hires had been made, but the one rumor that had been quickly squashed was that the princess was already getting reced or her father was taking back over since progress within thepany had been slow.
The slow progress of thepany had nothing to do with Lena taking over, but more had to do so with the need to be careful. The current financial issue that they were trying to solve was the perfect example as to why she wanted to be careful when it came to moving forward with everything. She didn''t want to deal with another issue like this in the future.
The one person that Lena really wanted to see what kind of response she would get was Genson. He had been given her updates about what was going on as Eve had been, but she couldn''t help but wonder how freely he had gotten with his interactions and behavior while she was away.
Today though, he would end up going back to being her assistant again because she need physical updates and exnations from him on anything that he found or took note of while she was away.
Now that she would be back at work, it also meant that she could get coffee without anyone telling her that she needed to be careful about drinking too much. She had missed the caffeine. It was bad enough that she also hadn''t been able to convince her father to give her the pipe back either. He still believed that she had been using it too much.
Samuel was apanying her as well. Mostly because his original schedule hadn''t been put back into ce and partly because there was going to be as shift within the business soon that he would be a part of.
The princess also wanted him there to see how Genson would react to seeing that both of them were back. If he was working with Marcus, she was certain that there would be some type of reaction from him that would help to give it away. She would rather catch him out on it sooner rather thanter so that it could be one less thing that she needed to worry about.
Samuel had kept his suit and cufflinks, but wouldn''t be wearing his ring to work either since at Genson at least was there and even though he had signed a non-disclosure agreement that made it so that he couldn''t discuss anything work rted outside of the job, Lena didn''t trust him for one second to follow it if he thought he could get away with not being caught if he broke it.
Because she didn''t want to have to deal with too many people, she asked Clive to park in the back car garage so that they could enter the building from the back side where less people would notice them having entered the building.
James was waiting for her inside seeming somewhat nervous about hering back. Why she wasn''t quite sure since as far as she had been aware he had done a good job of keeping everything in order while she was gone and her office still looked to be in the same shape she had left it in.
"Any reason for the on-edge behavior?" She asked James as he closed the office door behind her after Samuel had entered the room. He seemed to pause when she asked this question before replying.
"A few people have been quitting recently with all the changes that had been going on recently and I think we might have let someone of interest slip during this time." He answered honestly knowing already to expect that the princess would be upset to hear about it.
"Who is it?" Lena asked her mood already taking on a more serious tone. She had expected to deal with a number of things when she had gotten back to the office, this wasn''t one of them however.
? "We don''t have a name yet, just picture ID only." James replied as he gave her the folder that he had been holding.
"We had been working on going through everyone as Eve suggested we might want to double check and make sure that everyone working here had been properly cleared." James exined.
"Which is also around the time that everything happened with you and people started leaving. This person reviewed but we realized in the system that the information he gave us didn''t match with the person that he imed he was." Lena half listened to what the other was saying as he looked over the photo that she had been given.
The man looked to be in his mid forties, rather thin but tall with short hair. He had sses on and was wearing a suit. One thing she noticed though was what looked to be a tattoo barely visible on the left hand that was opening the door to leave the building. It was one of the only ces that had a security camera in order to make sure that no one tried to break in.
"What about the person he pretended to be?" Lena then asked though she already felt like she had an idea of what would''ve happened to them.
"Missing it would seem. Beyond identity theft, we can''t find any prior connection between the two though without a name it''s a little hard to trace them. Eve is working on what she can to put something together. She said it might take her a bit though."
"I see. Can you summon Genson then. He''s probably the best person to ask in this matter since it is supposed to be his job to keep track of all these things. I want to see what he happens to know about this matter or anything else." She told James as she closed the folder after taking the picture out.
She doubted that Genson was directly involved in whoever this person was, but once again it came down to the fact that there were so many people that he knew that she didn''t doubt he would be able to put something together about it if he hadn''t already known ahead of time.
The only thing that made Lena''s morning slightly brighter after being immediately drawn into this issue was the fact that she had been right in thinking that Genson wasn''t going to be happy to see that she had returned. She could give him points for the fact that he tried his best to cover his less-than-thrilled reaction behind his charming smile, but she could still see it in his eyes.
"Nice to see that you both coulde back and join us finally. I suppose that means everything was safely settled?" Rather than answering his question, Lena showed him the picture and gave him a pointed look.
"Am I safe to assume that you know who this person is?" She asked cutting straight to the point. Genson looked at the picture with a frown as he picked it up. He was quiet before he set it down after a moment.
"I can''t say I do beyond the fact that I have seen him around here at work of course. Who he might be outside of that is beyond me. There are some people after all that I don''t know in this world." He replied with small shrug.
"I''d appreciate if you could think about it ande up with some ideas about who it might be though. Also, I want a report from you now about anything else you''ve noticed such as why this person wasn''t gged by you before it seems like he stepped out of here." She ordered. He didn''t seem thrilled about it, but didn''t hesitate tounch into an ount of everything he had taken note of while she was away.
Chapter 186 - Poorly Done
Even though her face didn''t give it away, Lena could tell that the report of events that Genson gave her was half-arsed at best. One that he probably had cobbled together from the little bit of work he had been doing but not from anything solid that he had taken note of to reportter.
"You do realize how poor your report sounds? I thought that the quality of work you delivered was better than this." The princess to told him with a sigh as he interrupted him half-way through. He seemed rather offended that she had interrupted him.
"You do know that I am trying my best here but the people who work here aren''t exactly the easiest to get talking." Genson retorted. He had for the most part been trying to do his job right. At least so that he didn''t have to worry about being found out.
Thus, it was partly true that he was having a hard time getting anyone who worked within the building to talk with him. Most of them were either too busy working to give him any sort of time, ignored him or had their own groups they talked within. He couldn''t determine if the coldness that he got from them was because he was losing his skills or if they were just that loyal and suspicious of anyone that the princess didn''t seem that fond of..
The only ones who had been really willing to tell him anything interesting or noteworthy about what had been going on were older employees who weren''t thrilled about the shift in management. Still, this wasn''t much use because despite how much theyined, it was obvious that they were too loyal to do anything that might hurt thepany.
"I hired you to figure out how to get close to them because you''re supposedly a con artist who''s good at getting anyone to open. Perhaps that was just a lie though." Lena replied. She was annoyed that this was all the progress that had been made by him since she had been out of the office. It should''vee as no surprise to her considering how much of a scammer he was.
At least there was Eve she could rely on for what she would hope be something more useful as she had been more consistent than Genson had about sending her information about what she found if anything came up as a red g to her as she was going through the system.
"It''s not a lie. I''m just not used to dealing with these type of people so it takes me a bit longer to figure out how to get them to open up. I still have reported on a few interesting things to you haven''t I?" He asked trying not to sound as offended as he felt at the current moment in time.
"It''s not much more than what I could rely on someone else to find out for me if I really wanted to. I think you''re perhaps better suited to be a office assistant after all." She said rather dismissively with a sharp tone. He didn''t appreciate the way that she was talking to him, but before he had a chance to say anything about it, Samuel interjected into the conversation.
"Genson, I don''t think arguing about the facts are going to get you anywhere. Perhaps it would be better if you just focused on getting back to your job or fetching us something to drink to help you cool off." Samuel''s suggestion only served to annoy the man more. He didn''t think the younger man was in a position to speak to him in such a way even if he was the princess''s fianc¨¦.
He got ready to turn to the other and say something but stopped when something caught his eye. From the way Samuel was sitting on the sofa with this arm draped out across the side closest to him, he was able to note the cufflink that the other had on. Oh? was that thing the reason why he thought that he could talk as he pleased to the other?
"Alright?" Samuel asked when Genson didn''t say anything but instead kept staring at him. He was pretty sure that the other would''ve noticed the cufflink that he had on which was the whole point with the way he chose to sit when talking with the other. A subtle reminder that the con artist might want to be careful how he chose to interact with those who around them since he didn''t know what kind positions they held.
"Very well. Though I still don''t appreciate the my job ethic is being discussed. I will be back shortly with drinks." Genson conceded realizing that it might be better at this point to take a more back seat position and see where Samuel would end up fitting into everything.
He certainly didn''t think that the other would prove to be any kind of threat to him, but he didn''t know what kind of power the younger man had with the backing of the Vedova Nera family or where he felt within the chain ofmand.
"Here''s an idea to think about as well while you''re out Genson," Samuel called out to the other before he had a chance to leave the office.
"Perhaps if you got drinks for some of your fellow employees or offered to pay for their lunch they might be more willing to be weing and chat with you."
"Noted." Genson replied shortly. The thought of that idea made him cringe inwardly. That would require him to spend some of the hard earned money that he had.
Even though he had more than enough to live off of, he hated spending any more than he absolutely needed to because seeing his bank ount do down any amount stressed him out. Especially when it was due to the fact that he was spending it on other people he couldn''t care less about.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 187 - Flex
"You should be more careful doing that, particrly around people him." Lena warned Samuel once they were alone in the office.
"Be careful doing what?" He asked giving her a rather innocent look as though he didn''t quite know what she was referring to. Somehow, ever since he hade back from being around Jovani for three days, his personality had shifted in a way that she couldn''t quite understand.
He was more confident than he had been before or at least he gave off the impression that he was. While he was still his usualid back and gentle self, he had no problem teasing her and talking back to other people that he wouldn''t have usually said anything against.
"I mean pushing back against people with using your new position. Even if they don''t know who you are, someone like Genson might be more likely to put the pieces together if he''s working with Marcus." The princess replied with a slight edge to her voice.
"I don''t think that''s anything to worry about as much with the change in position and the fact that it won''t just be you relying on watching out for me now." Samuel replied.. He knew that for Lena''s sake he still needed to watch what he did, but the fact that he held his own position of power was kind of nice. With it being his first time in such a position, he couldn''t help but want to test out what kind of reaction he got from other people with it.
"Besides, he''s likely to know anyways if Marcus is aware of what is going on. Plus, I don''t like the way that he talks to you so I don''t think that it''s out of ce for me to speak up about that." Samuel added.
He didn''t have much to do at the office that day as James had been taking care of going through most of the back logged financial paperwork since they had been out of the office which was slightly disappointing to him, but he knew that it needed to be done in order to determine at what point in time exactly money had started to disappear.
Lena was about to say something else, but was interrupted by her phone ringing. She was pleased to see that the call wasing from Hester which made her hopeful that they had gotten an ID off the picture that she had sent him along with the fake information of the man who wasn''t official hired at thepany.
"Well, did you figure it out?" Lena asked the moment that she answered the phone, hopeful for what kind of answer Hester would have for her.
"Yes and no." He replied. His voice didn''t hold the promising tone that she had been looking for.
"So I can tell you who he is because it doesn''t seem like he has put much effort into trying to hide his identity, but it would seem from what I can find that someone else around got to him before us."
"Who was and who did he work?" Lena asked a grimace on her face after hearing what the other had first to say.
"We got a name, it was Ashton Brookstone. Who he works for seems to be one of the smaller gangs who is involved in financial scamming. I don''t think though he''s the target that we''re looking for however in what''s going on there."
"What makes you say that?" The princess asked. Her question was followed by a pause and the sound of voices on the other end of the phone.
"Well they aren''t well known for hitting up such big jobs. They usually target smallerpanies that are easier to scam. Doesn''t seem like they have the skills or technology to do big time jobs."
"What was someone like that doing working undercover here then?" The princess mused not exactly expecting Hester to have an answer to this question. She could only imagine though that if this Ashton was killed it would have something to do with overstepping boundaries or not being a necessary piece anymore but too big of a liability to let go.
"I''m hoping to solve that question soon, but it might take some time tracking whoever it would be down. Could also be connected with the recent issues we''ve been dealing with along the borders as well. Someone trying to push for a takeover but more indirectly." Hester told.
It was a possibility as this wasn''t the first time that there had been a power flex from another mafia family who thought that they had the power and skill to take territory that didn''t belong to them.
In most cases it was because they got backing from another family that wanted to stir the pot but not risk losing their own men to determine what kind of opponent that they would up against.
"See what you can find out and let me knowter. I need to get back to other things." The princess told Hester. She thanked him for what he did find out before she ended the call. Seemed like things were shifting towards bing problematic again.
It had been a while since the Red Scorpions had to deal with such problems, but the seasons were always changing and times woulde when problems like this would ur in close session because someone wanted to try and flip the tables on whoever was in control.
Even though she didn''t like talking with him, she knew that it was something worth bringing up to Jovani to see if the Vedova Nera had been dealing with any type of simr problems that they had been trying to sort out. Perhaps there would be some kind of connection from this knowledge that she could work with.
Even knowing this didn''t help that much however as it didn''t get her any closer to knowing who had been taking money from thepany. She only knew based upon what Eve was working with that it might be a two point job where it was initial setup from the inside but working with a system that allowed it to continue from a remote position without anyone having to be on-site to make sure the money kept being transferred. If such was the case, she would have to figure out what the trigger was.
Chapter 188 - [Bonus ]Dont Do That
"More problems?" Samuel asked when he saw the look that was on Lena''s face when she got off the phone.
"Perhaps." She replied as she set her phone down. Although she knew what was going on was no longer something that she needed to keep a secret from Samuel, she still didn''t want to discuss anything too openly at the office because of the risk of someone over hearing anything.
Thus, she simply told Samuel that she would tell him about itter. Which was good timing as Genson returned just at that time with their drinks. His mood didn''t seem much better than it had been before he left, but this time he refrained from saying anything that could be considered disrespectful on his end of the conversation.
Samuel still thanked him for his drink like he had donest time as the other set it on the table for him before giving Lena her coffee. She mildly wished when she picked it up to take a drink that she had requested him to bring her back more than one. She didn''t care that caffeine addiction was a thing, it helped her to get through troublesome days.
"If you want me to keep paying you the promised amount, I want you to step up the work you''re doing and find out anything suspicious from anyone here.. As long as it isn''t anything dangerous, I don''t care what means you use to get the information, I just want it sooner rather thanter." She told Genson in response to him asking if there was anything else that she needed from him before he left.
"I''m giving you three more days to get me anything meaningful before I decide if it is worth it to keep you working on this project or not since I already have Eve I can rely on for the technology side." The princess meant it when she said this and knew that Genson would understand that was well. She hoped that it would be enough of a threatening push to get him to deliver the results that she was looking for.
She didn''t want this situation to carry on any longer than necessary and would prefer if it would be dealt with before her engagement so that it was on less thing for her to have to return to. If she was allowed to go back to work and not required to take time off following the event.
It was still a debate that she was having with her father about saving all her time off for when she got married rather than taking a few days off after the engagement since in her mind nothing was really changing since they were already technically engaged, it just wasn''t official.
"Three days is a little bit short Princess, but I''ll see what I can do. I would hope that if I can''t deliver exactly what you''re looking for that you know I''m trying me best here." Genson replied though inside he was cursing her and partly himself out for the current situation.
He doubted that three days would be enough time for him to find anything useful out. The employees really were that difficult to talk to and because he hadn''t been putting in the full amount of effort that he knew should have, he didn''t know if he could get anyone to crack within three days.
"I won''tment on anything until you give me something decent to work with." The princess replied before she motioned for him to leave the office. She didn''t have a lot of excessive work to finish, but she didn''t really want to deal with him anymore either.
He left without saying anything else but she could feel the drop in his mood as he left. Which slightly impacted her because it was his own fault that he found himself in his current situation. He didn''t take what he was supposed to do seriously due to whatever or whoever else he was working with.
"You think it''ll honestly work to approach it from that way?" Samuel asked after Genson left. Lena didn''t verbally reply to him and instead just shrugged her shoulders. She needed to focus more on other things if Genson wasn''t going to be reliable.
Samuel couldn''t miss that the princess was in a bad mood based upon the way that she was reacting to him. He didn''t like it since things had been rather nice after he had gotten back over the weekend even though they only spent part of that time together. Jovani might not have been around but he still was texting the other and sending him stuff that he needed to do.
The influx of work was different, and mildly annoying during the time that it had starteding in at. He wanted to figure everything out around the engagement before he had to seriously work. It didn''t turn out that way however.
Without much work to do at the office either aside from keep the princesspany with her current bad mood, he decided that he would do something else that might help her instead.
"Would this help your bad mood?" Samuel asked as he came up behind the princess and kissed the top of her head. He had wanted to wrap his arms around her as well but could feel that it might take things a step further than she wasfortable with considering their current location.
"Don''t do that." The princess replied. She was quiet before replying longer than he had expected her to be, but based upon the slight edge to the tone of her voice, it seemed to have the effect that he had been hoping.
"Doesn''t affection in these situations help you to feel better though? Gives you something positive to counter the annoyances that you''re dealing with." Samuel reasoned as he kissed her head again. It was a gentle soft touch but it still had an odd effect on her. What ever was she going to do with him?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 189 - Almost
The invasion of personal space still wasn''t working for the princess. She tried to deal with it the best way that she could, but it still made her ufortable. Not because she minded Samuel touching her as much as he minded the odd feelings she felt when he did so.
At work it was also worse for her because she didn''t want to give away the effect that he had on her when there were people that could take notice of it that she would prefer not to. She didn''t have a problem with public disys of affections. She had a problem with risking others using it against her at some point in time.
She wasn''t sure if Samuel didn''t care about it or really understand how much that bothered her as this was the second time that he had done something like this. Once was before he knew but now that he did, she had expected him to better understand that she would prefer to avoid such situations..
Somehow, he didn''t however and that was what lead to the current point where he felt the need to shower her with affection even though she had told him not to do it once. His reason for it- he thought that it would put her in a better mood.
It did slightly, but at the same time it stressed her out in a different way that he didn''t seem to understand. So in order to get his attention on the matter, she had to be a bit harsher about it until she could talk with him about itter.
"Little Chickadee. I told you stop doing that right now. I expect you to stop that when I tell you to." She told in a harsher tone that she had probably meant to without looking at him. She knew if she did that the tone of her voice wouldn''t match with the expression that was on her face.
"Really? Even though I''m trying to make you feel better you want me to stop?" He asked, his voice sounded like it wasmixture of confused and something else that she could quite tell if it was teasing or perhaps hurt.
"At this moment in time, yes." The princess replied as she tried to go back to focusing on what she was doing. She felt him withdraw rather reluctantly with the slight immature disappoint that was very much like Samuel.
"Listen for now and we will talk about this another time." She told him.
"If you want to do something else that would be helpful instead. Memorize the names and information about the board members I''m printing out." She told him. She figured it would go over better if she gave him something else to do. There wasn''t a lot of work that he could official until after the engagement and they got the time to sort everything out enough to announce what position he would be taking. That didn''t mean though that he couldn''t join the next board meeting.
"Why would you need me to do this?" He asked confused as he walked over to the printer to pick up the list. He noticed that there were quite a few pages with names and other information on it.
"Because, you''ll be attending the next board meeting with me." Lena exined ncing over at him to see that he looked rather surprised to hear this.
"I don''t hold any kind of position in the business though. My only affiliation with it is the fact that I''m going to be marrying you." He pointed out as he looked over at her.
"You mean that you don''t hold any position yet." She rified.
"It''s not something that will be made official until after the engagement, but the intention is for you to hold a position within the business. You''ll be working on both sides with many of these contacts anyways." or at least the princess presumed as much as she was certain that some of them also worked closely with the Vedova Nera. Big businesses liked to double dip where they could in order to make bigger profits when possible.
"Oh. Jovani hasn''t brought up anything like this to me yet, but sure I can go over this. When would the next meeting be?" Samuel asked as he took his former spot on the sofa as he organized the pages to be alphabetical order.
"It will be taking ce at the end of the week which is why I need you to work on memorizing them now so you''ll have it down in time." The princess replied.
While Samuel was going to be focusing on that bit, there were other pieces that she needed to put together for the meeting such as whether or not she would be going ahead with the business deal with Marcus. She knew that they would want an answer about this decision sooner rather thanter.
She need to figure that out still. She wanted to say no because of what she had found out about him from Jovani. On the other hand, she was worried about what would happen if she rejected him over a legal business deal. Which brought the issue down to what would be the safer answer?She would have to speak about this with her father as she knew that she wouldn''t be able toe up with the right decision on her own.
She knew that if she could navigate thest few things that were annoying her this week that she would almost make it through with the engagement taking ce next week. She was going to hate it with all of the people that would be attending, but knew that it was all part of the process.
The bigger concern aside from her distaste for most of the people who would enjoy be showing up to d-hand and hope to stay on the good side of the Red Scorpions for possibility of benefits and dealster on was her concern for how Samuel would be able to navigate everything since he was still learning everything and would hardly know anyone who would be at the event.
Chapter 190 - Sharp Mind
Lena was rather surprised by how quickly Samuel was able to memorize most of the names on the list that she had given him. In her past experience working with other people, it would usually take them at least two to three days to memorize even half of the people they were expected to remember and work with.
Samuel however had managed to get a majority of them done in a matter of hours. Very few things was he off-point on when the Princess quizzed him about it on their way back to the estate.
"It''s how I got through most of my exams during high school." He admitted when he noticed that she seemed rather surprised by his memorization capabilities.
"I didn''t always have the time I need to study for everything so I just focused on figuring out how best to memorize what would be covered on the test and not worry about much of anything else until the final."
"If only more people had that type of skill, it would make them much easier to work with and I wouldn''t have to wait so long on others to get to the point where I need them to be." Lena remarked. It was one of her annoyances when working with other people- they never seemed to be on the same level or page she was on when it came time to focus on a specific task. They were always two or three steps behind because they waited until thest minute to go over everything they needed to know..
The other was about to say something else, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. It was Jovani calling him. Even though it was the evening, the other still answered it knowing that his cousin would only call if there was something for them to go over.
Samuel wasn''t quite yet to the ce where he was making any official decisions about anything, but Jovani made sure that either he or Alonso kept him in the loop so that he was always aware of what was going on. The less legal side of things his older cousin was taking longer to ease him into simply because he knew that it would be a lot to take in and understand for someone who didn''t grow up with such activities being normal.
"Ask him if the Vedova Nera have been having any problems within their borders or surrounding area either with deaths or people trying to take over." Lena told the other in a hushed tone of voice. He nodded his head to let her know that he had heard her request.
Since she knew that he was going to be busy with his cousin for most of the ride back, she focused her attention into her own phone where she had some messages and emails to respond to. With the engagementing up, a number of emails had started to pop up with guests who were invited petition to be allowed to bring a gift or some of donation to celebrate the event.
It was her engagement so she was the one who had to respond to them rather than leaving them to her father which would''ve been her preference. There wasn''t anything particr that she wanted from these people, but she knew that it would be would to reject their request. It might give off the impression of coldness or that there was tension between them.
Something like that could cause a huge ripple within the smaller groups who were close with the family. Questionable or potentially news traveled fast among the families. Especially when it involved that possibility that a group had fallen from the grace of one of therger families.
In order to avoid this type of issue, she deferred them to either send money or gifts that would befit a newly engaged couple but nothing that would be considered outrageous. Some people had odd ideas of what would be fitting for newly engaged couples. She had been to other benefits before where questionable gifts had been brought.
In the end she knew that there would be still be a lot double-checking and fielding gifts before she either epted them herself or handed them off to someone else she knew would appreciate them more. She hoped considering the circumstance of the engagement that they would give gifts that were more directed at Samuel since he was the one who was entering the family.
"Jovani says he wouldn''t be able to say if there were more issues than usual that they were having to deal with." Samuel told her once the called had ended.
"It seems that they have been having a lot of issues over the past year but can''t think of any recent influx that would indicate that there was something else going on."
"Is there anyone in particr who is iming the credit for hits or cutting away at their territory?" The princess then asked putting her phone away so she could rest her head on her hand while looking out the window. They were almost back to the estate.
Samuel listed off a number of group names that his cousin had mentioned as having tension with the Vedova Nera family for some time, he also included his other cousin, Marcus among those since he didn''t quite know what he was up to anymore or who he was relying on for support.
"Thest one though, wasn''t it the one that Ashton you mentioned being killed part of?" Samuel asked as Lenamented that it might be hard to narrow anything down from the list.
"How would you know that?" Lena asked confused as to where he would''ve seen that.
"I remember vaguely seeing the tattoo on his left hand, it looked simr to one of the tattoos that one of the smaller families that Jovani told me about had as their symbol. I might be mistaken though." Samuel replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Of course he would be able to remember something like that with his mind.
"
Chapter 191 - Times Up
It took a bit of work, but Samuel managed to work with Jovani to find the mafia group that he was referring to. Sending the photo over to his cousin helped even though it wasn''t the best quality.
The tattoo wasn''t a perfect replica of the symbol which was a modified hazard. Except unlike the normal hazard sign color, this was done in ck and had only had the skull but not the crossbones with it. Since it fell in with their territory more than the Red Scorpions, Jovani agreed to have Hector and Alonso look into it since they were good at collecting information and knowing where the other groups were most active.
He couldn''t give an exact time frame when he would have the information back as to whether Ashton belonged to their group or not since it was hard to get information from of the smaller families who were good at keeping their mouths shut and staying out of the way when they wanted to.
If he did belong to the group that they thought he did, the next question would be what was he doing in the exact opposite side of Jersey from where his family controlled and was the business official or unofficial?
Lena didn''t like all the unanswered questions that surrounded that. Part of her wanted to think that it could be rted to whatever Marcus was scheming since he would know what groups lived on that side of Jersey enough to call them toe to the opposite for something.
Which then brought up the question of who killed Ashton? Was it someone if who was working with Marcus, was it his only family because he betrayed them or was it because he was in the wrong ce at the wrong time since it wasn''t his turf?
All of it was going to end up giving the princess a headache if she didn''t start getting answers soon. More of a headache then even Genson was giving her with his roundabout on getting the results that she was asking for. It seemed like Eve had been the better choice to go with from the start.
There wasn''t technically much that she could to Genson though beyond letting him go early and giving him only half of the pay that she had promised. Partly because he had been semi-useful with certain things that she needed from him, and partly because she wanted to reduce the risk of retaliation if she refused to give him any money at all.
It wasn''t like he had enough power on his own to do anything, she was mostly concerned about the people that he worked with and what they might be capable of. Otherwise, she would have probably risked disposing of him in a way that no one would be able to find him again,
People would be most likely to trace it back to her though if something liked that happened. She was ny percent certain that he hadn''t kept his mouth shut even after signing the NDA before starting.
Lena had even differed to her father in this matter since he had a bit more experience working with Genson than she had from the past. His line of thought had been simr to her own- it would be easier to get rid of him because he was a nuisance but there would be too many risks behind doing something like that.
It would be rather difficult for Mafia to hire Mafia to do something like this when it was already obvious where he had been hanging around. Hence, the reason for kicking him out and just giving him enough of the money for him to be content.
Once that as done, they would then work on slowly ck listing him through the families that they worked with. Most of them wouldn''t dare to hire someone that they knew the Red Scorpions didn''t approve of. There was no question as to who they would prefer to stay working with in the long run.
Samuel didn''t really have an opinion on the matter as he was still learning all the nuances of such things and didn''t quite understand the more intricate parts of how something like this worked. It certainly wasn''t as straight forward as when a typically legalpany fires an employee for being problematic.
This was more like aplicated game of chess from what he understand where one wrong move could put someone in a rather disadvantageous position. That didn''t mean though that he wouldn''t be learning through all of the observations that he was doing and what Jovani was teaching him. He would just need a few weeks if not two or three months before he would befortable making his own decisions in such situations.
When the third day rolled around, it was obvious Genson was putting off meeting with the princess for as long as possible since he likely already had an idea of the kind of conversation that they would be having.
When he did finallye to her office, he wasn''t expecting to see the briefcase sitting on the floor near her desk. She didn''t look thrilled, but he had an idea that inside of it was something that help to make his day better than the one that he currently had been having.
Marcus wasn''t an easy person to work with and it was getting harder by the day for him to handle the unstable, entric human who was impatient for him to do more than he was capable of. Genson had a decent set of skills but that didn''t mean he was a magician that could solve all the problems and give the answers that his other client was looking for. He needed more time for what he was doing.
"Time is up so you better have some good information for me or you can take this briefcase and leave." The princess told him in a rather cold tone of voice.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 192 - Money Hungry
Genson only debated the matter internally for perhaps two minutes before he made the decision that he knew he wasn''t going to regretter on. Money was more important to him than his reputation and status. Those were two things that he would have an easier time repairing. Lost opportunities however when it came to money were harder to recuperate in the future.
Did he need more money? Absolutely not, but he liked to keep as much as he could in the case that he needed to n a quick escape and move to the exact opposite end of the world from where anyone would think to look at him on.
"I can''t say that I haven''t tried my best princess, but I don''t think that it will be enough to appease you." The con artist told the other, his eyes still fixed on the briefcase rather than looking at the other as he spoke.
"The only thing that might be useful to you is that I found out that apparently everyone thought that that man who was nosing around here was a new hire. He had only been around for two or three days before he meet his untimely demise.
"And they didn''t think to be suspicious of the fact that he was going under an identity that didn''t belong to him?" Lena had a hard time that the people who were working in her office were inept enough to let something that obvious pass them by.
"Seems that he verbally gave him real name, but used the pass exining that since the other was in a more management role than most of the other employees that he allowed for this Ashton or whatever his name was to use his work badge until his own hade in." Genson replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
It seemed to be rather convenient timing too as this other person went on ''leave'' only a day after Ashton showed up. I think that we can really guess what that means though." dead men tell no tales was the first thought that went through Lena''s head when she heard this.
Security was really starting to be a bigger problems that she had expected. She would need to do something to fix that sooner rather thanter before another problem this urred. Legal business wasn''t supposed to be asplicated as the mafia world.
"Do you know if they werest seen together? It might give us leads as to where we should looking for a body at?" Samuel interjected, Genson looked over at him and gave a wry smile.
"Find the body? That would probably take weeks if it was even possible to happen. Likely if he was killed which is possibly since this other person has been gone still, the body is probably also long gone and somewhere where no one would be able to find it." Genson rified for the other.
"Wouldn''t that depend on whether or not the person who had anything to do it was a professional or not. We don''t know what kind of skills this Ashton has. I don''t think it would be a bad idea to try and find a body." Samuel argued, looking over to Lena to see if he was right in his assessment.
"It might be worth expending some human resources on trying to track something down. I can ask Hester to do the back work before we go too far though. Need to find evidence that something happened or they were togetherst before doing anything." The princess replied.
"Since that has nothing to do with me, I guess I will consider taking my leave now and not bother you again." Gensonmented as he came forward to grab the brief case. Lena held her hand up when he did this however.
"What else did you find out?" She then asked causing the other to look at her with feigned confusion.
"I told you everything that I managed to find out over thest three days. There wasn''t much else that anyone wanted to talk about." He replied as he put his hand on top of the briefcase. The money was right in front of him, he didn''t want to do anything that would jeopardize his chance of leaving with the money.
"Be honest with me if you want the money." The princess warned causing the con artist to dete slightly with a sigh.
"How much more are you expecting from me?" The question was more rhetorical one as he didn''t wait to get a reply before heunched into another exnation.
"I don''t think that there is anything else wroth value to be talking about." He replied with a shrug as he turned his gaze to look up at the princess who had a rather impatient expression on her face as she waited to hear what the other had to say.
"Someone mentioned something about arge sum of money and getting it for doing some kind of ''inside job.''. No clue who it was though because when I turned the corner, there was no one there. They had already left and I couldn''t figure out who the voice belonged to since they were talking with whoever else in a hushed voice." He told her, hoping that the information would make her happy so that he could leave there without further incident.
The sooner he could get out of there, the happy he would be even if there was still on other psychopath that he would be having to deal with. At least he got paid enough to be able tolerate continuing to work with the other.
"I think that you''re really better of just waiting to see what Eve uncovers since I didn''t have much sess on my end. I would also rmend increasing security and being more mindful of what your employees are doing each day when theye in and out." Genson suggested. He didn''t wait for the Princess to reply to what he said before he picked up the briefcase, offered a slight bow and left.
Chapter 193 - Unexpected Lunch
Lena red at the door once Genson left. While she was happy over the fact that he had left. She was annoyed that he hadn''t been willing to give her all the information that she was looking. He shouldn''t at least cause her problems since she had given him the money in cash.
This decision was partly for her benefit as well since suchrge transactions were hard to trace if they were taken care of in cash. If anything happened with Genson, it would be harder to trace the money back to her with the channels she used to collect it.
There were now two points though at least that she knew she would need to focus to look into things from. Jovani was partly helping to take care of the one part by looking into what family Ashton belonged to which might help uncover the reason as to why he was on their turf and who killed him.
The second part was tied into figuring out who the person Genson mentioned was. She had gotten the feeling that there was a little bit of information around that that he wasn''t giving her, but there wasn''t much that she could do about that since he left.
"So how best can we look into that?" Samuel asked after a few moments had passed and Lena still seemed rather focused on the fact that Genson had left.. She nced over at him and made a huff sound.
"It won''t beplicated to find out on Eve''s side, she will be able to figure out from whatputer and when the system was essed to set up the program." Lena replied as she picked up the phone. She intended to call Eve right away to get the matter sorted out. She also wanted to make sure if there was a way to trace what Genson was doing following his departure.
"Who did it might be moreplicated especially if the program is set to self-destruct if it is discovered. If that happens, a lot of information would go missing."
"Why don''t you wait for this?" Samuel suggested as he nced over at the door. There was something else that he was expecting to happen at that moment in time and Lena being on the phone might mess it up.
"I understand how important this is, but Eve seems like she is already doing a decent job with working through everything the best way that she can. The engagement ising up soon also." He continued. Trying to think about way to ask her to put off the call without making her think that there was something he was trying to hide from her. He knew that she didn''t enjoy surprises all that much, but he thought that this might be one that she would enjoy.
"So why don''t you just wait. You can send her an email of what you want to get done and deal with it that way? It''ll still get taken care of but we can focus on other matters as well."
Lena understand where her fianc¨¦ wasing from but she didn''t like the idea of not taking care of something right away. More so with everything that had been going on recently.
There was too much that might end up getting put bundled together that she didn''t want to deal withter. It was supposed to be a more calm time with the engagementing. That wasn''t how things were turning out though and she didn''t like it.
Nheless, she put down the phone with a displeased sigh. She would now need to request that someone else bring her coffee since her ''personal assistant'' had been short lived. She figured that was going to happen since he had obviously found someone else who would be willing to fill in the pay cut he would take by not following through with what Lena had asked.
Samuel seemed to be ahead of her because he had somehow got in contact with Clive who almost on cue had unexpectedly invited himself into the office with lunch, coffee and what appeared to be dessert. The princess gave him a suspicious look which he returned with a smile.
"I figured that you wouldn''t want to go out anywhere and eat, but because you seemed stressed I thought it might be nice to have a decent lunch break herepared to the normal ones." Samuel exined as he shifted things around on the table so that there was plenty of space for the food to be put down.
"Clive was even gracious enough to go to Pluckemin Inn to get lunch and dessert." He told her as he motioned for her toe and sit down next to him so that they could eat.
"It was actually all the idea of the young sir''s idea since he noticed how stressed out you have been recently. It took nothing to go and fetch." Clive replied as he put everything out and organized it since he knew where what was located.
"I think that Jovani has been a bad influence on you with all this sneaking around and doing stuff behind my back." It was said as half a joke because she really didn''t know what to do with what he had done for her.
It was a kind thought since they hadn''t been able to go out and eat the way that she had originally nned. Perhaps it would be something that they could figure out once the engagementplete and they got everything into a better order.
"He has only taught me a few things thate into handy in situations like this." Samuel joked back as he set out the silverware. He would have to find a way to thank Cliveter for what he did.
He would''ve asked Clive if he wanted to join them, but there was set up to be a special asion between him and the Princess. He hoped that it would be at least a pleasant break from everything.
He was going to next have to figure out how to convince her to take more time away from work before the engagement since there were still little things that they needed to get in order and he wanted to visit the venue that they would be using.
Maybe after the board meeting he would be able to convince her to take the rest of the week off since the party was going to take ce on that Thursday. It would give them two days to go over everything before the actual party happened.
"I will have to have some word with him when he gets back before the engagement to make he doesn''t keep doing this type of thing in the future." She grumbled slightly even though it was hard to keep a small smile off her face as she looked at the food.
It really was something nice that she again wasn''t used to those outside of her family doing for her. It didn''t detract from what was stressing her out, but it was a nice simple distraction for a short while. Unexpected for him since she had been the one to originally n their first time eating together anywhere. It wasn''t exactly the same but it was close to it as possible with everything that was going.
Plus, there was coffee and dessert. Dessert at lunch helped to make a number of things better in this situation. The caffeine would probably help her to clear her head to think better also. It might''ve perhaps been good to wait and think exactly the order of what things she wanted Eve to take care of anyways.
For Samuel, the board meeting would of course be the bigger deal as it was something that he hadn''t deal with before. For her, it didn''t take much thought to put together what she would need to bring. It was usually the other people who annoyed her.
That was something that she could deal with at ater time though. Right now it was important to focus on the food that was in front of her and enjoying lunch with her soon to be official fianc¨¦. She would need to tell Ryan that he was in charge of setting everything up at the venue. She trusted his taste and all of that wasn''t really her scene in the first ce and Samuel still hadn''t made it known if he had much of a preference for everything beyond the color scheme that the two of them had worked out.
At least with the event getting closer to happening, she wasn''t having one of her typical bad feelings that indicated something might go wrong. She hoped that that was a good sign that despite therge number of people that would be gathered together for the event that nothing would happen to make her worry about it.
She could handle the few hours around so many people if Samuel and her family were around. In the end even if she thought that the whole thing was silly, she knew that it would be worth it.
Chapter 194 - Venue
Samuel didn''t have to worry about how he was going to convince Lena toe with him to the venue for the engagement party by the time that the weekend arrived. Zane took care of it for him. He rmend that they go do it since there was only a few days left.
The princess didn''t object even though there were a number of other things that she needed to do. Her reason was that she wouldn''t reject her father''s suggestion and figured it was something that her fianc¨¦ would want to do anyways. It was a fair exchange for the fact that he had been making sure that they had a special lunch together after the first time he had done. She was kind of curious though why he had asked if they couldter on in the day when she thought that the morning would''ve been the best time to visit.
The day before he had taken it a step further by somehow convincing James to get her to go and take care of something for him while he got things set up for a bit of a different setting. He had gotten Crocus to put in the middle of the table along with heart shaped tes.
Samuel wouldn''t tell her though who gave away the fact that Crocus happened to be one of her favorite flowers. She asked and he simple shrugged his shoulders and told her that they should enjoy the food before it got cold. It wasing to her attention that the other was rather bit more of a romantic that he had given her the impression.. This happened to the exact opposite type of person that she was.
She didn''t have any problems with romantics. It was just something that had never been a part of her life and was really pointless as far as she had been concerned with the type of world that she lived in. She didn''t think that there was anything romantic about being in the mafia.
Samuel somehow though found a way to introduce a touch of romanticism into that side of the world and their rtionship. The princess didn''t have a problem with it, she just wasn''t certain what the appropriate response to such things were.
Was she happy because of what he was doing for her? Absolutely and of course she thanked him for going to the extra trouble, but she felt like that wasn''t quite the way people should behave in those situations?
Of course though, she didn''t really have a reference to go off for those type of things. Her parents she had supposed were romantic in some senses and she saw the way they interacted with each other when she was younger before he mother passed away. She wasn''t like that though. The way her mother openly expressed her emotions and feelings wasn''t something that Lena had been equipped with. In fact, it was the exact opposite.
She didn''t even remember ever having watched or read anything romantic. She was certain that they probably showed some things simr to that in school. More than half the time though that they were going to y movies, she would skip ss in order to do something else.
"Wait, am I expected to decorate this whole ce?" Ryan asked as he turned around after seeing exactly howrge the venue was. It would certainly fit the number of people that they would inviting.
He hade along with them because he was going to be the one ultimately in charge of setting everything up and he would need the extra days to make sure it was all finished. He also wanted to get an idea of the shape to know how best to set everything up.
"I thought that was something for you to decide yourself." The princess replied as she put her hands in her pockets. She had dressed down to a t-shirt and pair of jeans for the asion. She didn''t think there was anything to wear her typical attire since after they were done she assumed that they would be going home.
The venue was two hour drive from the estate. It was certainly a worthwhile ce. Chart house was the one that her father had chosen to go with. He had even gone as far as to book the whole ce so that there wasn''t any risk of anyone else being around when the event took ce. He made sure to pay extra so the owner couldn''tin about losing business even though he was also doing it as a favor to the mafia boss.
Samuel seemed to be enjoying looking around the ce. She had to remind herself that even though he was getting used to being in the family, he wasn''t used to being in such extravagant ces yet. He would soon would be though with everything that he would be taking care on the Vedova Nera side.
He had invited Jovani toe along and see it since he would be helping to provide the security for the event as well, he rejected the offer however as there was still a lot of work that he had to take care of. He did ask for pictures though so he would get a general idea of the ce.
"I can see that there would be a lot of benefits to how things could be set up here." the chef mused as he moved to the center of the room so that he could see it from a different perspective. He was trying to calcte how best he could take of the set up. He would definitely have more than enough space for all the food and d¨¦cor that he was nning on adding to the ce. Emerald and rose gold would look rather well with the ambiance that the lights gave off.
"What do you think about the ce? Lena asked after he had a chance to really look around and get a feel for what it would look like being there.
"I think it will work well, certainly muchrger than I had imagined." He replied with a smallugh. He realized that it was probably silly for him to be in awe of such a ce when the princess was used to all of this.
"Probably because the outside of the building doesn''t quite match the inside of it." She pointed out. Because of the way it was built it could give off the impression that it wasn''t quite asrge inside as it was on the outside.
"Are we going to be inviting enough guests to fill this ce up?" Samuel then asked as he looked at the edge of the room, he couldn''t really think of the number of people who might be able to fit into it because of howrge it was.
"Not quite. We''ll be inviting arge group, but my both my father and I agreed it would be safer not to pack it too full. Too big of a risk of something happened." The princess replied as she watch Ryan who was busy examining all the nooks and crannies of the room, seeming to be talking under his breath as he took everything in. He certainly was taking his job very seriously in being in charge of making sure that the setup was going to be done perfectly.
"Don''t be too surprised by the amount of people that you will have to be around. At the wedding there will probably be two if not three times as many people as we''ll be having here." The princess told him with a sigh. She would have personally preferred to do something more private, but she knew that that wouldn''t be an option.
"Hundreds more people?" He asked rather surprised. Lena nodded her head in response to the question.
"I guess there will be a lot more people for me to meet and get used to I guess." He marked. He wasn''t quite sure how he was going to be able to keep track of the names of so many people.
"Don''t worry about it too much. You only have to act like you remember who they are when you meet them. I don''t think there are many people within the family who remembers everyone the name of everyone they have to meet with." She assured him. Julius was possibly the only who had figured out the way to do that. Even her father didn''t put that much time and trouble into it considering there was always a never ending circle of people he interacted with when he was at his busiest.
"In the long run it''ll probably be better for you since you''re going to be having to get used to everyone you need to know from the Vedova Nera side as well." Samuel knew that she made a good point in saying this. That didn''t mean though that he wouldn''t give it his best effort to try.
Chapter 195 - Proposal
They had only been at the venue for a short while longer before he nced at his watch and noticed what time it was. There was another appointment that they needed to be heading to. One that Lena didn''t yet know about. He responded to the text message that was on his phone before turning his attention to the princess.
"Ryan, are you going to be okay to continue figuring everything out on your own while we leave here?" Samuel asked the chef who waved them off.
"I''ll be fine. I''m sure that Clive will have no probleming back to pick me up when I''m finished. There''s still a lot here that I need to figure out with the size of this ce." Ryan replied, not even ncing over at them.
"Where are we suddenly going now? I thought that you would want to spend some more time looking around?" The princess asked rather confused to why the other was suddenly wanting to leave even though they had only been there for maybe an hour.
"Because we have another engagement that we need to leave for.. Something your father asked about us doing after this." Samuel replied, not offering any other exnation before he motioned with his hand for the Princess toe with him. He thanked Ryan foring with him before he left the venue.
Lena was fixing the back of Samuel''s head with a very suspicious look as to what exactly he was nning, but he chose to ignore it as he opened the car door for her to get inside. Clive had the car already started and was just waiting for them to get inside before he took off.
He didn''t pay Lena much attention as he chose to text on his phone instead. This whole surprise thing was starting to get a little overwhelming for the princess. She wasn''t that big on surprises, but the ones that her fianc¨¦ had been doing had mostly been small scale and harmless. This though, it somehow felt like it was going to be something muchrger than it had been before.
She was also suspicious as to why he would invoke her father''s name. She knew that if there was something that Zane wanted from her, he would''ve contacted her himself. Did that mean he was in on it?
She nced at Samuel only to see the small smile that on his face as he looked at his phone. He seemed pleased with whatever was going on.
"Are you going to give me any indication as to what I should expect?" The princess asked after he looked up from his phone to see where they were at.
"Nope. You''ll only have to wait a few minutes anyways to see where exactly we are going anyways." She huffed in response to this but didn''t say anything else to him as he gave her one of his knowing smiles.
"Just as long as it isn''t anything too big." She told him as she nced out the window. This was a less familiar area of Jersey for so she wasn''t quite sure where exactly they were heading.
The drivested about forty-five minutes before they stopped in front of a rather fancy looking restaurant. Lena immediately didn''t like the idea of whatever Samuel was nning. With everything that had been going on, she hadn''t been thrilled at all over the idea of being in such crowded ces.
"Don''t be so tense about it, your father is already waiting inside for us." Samuel told her as they stepped out of the car, he came around to the other side so that he could take her hand.
"You can trust me to not do something too crazy." He told her as he offered her a reassuring smile. It did little to take the suspicious look that was on her face off.
"I trust you to not to do certain things, but what you consider to be crazy and what I consider to be crazy are two different things." She replied. She followed inside nheless. She didn''t think that he was lying about the fact that her father was waiting for them inside and wanted to at least know what he wanted to call them out to such a high-end restaurant for.
When she did step inside however, what she saw wasn''t what she was expecting, nor was it what Samuel had said. Though, he it was actually part of what he had been holding back from telling her.
It wasn''t just her father who was waiting for them inside. Leo was there as well as Julian and his two daughters and wife, even Jovani was there. Why, she wasn''t quite certain but that was probably the only face she wasn''t thrilled to see there. There were a few other family members as well that weren''t normally at the estate.
Samuel didn''t even have to give a name for the waiter toe over and lead them over to the table where the rest of the family was.
"What exactly is this about?" The princess asked as she took a seat in the chair that Samuel had pulled out for her.
"Well it''s your whole family as you can see and and we''re obviously getting ready to have dinner." Samuel replied as he took a seat in the chair that was to her right. The waiters had taken the trouble to put a few of the tables together for the asions considering the number of people from the family who hade together.
Lena also took notice almost immediately that everything was rather quiet inside and that it was actually only her family who was inside. Did they shut the whole thing down so that they could enjoy dinner without worrying about anyone else invading their space? What exactly was all this about?
"I thought for certain that you would be happy to see us. You know I only have a few days left before I will be having to leave again." Leo told her in a mock offended tone of voice. Lena was too confused however with everything that was going on to give him her typical re that she would fix him with when he was being overly dramatic.
"I can see that everyone is here, but what exactly is going on?" She asked she looked over at everyone to see some kind of indication of what exactly was going.
"It''s like Samuel said, we came here to eat dinner. Nothing else." her father replied as he motioned for the waiter toe over so that they could get their order taken.
"There''s only a few days left before the engagement takes ce and we haven''t taken time to have dinner like this." He continued before turning his attention to the waiter to give him everyone''s order.
It was a ratherrge one so everyone already knew to expect that there would be some dys before the food woulde out.
She got the feeling though that there was something more than just theming together to eat dinner. Even though no one was giving an indication of what exactly it was, she could feel that the energy in the room was different from when her family had gathered together in the past. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Jovani was there as well. He did have quite arge smirk on his face as well while he talked with this cousin. Samuel still was holding her hand and that made her feel oddly calmer but she wasn''t sure why.
When it was taking longer than she had expected for the food toe out, she excused herself from the table in order to go to the restroom and get some fresh air. The odd tension around the table was making her feel stuff and ufortable even though there didn''t seem to be anything serious going on.
When she came back out though, she didn''t feel any better, everyone was looking at her oddly. It wasn''t until she came back to the table and had taken her seat that she realized Samuel was now missing. Where had he gone to now. She had a moment of slight panic when the lights in the restaurant suddenly dimmed unexpectedly.
When they came back up Samuel was kneeling in front of her with a bouquet of Crocus in his hand. He had even changed his outfit? What exactly was this about.
"Dear princess, I know that we have only known each other for a short time and things have been rather like a roller coaster for us. Throughout all of this however, there have been some rather interesting and positive moments with you." Lena felt rather stiff as Samuel continued, taking her left hand in his own as he moved the bouquet to see the small ring that was ced in the middle of that.
"Even though our official engagement is a few days away, would you give me the honor ahead of that date of saying yes to marrying me in the future?"
Chapter 196 - Yes, I Think?
A/N: Please don''t forget if you haven''t already to rmend by book for the event going in Webnovel if you''re enjoying, would appreciate the support and exposure.
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Lena didn''t really know how to respond to what was happening. Her mind was still more on the flight-or-fight effect that had taken over when the lights suddenly went off. Her damn overreacting sense were so troublesome in circumstances like this.
The pressure that so many people were watching what as going on even if they were her family wasn''t helping her any at all. She knew what to say, or rather what she wanted to say. Instead though, when opened her mouth the first time as she looked at Samuel''s expectant face, nothing came out right away.
"Of course this would happen to me." She sighed under her breath as she closed her eyes for a second so that she could collect herself. She was certain that if it was anyone else proposing to her that they would assume she was going to reject them because of the dy in her response.
Samuel though, knowing how the Princess was had an idea of what was going on and didn''t say anything as he waited for the other to sort herself. This for one actually hadn''t been his idea to propose in such a way to her. He had just been nning on giving her the ring as part of the engagement party, but Leo was the one who had suggested doing something different.
The restaurant was Zane''s suggestion because of how close it was to the venue that they would be visiting. It meant that hey could spend enough time getting familiar with the venue but not worry about beingte for the dinner engagement. The head of the Red Scorpions was also the one who was responsible for clearing the restaurant for the even in advance, he knew that his daughter would do better if there were no other people around.
Even though it only took Lena a moment to gather herself to reply, it somehow felt like an eternity at the same time before she was ready to give the other her response.
"Yes?" She wanted it to sound more confident than the way it hade out, but in her own mind it sounded partly like a question rather than the solid response she wanted it to be. Her fianc¨¦ didn''t seem to take much notice of it however by therge grin that was on his face.
He didn''t let her take the box from the bouquet, but move it so that he could take the box out himself and open it up so that she could see the ring before he moved to put it on her finger.
"I think now would be the right time to congratte the couple." Jovani was the one who said this. Lena didn''t pay much attention to what he was saying however as she waited for Samuel to put the ring on her finger, she didn''t miss the inscription that had been written on it and it caused a tiny smirk to appear on her face.
This was short lived however when a sudden pop sound that came from behind them attracted both of their attention followed by a muted sound by someone that might have been a ''no''.
It was toote however as the pop sound that echoed was Jovani opening a bottle of champagne. He didn''t just open it however, he gave it a few good shakes before he opened the bottle up. Perhaps, the only one who was amused by the situation aside from himself had been Leo.
The cold liquid was not something that the princess had been expecting and because of that, she couldn''t hold back the small gasp that had escaped her mouth when she felt it ssh against her hair and the back of her shirt. Samuel was slightly less affected it by due to the fact that he was kneeling in front of the other, but it still managed to get partly on his face and hair as well.
Lena wasn''t quite sure how to react to what had happened. She wasn''t fond of having her clothes wet, much less when it was unexpected like it had been in the current situation. The only thing that had really stopped her from turning around and giving the other the worst re that she perhaps had ever fixed anyone with was the fact that Samuel hadn''t finished putting the ring on her finger and there were other people around aside from her family.
"Could be worse?" Samuel halfmented, half-asked as he put the ring on her finger. He took a moment to kiss the top of her left hand before he put it down again. He hoped that this small action would help to decrease the other''s ring temper. She pursed her lips in response to what the other said. She couldn''t share his sentiments in thinking that the situation could be worse. This was pretty bad in her opinion.
Even if it was meant as a celebratory thing, champagne was better to drink than it was to waste in this kind of way. At least the second bottle that they had gotten hadn''t been touched.
Or at least she had thought that would''ve been the case. Leo seemed to however think that Jovani hadn''t done it well enough. He was wiser than the other had been and aimed less for the princess and more for the suitor who hadn''t been as affected.
Zane didn''t really say anything, but look on his face said there was a certain amount of amusement in regards to the situation even though he knew that it was going to cost him extra to make sure that everything was cleaned up properly before they left. Perhaps it would even have to happen before they would be able to eat since the food would probably be ready toe out soon.
While the couple hadn''t spared, at least most of the mess had missed the table and either ended up on the attending party members or the floor. It was perhaps a childish thing to do, but it certainly add something a little extra to the event.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 197 - Trouble
The staff was rather kind about taking care of the floor before the food coulde out. There wasn''t much to do about the wet clothes and hair except wait until after the meal was over. They waiters had offered some damp clothes in order to help get rid of the champagne that hadnded on skin and was starting to get sticky as it dried.
Even though the princess didn''t say anything to Jovani, she did fix him with a rather harsh re that he returned with a small smug smile. He was obviously pleased over what he had done. Perhaps more so because no one had really tried all of that hard to stop him. Of course since he had been in control of the bottle, he hadn''tpletely spared from the spray of the bottle.
Samuel was better natured about it than his fianc¨¦ had been. Since there wasn''t all that much that he could do about it, he justughed it off and did his best to try and get Leo back for what he had done. Leo didn''t do much to resist on this point, being a mildly childish person, he didn''t mind the fact that the other had managed to get him back for what he had done.
He already knew that his suit was going to have to be dry cleaned, the only thing that he had been thankful about was the fact that he hadn''t chosen to test out his suit for the actual engagement event. He wasn''t sure that with the mess that had been made that it would''ve been dry cleaned in time for the actual engagement..
"Let''s try to avoid doing such a thing at the official event." Zane remarked, once everything had been cleaned up and the food had arrived. He didn''t look at anyone in particr when he made thisment, but the remark was directed more at Jovani than his own son. He knew that Leo knew better than to do such a thing in a more official event such as the engagement where so many other people would be attending.
He wasn''t quite sure about Jovani though since he didn''t know how things worked within the Vedova Nera family. There were groups that took such events as a more light-hearted matteredpared to how the Red Scorpions handled things. The only reason for this however came down to the difference in reputation and the image that they had to keep up with.
"You don''t have to worry about anything from me if that might be a concern. I save such thing as this for close family events only." Jovani replied as he took a sip from the ss of champagne in front of him. There had still been enough left in the bottles that everyone was able to get a half-ss. No sense in letting good alcohol go to waste.
"How about not all next time?" Lena remarked, not bothering to nce over at the other as she continued eating.
"It makes things more interesting though. I can''t deny that your reaction was priceless. Never thought that the princess would''ve really been that much of a cat." The older cousin replied.
Personality-wise, a cat was what he thought best fit Lena''s attitude and personality. The touch-me-not personality that only seemed to change when she was the one initiating the contact and affection paired with how much she seemed to dislike like almost everyone and preferred to be alone reminded him quite a bit of cat that he used to have growing up which had a very simr attitude towards her.
The only person that the princess at this point didn''t seem to mind being in her personal space aside from family was Samuel. From what Jovani had been able together, this seemed to be more due to the other inviting himself into rather than the princess epting it.
"Anyone would react that way if they had been unexpected sprayed with something cold from behind." She retorted, defending her response. She knew that she had flinched in response to feeling the cool liquid make contact in response to her clothes and skin. She hadn''t though that it would''ve been that noticeable.
"Jovani, try not to antagonize people while we''re trying to have a friendly dinner." Samuel reprimanded lightly. He couldn''t deny though that he had also found the princess''s reaction amusing however.
He knew that she had mentioned something about not liking water when they had been previously gone to the water park. He didn''t realize though how much she really seemed to hate getting wet. If it wasn''t for the fact that it was a family event urring and she had just been proposed to, Lena would''ve left the restaurant as soon as she had gotten wet.
The only thing was keeping her there was the fact she was trying to be good natured about everything since it hadn''t been done with malicious intent. It was a celebratory action even if she wasn''t that thrilled about it. She could suck it up for one night and enjoy the rest of the meal with her family. The ring on her finger kind of helped as a pleasant reminder as to why she was doing this.
"Dear cousin, I was only trying to add a little bit of entertainment to the event. Nothing harmful." Jovani told the other. He of course knew that there was little reason to take Samuel''s reprimand seriously, he had only said what he did for Lena''s sake rather than really being bothered by what had taken ce.
"A little bit of entertainment ended up turning into trouble. It seems that is something that your personality is good at attracting." Lenamented ncing over at the other. She would get back at himter for this when the time was right. It would just be when he least expected it, or else it wouldn''t be worth it for her. She just didn''t know when that would happen to be, yet.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 198 - Night Club Idea
Aside from getting soaked with champagne and a few antagonizingments and bickering, the night overall wasn''t one that Lena would say was bad. Unexpected absolutely but not bad.
Samuel seemed to be of the same opinion. He was somewhat smug over his recent sessful streak in doing things that his fiance appreciated but didn''t have any idea about.
Even though it was ratherte by the time they finished all the food and were, it had be ratherte.
Samuel had offered that Jovani could stay at the estate for the night if he wanted to since it was technically closer. He waved the offer off however..
"Tempting offer as it is, I really do need to be heading back tonight. Besides, I wouldn''t want to invade the space of the more official engaged couple." He joked helping to clean up the table. Everyone was already starting to stand up in order to be ready to leave once the tables had been cleaned up as much as possible.
It was a Julius thing more than anything else that had them making sure everything had been made tidy and organized before they could leave. Jovani even helped out with this part.
Lena had wanted to do the same, but the hand that was holding her own didn''t seem interested in letting her go anywhere.
"It would be impolite not to help." Lena hissed at the other, hoping it would be enough to get him to let go of her hand.
He however, didn''t do that and instead shook his head in response to herment.
"Considering this is your engagement party, I don''t think it is all that rude not to help out. You should just be enjoying it instead of always worrying about work stuff." The other replied making it evident that he wasn''t going allow her to assist when that was what she normally did.
The princess didn''t have a problem with the fact that it took them a while to get everything cleaned, she just hated not being able to do things.
Once everything had been cleaned up, it was time for everyone to their separate ways.
Jovani was the first to leave as he did have a lot that he needed to get taken care of and Alonso would likely throw a fit if he was unexpectedly noting back for the night.
Thus, he needed to go back even if he didn''t want to so that he could be free on the actual engagement.
His right-hand man eventually ended up working him too hard on everything that he needed asions like the current moment in time to even it out.
At least he would have Samuel soon to help him take over some of that so it wasn''t so much to handle all the time.
Julius was the one to leave next after Jovani as there were other engagements that he needed to attend which meant that he wouldn''t being home that night.
The only other people at the table who wouldn''t be going back with them was the cousins who didn''t live at the estate with everyone else.
Clive as always had been very patient waiting for everyone to be done for the night. He was aware that such a space wasn''t for him to invade unless he reason behind it had to do with an emergency.
Otherwise, he often slept in the car while waiting as he hated beingte more than he hated missing sleep.
"So what then should we do for the rest of the evening?" Leo asked once everyone was inside the car.
"The only n this evening is to do nothing else except for heading home and getting cleaned up after what had happened." The princess replied. She wasn''t as annoyed at her brother as much as Jovani as his target had been Samuel and not her.
"Shouldn''t there be a chance for more celebration after this? It''s one step closure to bing official and I know a really good night club that we could visit." He tried to reason his sister to sigh.
"How about after the actual engagement party and before you leave for Ennd again." Samuel was going to say something but Zane was the one who suggested it.
"It would work better anyways since we need to make sure these two get home safe tonight." He was indicating to Lisa and Zeo when he said this. Both had been disappointed at the time that they weren''t part of what happened with the champagne. Now though they just looked tired and like they were ready for the day to be over.
It was a reasonable enough of apromise that Leo conceded to doing that even though his mood was set to not head home yet. He would just have to use it to finish up some of the work he had hanging over him.
Lena was thankful for the suggestion as she didn''t have the energy to argue with the other about nothing more being done.
Unlike her younger brother, she didn''t have the energy to be around other people who weren''t family and deal with an unfamiliar setting with deafening music that would cause all other sounds to be muted.
If she was one of the fiances, would she be able to do a rain check and opt out of doing that? Probably not if her father was nning on going as well.
Plus, others might be inclined toe as well. There were night clubs in the area that catered to the Mafia and wouldn''t make a big deal if they showed up.
Perhaps they might though if some odd hundred came to along to celebrate. Not all of them were the best behaved when alcohol was involved.
"What are you thinking about?" Samuel asked, curious what thoughts were upying Lena''s mind and distracting her from the other conversation.
"I''m wonder what night club wouldn''t freak out if a hundred members of the Mafia showed up unannounced." She replied honestly.
Aside from her father, there were a good two dozen other people who would be attending her official engagement that didn''t have the best reputation and might cause some anxiety if the club staff weren''t aware ahead of time. owners wouldn''t care because money was money.
"Would we even be allowed to drink if we went with?" He then asked. A mix between a scoff and chuckle was the response he got as a small amused smirk crept into the princess''s face.
"Sammy, we''re mafia. There''s no one there at such ces would tell us we can or can''t." She replied.
At moments such as these, it was easy to tell that he didn''t yet understand the level of power and control he had within the position he held.
If people valued their life, they wouldn''t say a word even if they knew some of those attending weren''t quite 21.
"And if you''re worried about the legality of the issue, it''s not that big of a deal because we''re not hurting anyone." Leo added on. It wasn''t the first time being only 16 that he''d been allowed to drink in ces due to his position.
"Besides, if you were in Ennd you''d be of legal drinking age at 18."
Those were the small things that Samuel still had to get used to. The idea of skirting between the legal and illegal world.
"You could also juste along, not drink, and instead appreciate everyone else acting like fools." The princess remarked, offering perhaps a more favorable solution to her fiance.
"Are you nning on drinking?" He then asked causing her to shift her focus from out the window to the other.
"Of course I am. It''ll make things far more bearable and amusing if I drink if we actually decide to go."
An opportunity to see the princess in some inebriated state due to alcohol? That might be worth attending for if nothing else.
Could present as another chance to get a look at a different side of the princess that wasn''t protected by her almost constant guard that she had up.
"Just don''t think about anyone taking pictures of videos of anything that might go on there. There are various reasons for that." Thement that Lena made was mostly directed at her brother since he was big on catching photos of his older sister in interesting situations. Partly though, she didn''t trust her fianc¨¦ fully not to do anything of the sort either.
There were also those who were attending that wouldn''t appreciate having their faces posted ces that they didn''t know about. Reputations were only a good thing if you had the power behind it to protect ones self from legal or other retaliation for certain actions.
"I can''t make any promises, but I won''t bring it out unless there is something that would truly be worth getting on camera." Leo replied with a small smile. What he considered worth capturing and what the princess would agree on were two different things.
Chapter 199 - Board Meeting
When Monday came, Samuel was more nervous than Lena was about the board meeting. He knew who most of the people there were, it didn''t help him to know what exactly to expect however.
"You really don''t need to stress yourself about it so much." Lena told him when she noticed that he was going over the notes from thest meeting and reviewing who be attending this one again.
"They might have a hard time their thoughts and opinions to themselves, but they''re fairly harmless beyond that. Most of it is just review projects that are ongoing, deciding on future projects, and making sure everything is moving along at the right pace."
She knew that there were going to be some people at the board meeting who would wonder why Samuel was being involved since he wasn''t part of thepany. Plus, they''d likely hold his age against him and the fact that he didn''t have any kind of formal education that would benefit them in running the business.
The princess had her own reasons for doing it however and wouldn''t really care what the other board members thought about it or didn''t approve. She knew that there would benefits in having him as part of the business.
Before the board meeting, she had Samuel take off his cuff links and put them in the case in her desk draw that she could lock.
"Though some of these people in the meeting know who my father is, I don''t trust all of the and would prefer to keep your identity within the mafia hidden for the time being." She exined, grabbing a few folders off her desk. Even if she didn''t them, she had to give the airs of being a professional by taking them with her.
"Are any of them part of the mafia?" Samuel, he hadn''t read anything about that, but he knew that looks could be deceiving. The princess scoffed as they left the office, she looked the door behind herself after handing the folders off to James who had been standing outside waiting for them.
"No, but some of them are aware of who my father is and think that he''s worth investing in because of how good he is with business." She exined as they headed over to the elevator.
At least the meeting would perhaps not be so unbearable with Samuel there, it might help her refrain from visibly rolling her eyes when the meeting got stuck on an insignificant topic.
Samuel became more quiet once they were on the elevator. Her office was on one of the middle floors while the board meeting room was located on the top floor. They only used the room on the top floor because it was the only big enough in the building to hold everyone that attended the meeting. Otherwise, they would have just had it in one of the meeting rooms on the floor where the princess''s office was located.
Last time that was tried however, it was a disaster as it felt like everyone was sardines trying to fit into a can that was one size too small for them. Eventually, things would be remodeled so that the meeting room would be located on one of the lower floors.
"Don''t worry about being too tense either. Technically with me being the CEO, you have a higher position in rtion to me than most of the people who will be in the room." Lena told Samuel under her breath before she opened the meeting room door. She already knew to expect that there would be a number of people waiting inside.
Even though Samuel knew to expect a lot of people to be in the room, actually seeing them in person somehow made him feel more daunted than he had expected.
It looked much more like the board meetings that were depicted in a number of movies that he had watched growing up. Even the way the table was set up and the grump looking men who were around the table with only a few women scatter amongst them looked simr.
There were still a few seats open at the table, but Lena motioned for him to follow her to the other end of the table where her seat at the head of the table was located.
She motioned for Samuel to take the seat she usually did and she took the new chair that had been brought in. The one she used to use had been originally her father''s which meant that it was a touch toorge for her even if it wasfortable.
When she noticed that her fianc¨¦ was still being rather stiff as he sat there next to her ncing at the other people in the room who were staring at him either covertly and indiscriminately. She patted his leg gently or at least she thought it was in an attempt to reassure him though she wasn''t fully certain that it helped.
He nced over at her, but by the look in his eyes it still seemed to her that he was rather nervous with all the unfamiliar faces. Sometimes, her fianc¨¦ really made no sense to her.
He managed to go to an unfamiliar estate with a cousin he hardly knew where a bunch of other people he didn''t know would be upying and hardly had a problem with it. Yet, now that he was in front of board meeting where most of members where spineless and toothless despite how they looked, he was nervous.
Maybe once the meeting was over and he saw how everyone was, he would be less nervous about the matter. If not, she could talk with him about it after the fact. Right now she just wanted it to be over already even though it hadn''t even started.
It took an additional ten minutes before everyone else had made it for the meeting. Some had been runningte due to traffic and the rainy weather was taking ce outside. If it wasn''t for the fact that they had important things to bring up at the meeting, Lena would''ve started without them.
"I think now that we are all here, there is one thing that we are curious about." One of the older men started. Based upon the expression on his face and the way he looked at the Princess, Samuel surmised that he must''ve been the head of the board. He seemed like the one who was least intimidated by Lena.
"He''s here because I want him to be there. If you have a problem with it, we can talk about it after the meeting." The little queen told the other, holding his displeased stare. When the staring contest continued after a moment of silence, she raised her eyebrow at him as though daring him to challenge what she said. Instead, he just huffed, organized the notes in front of him and turned to the man who was supposed to start the board meeting with their update.
Lena figured that Samuel would be interested in this update as it was rted the the partnership that had taken ce with this uncle John and his business. Of course, the princess didn''t need an update to know that she had made the right choice in investing in him. She had a good eye for business even if she was far younger than her father was.
In fact, growth was going better than expected and it was determined that by thest quarter of the year there might be a chance to expand the business and hire more people to help out.
The next topic that followed on the heels of this was the one that the princess wanted to get over with quickly. They needed to do a vote on whether they would go through with the partnership with Marcus or not.
This was an issue that the board was split on. Half thought that it would be worth-while investment based upon his background and what he had done in the past. The other half thought that the proposal that he had brought to them was a little to vague to give the greenlight to.
"Why don''t we just do a hands vote first and if it is a tie, we can debate it after?" The princess suggested with a sigh when the bickering over what to dosted for a good five minutes.
"If you''re in favor of it, raise your hand for aye." She said, she didn''t n to raise her own hand until she saw which way the majority was leaning. Perhaps she could push it off on the board if they majority didn''t want to go ahead. Could buy some time.
"If you''re against it, raise your hand for Nay." She mentally counted the number of people and when she saw how things turned out a small smile flittered across her face. They technically didn''t even need her vote for this decision, but she did it out of custom.
Chapter 200 - Not My Decision
Once this ratherrge decision had been made. Lena felt rather happy. The one thing that she had been dreading to deal with had been taken care of and the final decision hadn''t fallen on to her to make.
Now, she could have the board write up the report, critiques and send out the request for more information to Marcus and then she wouldn''t have to defend her decision. One of the times that the board came in handy.
The rest of the meeting went by smoothly. Most of the updates were from the rest of the board and all the princess had to do was approve, disapprove, or quest further inquiry about something. There were a few things she even put off until the next board meeting because of how long the current one had already been running.
Samuel remained quiet the whole meeting, but the princess could see that he was paying close attention to everything that was being said and was even taking notes on his phone in order to make sure that he kept track of things he thought was important.
Once everything was finished with, there were a few people who stayed behind once Lena had ended the meeting and made sure that the general shell of the agenda for the next meeting. She already knew what they wanted to talk about and decided to humor them even though she really wasn''t that interested in whateverints that they had for..
"Can I help you with anything?" She asked when she saw that they seemed hesitant to approach her. She made sure that Samuel stayed sitting next to her as she was certain that was what they wanted to talk about.
"We noticed that you brought your fianc¨¦ with you. Which is fine since your the CEO." One of the men started carefully, looking rather nervous over what he was trying to say.
"We just didn''t know if he was going to be included on the board, and if so, whether anyone would be retired because of this?" Was this really what they had been worried about? That she would get rid of someone in favor of her fianc¨¦.
Rather an answering right after finding out what their issue was, she couldn''t stop the extended pause that she allowed to follow. A heavy silence that one could hear a pin dropping in the other room as the other''s held their breath wanting for the answer.
"There''s only one person that I would consider retiring for such a thing, but they''re not here. Sadly, they''re also too good at their job for me to retire them for so such a reason." She finally replied, a small smirk on her face when she saw that the other''s visible rxed after hearing this.
"Sam will be attending meetings with me because there will be a few shifts taking ce in the future, but that won''t affect anyone as much as it will affect the structure moving forward." She exined as she stood up from the chair.
"That will be something to worry about at ater point in time however, for now just focus on the current tasks that you need toplete and I will send out a memo in the future exining the changes." She exined as she waived them off to leave ahead of her. She wanted them to leave first so that she didn''t have to take the elevator with anyone aside from James and Samuel.
"I told you that there really wasn''t that much to be worried about. Most of them are harmless even if they seem critical." The princess told Samuel once they were the only ones left in the room.
"Are meetings always this packed with arguments and things that need to be discussed?" He asked, pocketing his phone so that he could stand up.
"Every meeting is like that. I think that they just enjoying have a time carved out where they can argue and debate just for the hell of it." The princess replied in a sour tone of voice.
She had been doing these meetings for months and the one thing that she had learned was that she just had to let the arguments y out and wait for everyone to be appeased that their points had been heard or made before moving on.
"You''ll get used to tuning the most of it out and only paying attention to the things that are important. It just takes a while to learn that skill. Having a secretary helps also." She exined as they left the room. Most everyone had left the floor beyond a few members who had other meetings on the floor to attend to.
"It might not seem like the best course of action, but if you want to save your brain cells for other things, it is an imperative skill to learn." She continued as they got on the elevator. Now that that was finished with, there were other things that she could focus on.
She only had the next day and a half to be in the office before she had been ''bullied'' so to speak in taking time off to be ready for the engagement.
She didn''t think that it was something that she needed, but everyone else aside from her agreed that that the time off wouldn''t hurt to take just to make sure the rest of the small matters had been resolved.
"I''m not sure that that is something that I will easily be able to do. Some of the arguments are interesting to listen to, especially when they no real justification for their objection and simply repeat their same point over again." The princess gave him a look like he was perhaps a bit crazy but shrugged her shoulders.
"Do what you enjoy then, don''t me if you end up getting a head from it after the first few meetings." She warned as they stepped off the elevator.
"I don''t think that is something that I will need to worry about, I have you with me after all. That will help remind me to not get too invested when I see the look on your face." Samuel teased once they were back in the office.
"My face probably won''t tell you enough in those meetings because I always have the same expression on my face regardless of what is being discussed." The princess replied as she got ready to go back to her desk.
James hade in with them because he had to drop off the folders. He nced over at Samuel after thement the other had made. He still wasn''t quite sure what to make of the rtionship between him and the princess as he only got to see small snippets of it.
"The princess tends in such meetings not to let others know what she''s thinking regardless of anything as it keeps the board speaking more freely if she doesn''t interject or give too much away." James exined to the other. It took him a while to understand how Lena worked as she was very different from her father who took a more authoritative role in his position within the business.
The princess knew though that wouldn''t work with this board as most of them didn''t believe she deserved the position and thought that she was too young to know anything. They wouldn''t openly admit that they thought it was the only bad decision Zane had made in all the years he had been working in the cooperate world, but it was how a majority felt.
"So they can be as harsh as theye across to deal with." Samuel surmised.
"No, they''re still cowards who don''t let to argue or go against the tide. They''re just the type of cowards who woulde together to do things behind the scenes if I tried too hard to control things." The princess replied. She was already working up typing a quick email to Marcus to let the other know that a response would being soon, but that whatever the decision was it had been made by the board and not work with them and not her moving forward.
"Instead, I have to drop small hints or vague ideas that they then mull over ande back with the right result based upon what I was looking for, or they have to try again." She replied.
"The only reason why the deal with your uncle went so well was because the data that I brought forward as the reason behind why I wanted to make the deal proved that it would be stupid to not invest, thus there was no way they could argue with what I wanted to do even if they don''t think I have the experience to lead." There was one person in particr who regardless of anything, she knew would be obstinately against anything she did simply because she was younger and they thought that if the business was going to be handed off to anyone, it should''ve been them and not a younger, less experienced family member. No one would argue with Zane however.
"Now though, with their decision at the board meeting, I no longer have to deal with whatever the oue with Marcus, they can deal with him since the decision was theirs and not mine." The princess remarked as she prepared to send the email. That was at least one less thing that she had to worry about.
By the time the engagement came, she might actually have everything in the order that she wanted it to be with just a few loose ends she would have to deal with after the fact.
Chapter 201 - Fit
Genson sighed, of course Marcus was going to be throwing a fit, nothing was going the way that he expected it to, but he wasn''t willing to admit to his cousin that he lost fair and square and would be willing to cede to the other.
That had never been the other''s n in the first ce as he had been certain that he wouldn''t lose. He thought that he had everything figured out and in the right ce before he contacted Jovani. His calction had been wrong somehow and now, he found himself with everything falling apart in a way that he hadn''t expected it to.
Genson of course had to deal with some of the bacsh of that since he opted out of finishing through with the job. He didn''t think that it was worth going through with though. He had gotten the most information that he could out of that ce and really, beyond what happened with the finances, there weren''t many other weak points to exploit in the business.
Plus, he didn''t like the idea of spending the next six months as the princess''s and her little pet''s personal servant because they thought they could get away with it. He couldn''t really think of Samuel as anything except for some kind of pet due to his docile nature and how quickly he fell in line with Lena despite her poor attitude.
Even if he was part of the Vedova Nera family, the con artist couldn''t see how he would be any type of asset to them. He didn''t even grow up in this world and as far as the other could tell, he had no secret talents that he could offer that would make him a hidden gem.
"Do you really want me to keep working with you or not. Because of things keep going this way, I am going to have to find someone else who doesn''t attempt to make me deaf each time I answer the phone." Genson mused with a sigh as he held the phone away from his ear until he was certain that Marcus was done screaming at him. Why did he have such a bad habit of attracting psychopaths?
Oh right, because their insanity made them pay well for what they wanted to get done at any cost. Marcus had certainly proven that to be true thus far.
"I''m doing what you asked me to do. It''s not my fault that the princess got things sorted faster than I thought and determined that she didn''t need me to move ahead. I don''t even really know who that Eve is." Genson answered with a frown.
"She''s really good at what she does, but I don''t ever remember crossing paths with her before now." His frown deepened as he listened to what Marcus had to say on the other end of the phone. He was speaking in a more reasonable tone of voice so Genson''s ears were no longer ringing as he kept the phone next to his ear.
An amused smile spread across his face as he held his phone between his shoulder and head so he could free his hands to pull a cigarette out and light it. At least he could go back to smoking wherever he wanted without getting yelled in that boring office.
"Is that so? Well now that makes sense why she would''ve applied for the job ande out of nowhere." He remarked, amused by what the other man had told him.
"And how did you happen to find out about that piece of information? Even I couldn''t find out anything about her and I did a lot of digging." His browses creased in mixture of interest and concern over what Marcus said in response to this.
"That one is personally not my cup of tea to work with, but if you know how to do it, by all means use whoever you like. Just don''t expect me to be willing to do anything with him." After he said this, he had to move the phone away from his ear again as the other had started shouting about how if he had done the job he had been asked he wouldn''t have to reach out to such unsavory people in the first ce.
"I feel touched to hear that. At least I know you don''t think I''m as unsavory as some of the others. Might I even detect a touch of fondness for me from that?" He teased even though he was fairly certain that the answer to this question would''ve been a hard no. He couldn''t resist riling the other up when it was over harmless matters.
"Don''t start with the threats again now. You know for a fact that you love and you''d be lost if I hadn''t given you all the information that I already had avable." Genson spoke a low soothing tone of voice.
"Besides, it''s not like this is the only way that I can get the information that you''re looking for. There are a number of other people I know who I can reach out to and get to do some footwork." He assured the other as he looked up at the sky. He was already starting to get dark outside and he knew that he would have to be heading back soon.
"As long as you''re willing to keep the money flowing and can assure me that I won''t lose my life the way some other people have been recently, I''ll happily keep working to get you whatever it is that you''re looking for. It''s just you know that I value my life and money most all in this world." He told the other as he took another deep puff from the cigarette before dropping it so that he could crush it out under his boot d foot.
"I need be able to live long enough in order to be able to spend everything that I collected. So maybe you can help keep me around of the next ten years until I''m ready to retire."
He had more than enough money to retire at the current moment if he wanted to. However, he wanted to gain more while he knew that he still had enough years left in his body to keep working. There was no point in retiring early and losing out on extra capital that would allow him to spend even more once he was retired than he already could.
Pus, the more he collected, the bigger chance he had at being able to have enough to consider investing in stocks and other things that would allow him to get an even bigger return than the amount that he put in. He could dream big even if he knew there was a high chance that he wouldn''t make far enough in life to actual retire.
"As long as you don''t throw another fit and try to think about killing mest time. Especially not when I''m doing my best to do everything that you ask of me." He told the other knowing that the call was getting ready toe to an end. It was a good thing anyways because he had another client that he needed to work on setting a meeting up with. He had some information that he thought they would find interesting. Could never hurt to make some extra money on the side here and there as long as the bigger fish never found he was feeding the smaller ones at the same time.
"Right, right, right." He replied, rolling his eyes knowing that the other wouldn''t be able to see it.
"I''ll call you if I find out anything else interesting, but try not to call me right now unless you absolutely need something from me. I won''t forget to update you about what you want to know. Now I need to leave to attend to something else."
Rather than ending the phone call on the polite note, Genson was met with the dial tone that indicated that Marcus had hung up on him. He was pretty sure that each time he had a call with the other that it shaved off a few months of his life. If he ended up dying an early life, it was certainly going to be because of that crazy person.
"Sorry about that wait. I had to deal with someone else." He apologized, lighting another cigarette after dialing another contact in his phone. This would probably amount to nothing more than pocket change, but he might be able to get some interesting information out of it at the same time.
"My schedule is pretty clearing up, so what days would work for you? I already have the information and don''t think that it would be too hard to work in a far offer for it depending on what you think." Genson continued as he moved to head back inside the hotel.. He only moved outside to the back of the hotel because he knew that Marcus''s screaming would bother others who were staying at the hotel and he didn''t want to get in trouble over that.
Chapter 202 - Photos
When the next day rolled around after the more positive day at work had taken ce, She mildly regretted her decision to agree to take more time off than she had thought was necessary for the engagement event when photos were brought up by rice.
Marcus hadn''t even written back after the email Lena sent which she felt might''ve been a good sign that she wouldn''t have to worry about dealing with him before the engagement party. If anything dide up though, it would be up to the board to smooth anything out until she got back.
The princess had never been a big fan of pictures, but rice insisted that it was necessary as there wouldn''t be much time to get photos of the whole family together during the actual event with so many people there. She just knew that someone or other would end up photo bombing them whether it was on ident or purposely and that would never do.
She didn''t understand why this would''ve been that big of a deal since many members within the mafia had had to deal with that kind of thing in the past. Most of them just ended up taking photos after the event or during other moments in time if they wanted to have family photos.
rice however insisted as she had the feeling that it would be the only chance to get Lena to be willing to take photos in something different from the casual or strictly stuffy business clothes that she usually wore.
Plus, she was really the only one who had a problem with getting the photos taken. Since the majority of the family had already taken off time in preparation for the event, there was nothing keeping them from doing such a thing prior to the event taking ce.
Out of everyone, Samuel was perhaps the most enthusiastic about it since everyone would be together for the photo, including his mother. He would''ve liked if Jovani and the others on his side of the family would''ve been able to be there for the photos as well.
His cousin however had to be away until the actual day of the event due to some unexpected business. Business which the princess hoped wouldn''t run longer than when the event was supposed to take ce as she didn''t want to have to deal with things being shifted off ever so slightly because he wouldn''t be able to be there.
It didn''t matter to her either way if could show up or not. Jovani however did need to attend due to the other announcement that they would be making that night. He needed to be the one to do it since he had been taking care of the family so to speak before Samuel had been appointed to the position. It was going to be taken as a handing off of sorts to the rest of the families and it needed to be done right if they were going to respect the decision.
"Did you really have to say anything about taking photos?" Lena asked, her previously good mood slightly dampened by the other woman who was helping to make sure she would look perfect for the photos.
"Of course I did. You know as well as I do that if your mother was still around this was something that she would want to have happen as well." rice replied as she powdered her friend''s face after trying to fix her hair so that it was styled perfectly to match her dress.
"Even if that is the reason why you don''t want to do it, sometimes it''s a good way to honor the memory of someone by doing something you know that they would want to have happen. Besides, you''ll get a preview as to how to expect most everyone to look tomorrow anyways. If you have anyst minute problems, you can take this time to address them." Her friend pointed out as she moved the princess''s head so that the light would shine on the part of her face that she needed to.
"I already have an idea of how everyone will look due to past event''s like this." The princess replied, speaking shortly as she knew the other would be messing her lips soon as she still needed to outline and apply lipstick.
"Even that charming fianc¨¦ of yours? I didn''t think that you would''ve already gotten to see the full effect of what he would look like in his outfit." Her friend teased. The princess wondered how it was that everyone else at times seemed much more pleased about the whole event than she was.
That wasn''t to say that she didn''t want to be engaged to Samuel. She did. It was just taking her longer to process how she felt about everything and determine if she was making a right decision through everything that was going on.
"You know if you keep looking like that, your forehead is going to remain permanently wrinkled." She scolded as she poked the line that had formed on the princess''s forehead from how hard she was thinking about everything.
"It''ll happen anyways with all the stress that I have been under recently. No sense in worrying about something that will be unavoidable." The princess sighed. When did she really have time to worry about such things anyways around trying to run a business and trying to make sure that a potential sociopath wasn''t going to do anything to her and her family?
"Maybe with Samuel around over time you''ll stop doing it so much if I can get him to remind you about it when I''m not here." rice mused as she helped Lena to stand up so that she could see what she looked like in the mirror.
They had put everything together in the sunroom because it was one of ces in the house with the best amount of light and easiest to have everything out and together while everyone else was getting ready as well.
The one thing that Lena could say was that she had always disliked looking at herself in the mirror anytime that she had to use make up and dress up beyond business casual.
The image that was reflected back in the mirror looked too much like her mother that it made her ufortable. She had always been told when she was young that she would grow up to be just as beautiful as her which back then she felt proud of hearing. It was one of the highestpliments in her mind.
After everything that had happened however, anytime she looked at herself in the mirror like this, it just ended up hurting her heart because she didn''t like the fact that the person who was looking back at her in the mirror looked too much like someone she would never get the chance to see again.
The princess frowned but didn''t get a chance to say anything before her friend turned her away from the mirror.
"Don''t be so sour. You look stunning and should be proud of that. We need to head out before everyone wonders if you''re going to show or not." rice said she pushed the other woman towards the door.
As rice had predicted, everyone was already ready and waiting. No one in her family said much about how she looked, but the smile on Samuel''s face said a lot even though she wasn''t going to return it.
Lena was fair too self-conscious about the way that she looked and how the photo was going to be taken that she didn''t even say anything when he grabbed her hand and lead her to the front.
If her mother had still been alive, she and Zane would''ve been standing right behind Lena and Samuel. Instead, Julius took the spot as her uncle and second closest family member with Leo to Zane''s right and Julius''s wife and two daughters to his left with Zoe standing in front of Lisa since she was shorter.
The few other family members who were there were aligned behind them leaving rice and Clive to take the photos.
They had chosen to do it in the front living space of the estate as it had the most space to fit everyone and create a good photo.
Once everyone was settled, they took the first round of photos which Lena thought would be the only one as she was already ready for it to be over with.
However, Samuel discreetly indicated that he wanted to do another shot which rice caught on to first and prepped everyone for it saying one more for good luck.
This photo was different from the others in that at thest second, Samuel leaned down and over so that he could kiss Lena on the cheek. Of course the camera would go off right at the moment her cheeks were tinted pink from the unexpected action.
The princess couldn''t get upset however, because it turned out to be a good photo, it even caught Leo grinning widely from the unexpected action. Even her father looked rather pleasedpared to his usual indifferent expression.
Even though she knew it would never be able to find it''s way her on her office work desk for a number reasons.. She did end up requesting a copy for her home office she could keep framed where it would be safe.
Chapter 203 - The Day Before
The day before the engagement party was slightly less stressful for Lena as the things that she had to focus on was stuff that she was familiar with for past events. The only difference was that it was going to be focused on her this time rather than another family member.
Meals took a while longer to be ready as Ryan was away setting everything up for the event and making sure that he had all the pieces he needed which meant that it was up to the rest of the kitchen staff to take care of meals. Having always had someone in charge of them to instruct them what to make left them feeling a little lost on how to do the menu for the first day.
The chef remedied this quickly by leaving them a list of ideas to refer to that hadn''t been on the menu rotation yet. Samuel had offered to help as it had been a while since he hadst been able to cook for the princess. They kicked him out of the kitchen however as they thought it would be uneptable for the fianc¨¦ to be doing so much the day prior to his engagement when there was likely more important things to focus on.
He didn''t quite know what he should be focusing on however. Everything had already pretty much been taking care of ahead of time beyond getting the venue ready. He head already reviewed a number of the guests that he knew would being and Zane had went through with him who out of list would the most important ones to remember.
The unspoken part that he understood was that a number of these people within the mafia families were rather intimidating individuals who he would best not get on the wrong side of if he didn''t want to have to face consequences. That would require a lot of work on his persona note across as tooid back and friendly.
He might have held a high position within the Vedova Nera, but none of the people who would be attending the party would know that. They''d just knew he was one of the one family members which would leave him open to facing repercussions if he wasn''t careful.
Considering the event, there would be more grace given to Samuel''s side as other families would be expected to be on better behavior because of how special it would be. Afterwards however, things would change and offenses weren''t easily forgotten or forgiven even if they happened on ident.
Jovani had done his best to prepare the other for a number of things. Some things though could only be taught through trial and error even if some of the lessons weren''t that savory to have to deal with. The older cousin partly knew though that there wouldn''t be much that he would have to worry about considering how Lena was. He had a good idea that anyone would have to go through her before they could touch her fianc¨¦ regardless of whatever offense he hadmitted.
Lena had been in her father''s office with him going over a few things when Samuel knocked on the door and entered. The princess didn''t bother looking up at him, but Zane did.
"Is there something that you need?" He asked the younger man who came to sit down next to his daughter.
"I just wanted to make sure that nothing else is being forgotten on my end or something that I should do before tomorrow." He replied. He felt rather left out still even though he was more a part of the family than before as it seemed likely everyone else was doing something except for him.
"There isn''t really anything for you to do, except that make sure you have everything on-point and ready for tomorrow." The other replied as he handed another card to Lena. They were going through to make sure that they had all the thank-you cards ready since they knew that there would be arge number of giftsing through tomorrow and it was part of the tradition within the Red Scorpions to exchange a card of thanks for the gift to let the other family know it was well epted.
"Since this is your first time doing something like this, the important thing is for you to watch everything that''s going and learn so you can handle events like this in the future." Zane exined as Lena sealed the card and set it off to the side with the rest.
"You''ll be working towards taking over the Vedova Nera family which means you''ll be having to orchestrate a number of events like this in the future for that family as well." He continued before looking up at the other.
"Don''t worry if you feel like you''re out of ce or there''s so much going on around you yet you''re not doing anything. You don''t have the same job nor are you expected to do as much as everyone else."
"I''m just used to things being different for events within my own family. It''s more of a intimate thing so everyone takes part in what they do." Samuel exined. It was at least how he remembered things working out when his cousin had gotten engaged. Everyone did their part to put the event together.
"You''ll have to wait for that for when the wedding happens. Most of it will between us to figure out how we want to do it and what we want it to look like." the princess told the other, leaning back in the chair as she took a break from getting the cards together.
"There will be far less people involved outside of true family beyond those who are considered close enough friends to be family. You''ll have to be the one to decide on all of that though. I don''t think that will be something I''ll much more interest in."
"You''d be okay with anything that I chose to do?" Samuel asked, getting a ''don''t push it'' look in return from the princess.
"Within reason.." She replied before turning her attention away from him, missing the small smile that was on his face.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 204 - Take It Off
There wasn''t much left to do once the letters were done and lunch had been eaten. Because of where the event was going to take ce, none of the guests beyond rice would be showing up at the estate. Instead, everyone would be arriving early to greet them and talk prior to the event starting.
Jovani was on track to wrap everything up and be done ahead of time to make it to the event before it started. There were going to be some people that he would have to talk everything over with after all. Alonso would being with him this time as well, but the two of them decided to book a hotel for the night close to the venue rather than travel over with the rest of the family. It meant that there were other things they could take care of aste as they wanted without disturbing anyone else. He had also indicated to Samuel that his own fianc¨¦ would be joining them tomorrow as well.
The younger cousin was happy to hear this as he was really curious to find out who the other person was. Jovani hadn''t given him any other hints beyond the fact that he mentioned that they had met before so he and the princess would recognize her when they met. The only person that he could rule out for certain that was not was rice, as he was certain this was something Lena would''ve already known about plus as far as he was aware, the other wasn''t engaged to anyone.
"What is that on your screen?" The princess asked with a frown on her face. She had only seen it for a brief second as they were sitting in the sun room. She had onlye there because there wasn''t much else to be done and partly because the indication given that it would be good to spend her off-time with Samuel as they wouldn''t be getting much of that after the engagement took ce.
"My look screen you mean?" he asked with a small sly smile. The princess nodded her head with slightly narrowed eyes. She had only seen it for a brief second but was fairly certain that she knew what the picture was.
"My treasure of course." He replied, turning his screen off so that he could show her what it was. Somehow seeing it after the fact that and how close up it was made her feel more self-conscious than she had when the actual photos had taken ce.
"You should take it off." Lena told him without looking up from the picture.
"Why? I quite like it. Those honest reactions of yours such as that one right there are what make you adorable." Samuel replied as he pointed to her face where the blush was somehow perceptively still visible on the picture. Did he really have to say such things to her.
To make matters worse, he decided at that moment in time to pull her over from where she was sitting on the sofa so that he could hug her with an arm around her shoulder. She felt a strong urge to elbow him in the ribs for his less than delicate handling of her as though he thought that it was okay to do such things whenever he pleased.
"It''s not a problem of whether you like it or not. Ites down to an issue of safety." The princess replied, not moving from her position as she turned to face the other. Their faces were mere inches apart, but this time it didn''t bother as much as it had before.
"I don''t think it is a an issue with safety. Not many people will be seeing my phone and as long as you don''t want them to, I won''t show the photo off to anyone who isn''t family." Samuel assured the other who didn''t quite seem convinced.
"It''s better for safety if you just don''t have it up at all and kept the photo elsewhere if you like it that much." She grumbled as he eyes shifted from his face more towards his neck. She still had the same unreadable expression on her face, but there was a wicked thought brewing behind her eyes.
She knew that it would perhaps be something childish to do, but notpletely uncalled for in light of recent events that had been going on between them. She knew that the other wouldn''t be likely to expect it either.
"You''ll be getting an office of your own soon anyways so you can just keep it in there. Then only the people you trust would be allowed in and able to see it." She exined as he leaned in closer to him. It was going to be a bit hard to do considering the angle, but she knew that she would be able to get away with it.
Samuel watched the other out of the corner of his eye as he looked back at his phone. He didn''t quite know what the princess was doing, but wasn''t bothered since she wasn''t pulling away like usual.
"I like it here though because then I can always see it no matter what." He replied. He didn''t think that it was the kind of photo that deserved to be put in an office where he would only be able to see it for a few hours out of the day.
"Trust me, it''s safe that way." She repeated as she leaned in closer to his neck. At the same intoxicating scent that she had appreciated before hadn''t disappeared when he changed some of his smile.
Samuel was about to say something else in response to this, before he felt a quick sharp pain followed by a prickling sensation near the front of his cor bone. It wasn''t a feeling he was used and it caused him to look down almost immediately at what had happened. He couldn''t quite see what it was because of the location, however he did notice the fact that the princess looked a little too smug.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 205 - Mark
"What did you do?" Samuel asked when he couldn''t quite see what the princess had done. He had an inkling of an idea of what it was by her expression. He couldn''t see it though to verify it.
"Nothing fatal she replied before she felt her phone buzz in her pocket indicating that she had gotten call. She figured it was going to be James as there had been a few things going on at the office that he needed her opinion on even though she was technically off. Work never really stopped.
"Hello?" She asked as he answered the phone, standing up from the futon as she did so. It just happened this call came at the right convenient time so that she could be preupied and away from the other before he fully realized what she had done.
"No, the board were the ones who made the final call on that so they can deal with whatever happens as a result of it." She paused for a second as she listened to what James had to say.
"If they didn''t want to have extra work to do, they shouldn''t haveined in the first ce and just gone through with it. I have more important things going on in life right now than to deal with things they don''t want to do. Just tell them to get it sorted out themselves before next week if they want to keep their jobs." The princess replied feeling slightly annoyed. Even though they were the ones who wanted to reject Marcus''s proposal, they now didn''t want to go through with all of the work that as required to follow through with it.
While she was busy on the phone and not pay much attention, Samuel pulled out his phone so that he could see what the other had done. It was hard to notice at first, but there was a mark near the edge of the left side of his cor bone that was light pink in color and getting darker with the passing seconds. The mark very much looked like someone had bit him.
It didn''t hurt when he brushed his fingers over it, but it would certainly be more visible by tomorrow. Had Lena really bitten him simply because he had been giving her a hard time? He could only wait to ask her once she was off the phone.
At least she didn''t break the skin with whatever she had done, but what exactly was he supposed to do with that mark? He wasn''t even going to be able to cover it with the tie that he was going to be wearing tomorrow. In fact because of where it was, it was likely that almost everyone would be able to see it.
"What exactly is this about?" Samuel asked, pointing to the mark on his corbone once the other was off the phone. He looked more perplexed than annoyed by it.
"It''s retaliation. You didn''t want to listen to me." she replied as though it exined her actions perfectly.
"You do realize that everyone is going to be able to see this tomorrow because of where it is?" He then asked, trying to gauge her reaction. He knew that she had an odd way of handling certain things that she didn''t like. This was the first time that she had done something like this however.
"And you''re my fianc¨¦. Is there anything wrong with that?" She asked back as she looked at the mark. She didn''t see any real problem with what she had done. It was a retaliation to the teasing and all the other things that he had been doing to her recently, but on a smaller scale that was less problematic.
"I wouldn''t say that there''s anything wrong with it. I would just also say that it perhaps isn''t form of retaliation for such a small thing." He replied, as he brushed the mark with this hi fingers again, noticing the way that the princess watched him when he did this. It felt odd but it didn''t hurt in the slightest.
"Small thing to you. To mean, it''s something bigger than I''m worried about." She replied back as she turned to leave. She wasn''t upset with Samuel in the slightest, but she also didn''t want to give the other a chance to get any ideas since recently the teasing had been going more back and forth between them.
It was one thing for her to bit him. She wouldn''t however tolerate it very well if he tried to do the same thing to her. It wasn''t a position that she had been in before and didn''t want to risk a situation that would only encourage the other to take things a step further than they needed to go.
She had apparently made the wrong decision to turn to leave as she had expected to be able to hear when he moved, and was taken aback slightly when she found his arms suddenly wrapped around her waist. Since when had he learned to be able to move so quietly.
"Princess, you know that isn''t far though. I thought that we had gone past this point." Heughed near her ear. He wasn''t annoyed though he did think that their rtionship had shifted to a different point from when they had first met.
"We did, but then you started doing things that I requested you not to do. This is only a fair reaction to that." She replied nonchntly, not wanting to give away the fact that the hair on the back of her neck was standing on end. He had certainly gotten better with a number of things since he had spent a short time with Jovani.
"By that logic then, wouldn''t I be in the right to do the same to you then?" He asked, his breath near her ear as he spoke. His breath was soft as he spoke, but it still tickled her ear and made her pull away slightly.
"You wouldn''t think about doing it though because you know it wouldn''t go over well." She warned, knowing he probably wouldn''t take her that seriously though. That was partly her fault though as she didn''t actually ever do anything serious that would make him think twice about doing something like that.
"Would I though?" He mused leaning closer against her. He didn''t think that he would honestly.
"If I did though we would have matching marks and it might work." Hemented. However, before he actually did anything, there was a knock on the door to the room.
"I expect that the princess and her fianc¨¦ are still hiding in here?" The voice asked, it took both of them a second to realize that it belonged to Jovani. They didn''t think that he was supposed to be here however?
Lena expected Samuel to know to let her go now that there was someone at the door. He didn''t seem exactly intent on doing that however. She gave him a warning look, but he just smiled at her instead.
"We are." Lena replied as she moved to pull away from the other who didn''t really want to stop hugging her. He might have thought twice about actually biting her with someone else on the room, but that didn''t mean that he couldn''t hug her. It was harmless enough.
He didn''t get away with it though, as Lena elbowed his side with her left elbow when it became apparent to her that he wasn''t going to be willing to let her be even though his cousin was looking toe into the room.
He couldn''t hide the wince because it actually did rather hurt. He forgot at times exactly how strong the princess was as she never really was violent with him. The pain didn''t stop him from snickering however at her reaction which earned him a harsh re warning re from her as Jovani entered the room.
Even though the two of them looked normal enough. He could tell more so because of his younger cousin that something had been going on between them. His eyes also quickly took note of the mark on Samuel''s neck. He chose not toment on it however as he turned his attention back to the princess.
"Even though I am going to be staying at the hotel for tomorrow. I thought that I would drop by and double check on anyst minute things that I might be forgetting." He told her as he handed her a piece of paper, it was a list of everyone he had requested by on stand-by for security for tomorrow.
"Most everything else is already in position. Nothing left to do except for wait until tomorrowes." She replied as she looked over at the list.
"Maybe go over anything extra with him that he should expect for tomorrow." The princess motioned to Samuel as she said this. It was something that he could do that would keep him preupied for a while until he stopped trying to bother her over what she did.
"There are probably a few things that need to be discussed if I won''t be taking him away from you at a bad time?" the subtle undertone in Jovani''s voice was missed by his cousin, but Lena picked up on it.
"I wouldn''t have suggested it if you were." She replied a bit dryly, not finding amusement in the fact that he was trying to tease her.
" Right then. I will bring him back at ater point in time before dinner." He replied as he opened the door so that Samuel could follow after him.. He really did have some things that he wanted to discuss with the other in preparation for tomorrow.
Chapter 206 - Last Minute Gift
Once of the actual day of the engagement came around, things were much busier. Simply because everyone had to ready before they left and make everything was in ce before leaving the estate.
Which was the time when Julius went over things at least three different times in order to make sure nothing was forgotten or left behind. As it turned out though, he was the only one who forgot anything through the running through. Zaneughed it off though because he was used to how his younger brother.
The rest of the family that didn''t stay at the estate would being towards the actual start of the event. Since it was only the engagement, there wouldn''t be as much of a trouble if they got held up or made itte since it was more of a kind formality than a necessity for them to be there for the engagement. The only time that it would cause problems was when the wedding itself took ce. Everyone would have to be present for that.
"Is there anything in particr that''s bothering you?" Lena asked once they were inside the car. She noticed through everything that was going on that Samuel was being far more quiet than he usual was even if they were awake far earlier than they usually were. Things like this usually turned into an all day event because of how everything had to be organized.
"Not really. I''m just paying more attention to everything that''s going on to get a better idea of how to best to organize something like this in the future." He replied as he nced over at her as he grabbed her hand.
The hand holding thing was something Lena was getting used to the more it happened. It was small contact and because he did more naturally rather than as a pushy thing, it didn''t bother her. After today, it wouldn''t be as huge of a deal if people outside of the family spotted it since the news would travel fast who she was getting engaged to.
Some things she would still prefer to keep on the downlow simply because it would be safer in the long run. It was most likely her paranoia, but she didn''t like the idea ofing across as too affectionate or enamored publicly in the rtionship that she had with Samuel as she felt that it would be too dangerous to do such a thing.
"You''ll have plenty of practice in the future between having to do it for two different families." The princess replied. Looking her soon-to-be officially finance over, she realized that there was something that she had forgotten.
"Ah. I forgot that I had something for you as well. Not quite as romantic as what you gave me, but I thought that they would be fitting." Lena told him as she opened thepartment in the middle to pull out a box and handed it to him.
"You got me something? You didn''t have to you know." There was a hint of surprise at the back of his voice as he got ready to open the box. She wasn''t sure that he would like what he got her, but she felt that it was fitting enough.
"Of course I would get you something. That surprise wounds me." She half joked as she waited to see what kind of reaction he would have to what he got her.
When the box was opened, he didn''t expect to see a set of cufflinks inside. They looked rather expensive and he could instantly tell that they were custom designed by the way that they had been made.
The one was a red scorpion, because it was normal to give such a gift to one who was getting ready to join the family. It served as both a symbol of protection and eptance into the family. The second was something a little different.
"A monarch?" He asked a little confused as he held up the other cufflink to which was shaped like a butterfly.
"It fits you." was all the princess said at first. She wasn''t quite sure how to exin what she wanted to say and felt slightly conscious with the fact that her father and brother were with them. It was one thing to give Samuel the gift, another to exin why she had chosen that as the second symbol.
"Not only because you''re a monarch in the meaning of the world, but also because you''re calm, collected, and even though you''re na?ve at times and still have a lot to learn, there''s still something majestic about the way you go through life the way you do." It was the best exnation that she could give without showing how flustered she felt for saying such a thing out loud.
Samuel from what she could tell seemed rather happy about it however based upon the smile that had spread itself across his face. He probably would have hugged her as well if it wasn''t for the fact that the box was on hisp and he didn''t want to risk ruining or losing what the princess had gotten.
"I love them. Though, I will need a little bit of help putting them on." He admitted. He wasn''t used to wearing such things and still often struggled getting the ones that Jovani had given him to wear on properly most days.
Lena had no problem helping, it gave her something to do to avoid the amused and pleased look that was on her brother''s face and the ghost of a smile that had appeared on her father''s.
Zane was the one she was more bothered by as she knew even without him saying anything verbally to her that the thought that was going through his head was very much an ''I told you so'' in that he had made the right call by insisting on going through with the arranged marriage.
Once they were on, they somehow looked even better to Samuel then they had in the box. Having this done also meant that he was freed up to give the princess the hug that he had wanted to. Though it had to be a side hug since the car was still moving and there wasn''t a lot of space to give her a proper hug.. That would have to wait untilter.
Chapter 207 - Unexpected Guest
Ryan had really outdone himself with everything that he had gotten together. The venue had beenpletely 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 ents 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 ce 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 apuse 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 fianc¨¦. 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 in baby blue dress was standing and talking with Ryan.
"Dear, would you minding 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 toe 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 exnation 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 exined.
"She''s amazing at what she does, isn''t she?" Jovani added, seeming more than a little proud of his fianc¨¦.
"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." hisment 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 slightugh. 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 fianc¨¦''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.
Chapter 208 - The Day
"Another interesting piece of the puzzle." Samuelmented after his cousin and fiance had walked away. He supposed it made sense that the other would''ve been referring to Eve since she was one of the few woman that he and Lena both knew.
The princess made a noise of acknowledgement as she watched the other two interact. As fortuitous as it was for Jovani, she wasn''t quite that part had been nned from the beginning or if it was, Eve was a dangerously good actor who knew how to conceal any hint of ulterior motive and avoid casting suspicion on herself. A focus for another time however.
Ryan hade over now that he wasn''t speaking with the other woman.
"Is everything up to standard? Nothing out of ce or that you''d like to see done different?" He asked as he nced around at everything. He felt like he had done a good job, but knew that it wasn''t his opinion that mattered.
"It looks fine. I assume since you already have all of this setup that the food is already finished and you''re just waiting to bring it out until everyone startsing?" The princess rified as she looked everything over again. It looked good enough for what they were going to be doing.
"Yep. They let us the fridge for things that needed to be chilled over night and the rest was finished early this morning. The staff after this I think will be ready to sleep for the next year." Ryan joked with augh. They had been putting in a lot of overtime in for the past few days and were looking forward to some kind of break after this.
"As long as everything goes well, there shouldn''t be a reason why they can''t have it." The princess replied, ncing at her watch, it wouldn''t be long before everyone else would start showing up.
"Take it easy until it''s time to bring the food out. If we need anything else, I''ll let you know." She said knowing some guests would be arriving soon, but the food wouldn''t be brought out until the room really started filling up. Ryan thanked her before he left to let everyone else know that they could breath for a little while before things would get hectic again.
The next part that would being was the one that the princess wasn''t going to enjoy. The guests would being with their gifts and it would be her job to approve of them or not. She just hoped that there wouldn''t be anything too ridiculous that she would have to deal with.
Jasmine and Hector were the first to arrive from the Vedova Nera family with the men who had been sent to watch out for them. Alonso had stayed back at the hotel toe with them to make sure that they made it to the correct ce on time since it was a part of Jersey they were less familiar with.
Samuel introduced them to Lena who greeted them in polite yet reserved manner. She didn''t know them enough yet to be on casual speaking terms. Alonso especially not after what happened with Jeff and Samuel when he was around.
He seemed oddly ufortable as he came ahead of the other two to speak with the princess and her fianc¨¦.
"I''m not quite sure that this is the most appropriate ce for this kind of gift, but someone who isn''t here insisted that it was the right time to turn it over." He exined as he handed her a small red box. Lena locked eyes with Alonso and could tell by his expression what kind of gift it was, more so after he nced over at Samuel as though he was concerned that the other would see it.
"I see." She replied as she took the box from the other, though her expression questioned why in the hell anyone would think it was appropriate to give as a gift at a engagement party.
"I thought that it was a gift, shouldn''t we at least see it?" Samuel asked when he noticed the odd exchange that had happened and how she called someone over to take care of the box and do whatever they pleased with it but not keep it there.
"It''s not the type of gift that''s appropriate for this kind of asion." She replied as she closed her eyes while pinching the bridge of her nose. She just hoped that no one else ended up delivering such a thing. When she noticed that Samuel was still looking at her confused, she sighed.
"If you''re concerned about offending someone in your family, by all means go find the man who took it away. I doubt though that you would be interested in finding out what a severed finger looks like." her blunt sarcasm seemed to have an effect on the other as Samuel paled slightly when he heard this, ncing at where the man had taken away the box to back at the princess as though trying to determine if she was joking or not. When her expression didn''t change and she didn''t tell him he shouldn''t take her so seriously, he could only assume she wasn''t joking.
"I guess that means it would be best to allow you to handle any of the other gifts thate through?" He asked. He knew that he would have to deal with such things in the future, but it wasn''t something that he was keen to handle so early on in his recent appointment.
"Exactly." was all she said under her breath as more guests were now starting to arrive which meant that they would be getting ready to spend the next hour or longer greeting everyone and handling a number of congrattion that would be thrown their way along with making the connections between the two family in order to make sure that the unity would go smoothly.
Lena knew that with all the people that were arriving that it would make it hard for her and Samuel to stay together. Thus before they got too mobbed, she pulled him to the side for a moment motion for her brother who was nearby to start greeting the guests in her stead for a moment.
"There shouldn''t be anyone here that you have to worry about trying anything, but remember, if there are any problems or if you need anything, buzz your phone in your pocket and someone wille over to watch out for." She reminded the other. It was a simr protocol that she had gone through with her family a number of times, but something that Samuel wasn''t used.
"Right. Or I will try to stick with Jovani since there are a lot of people that he needs to introduce me to anyways." As if on cue, his older cousin came over.
"Yes, though I only mildly trust him to be able to watch over you." The princess replied as she looked over at Jovani who seemed like he was still in a rather good mood even after dropping the fact that Eve was his fianc¨¦ on them suddenly.
"You don''t have to give me such a look. I would never let anything happen to my dear cousin." He told Lena as he draped his arm over his younger cousin''s shoulder.
"I''ll bring him right back to you the moment that it''s time for the official announcement and all that." he assured the other with a mock two finger salute before turned Samuel away from the princess so that they could go greet guests before the guests ended uping to them.
"Well if it isn''t the little princess who swore that they were never getting married let alone engaged." The princess didn''t have to turn around to know who that voice belonged to. She would recognize his rough voice anywhere.
"You''re one to speak, Aster." Lena replied as she turned around to look at the man who was a few years older than her.
"I thought that you always swore you were going to leave the mafia and never look back?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, a smirk on the corner of her lips as the other gave her a bemused smile.
"Well you know how it is. Once you''re in, you''re never out until deathes knocking on your door." The other shrugged as he pulled a box out of her pocket to hand her.
"A little gift from mine to yours." He told her as she took the box with a skeptical look.
"I''m not going to open this find out someone else thought it was appropriate to bring another severed finger here?" She asked only half joking as she looked at the little pale blue box. Aster let out a bark of augh before he shook his head.
"No I wouldn''t be such a fool. It''s a good luck charm from the east. Saw it on one of the travels and thought it would be fitting." he exined.
"So you stole it in other words." She presumed as she looked up from the box to the other who had a familiar twinkle in his eyes but didn''t deny or agree with her statement. This man was one of the few people from the smaller families that she could actually tolerate though his methods of work were far from clean, his personality was tolerable.
"I have to go greet your father, but I will see youter." Aster gave her a small wave before he left. The princess would look at the giftter, a number of others had arrived and now need her attention as well. She vaguely wished that she had bribed Ryan into giving her some of the champagne before the event started.. She was going to need something to steel her nerves for dealing with all the people that were going to be jostling to stay on the family''s good side.
Chapter 209 - Small Talk
"Aha, no I assure you he isn''t a long lost brother. He''s actually a cousin for a very dear cousin of mine whom I reconnected with recently. She''s here somewhere as well."
"He''s quite charming right? New to this side everything, but I can assure you that looks can be deceiving. He has a lot of potential under that charming face of his."
"He''ll be working closely with me for now. Best way to make sure he understands the reigns. The gifts are well appreciated by the way."
"Who is marrying into to who''s family? Well Zane was the one who set up the marriage initially before we reconnected. So I suppose we would be getting married into the Red Scorpion Family. The rest of the family is as great as the princess. Especially the younger brother."
The people and the conversation kept flowing almost in an endless way. Jovani did most of the talking as he introduced Samuel to a number of different people, some who where more outwardly polite than others who looked like they were already judging the younger man.
Which is one of the reasons why the older cousin took care of most of the talking, he knew that people would treat Samuel differently most likely assuming that he held a low position within the family since he was new.
Samuel took it as an opportunity to both understand better howmunication worked between the mafia families. He also decided it would be a good way to gauge other''s personalities and unspoken opinions of him.
Being a person of power within the Vedova Nera family, Jovani knew that if he personally introduced Samuel to everyone and kept him close, it would be a sign that he already epted the other and it would be wise for others to ept him as well if they didn''t want trouble.
In some families, it took more than just sharing blood to get people to respect someone. Especially if they weren''t part of the main line of session.
"So does that make you apdog within that family then?" Ah, of course the snide remarks woulde from some who didn''t quite know how to hold their tongues.
"Cristobal, that isn''t a very polite thing to say." Jovani scolded the other, his tone was light but the look that was in his eyes gave a clear warning to the taller, heavier set mafia man who had his arms crossed as he sized up Samuel.
Cristobal belonged to one of the smaller families who had recently been working really hard to get their position and status more recognized through the work that they had been doing.
"I''m just saying what others are thinking, you know that Jo." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"He''s new to this work yet marrying into a prominent family. I don''t imagine that he has any useful skills to offer, thus it''s likely he''s going to end up just being some spoiledpdog who that princess everyone speaks so highly of will have to watch out for." He of course also happened to be one of them who wasn''t the brightest no cared much about what he said out loud in the presence of others.
Jovani was about to say something to reprimand the other man, but Samuel held up his hand to stop him. The younger cousin might not have been saying much until now, but he thought that it would be a good time to speak up.
"Cristobal, I understand that this is our first time meeting and I''m sure as someone who has put in a lot of effort to earn your status that it''s a joke that someone such as myself got the advantage of jumping into a higher positionpared to your own." Samuel told the other.
"I would petition though that you watch before you assume. I have no intention of bing anyone''spdog or not working to earn my position as well since my position is one that I am marrying into. Not now considering the asion, but at ater date, perhaps you''d like to set some time aside for a sparing match?" Samuel held out his hand for the other to shake when he offered this.
"Don''t me if you can''t handle it." Cristobal said before he shook hands with the other but he left to go get food. The force behind Samuel''s handshake was stronger than he expected, but his words and actions did little to change the other''s opinion of him.
"You know that I can easily have something done about that if you would like me to?" Jovani told his younger cousin as they moved through the crowd where they knew the next group of people would be. It was getting closer to the time when the announcements were going to be made.
"No need. It wouldn''t look good for you to something too drastic for someone who''s just joined the family even if we are blood rted, right?" He asked as he nced over at the other who had a somewhat pleased smile on his face.
"You do learn quickly. Even if it didn''t look good though, I wouldn''t mind doing it for you. After all, you''re one of the few family members that I''m rather fond of."
Since they had been taking so much time to talk with everyone, they decided that it was time to get something to eat as well and see where Lena and the rest of her family were so that they could catch up with them for a few minutes.
Jovani checked his phone on the way over in order to make sure that he didn''t miss any important updates. He stopped though when a glint of something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.
He stepped in front of Samuel and put a hand in front of his own face before the camera sh went off, blinding him slightly due to how bright the light was. Who had been responsible for letting a member of the media?
"Excuse me, you need to delete that and any other photos that you''ve taken, press aren''t authorized to take photos at this event." Jovani told the older journalist who seemed rather putout that he hadn''t been able to get a clear picture of Samuel''s face.
"I have a press pass though. Cleared to take photos for mafia events in the past." The older man told them as he rummaged around his pocket until he found the pass that he was referring to. The older cousin took it and looked it over, it did indeed indicate that he was cleared to be at such events.
"Who did you clear this through? Usually these things have to go through me first." He asked with a frown. He remembered clearly telling Jovani to make sure the press knew not to show up since it wasn''t going to be his family at the event.
"Uhh, His name started with an n or m." The man replied, scratching the back of his head while he tried to remember the name.
"He told me that it wouldn''t be a problem as long as I had this with me. In fact pictures would be wee to be released to the press since it''s supposed to be some kind of big event going on here." The man exined.
"Well, I''m sorry to tell you but since you didn''t go through me or my assistant, you''re not really authorized and cleared to be here so again I would ask you to leave and delete the photos. The man grumbled when he heard this, but quickly shut up when Jovani reached into his wallet and pulled out a fifty to give the other. The reporter even willingly showed him that he had deleted the pictures that he had taken before he left.
"Harmless bribe." he told his younger cousin as he put his arm over his shoulder when he saw the look that the other was giving him.
"Little things you have to do in order to survive in this world. Now let''s get some food before we got mobbed again."
When they had reached the area where Ryan had set up all the tables with the assortment of appetizers, desserts and refreshments, Lena happened to be there as well. By the way that she was looking out into the crowd, her mood seemed dampened. Perhaps not such a surprise with all of the people who had shown up.
"See princes, as promised, I have brought your darling fianc¨¦ back in one piece with minimal trouble." Jovani told the younger woman as he gave his younger cousin a little push to go and stand next to the other.
"The reporter." was all Lena said when she turned to look at Jovani. That exined why she was annoyed.
"One of ours, but he certainly wasn''t authorized by us toe here and take photos." The older cousin replied.
"It''s not a worry though, I already sent him out after making sure he deleted the pictures that he had taken." he assured her.
"Speaking of pictures though. Let me take a quick one of you two. I didn''t get a chance when everyone was taking the family photo. I want to keep one on my phone tomemorate this moment." Lena was about to protest when Samuel hugged her to his side suddenly.
"One picture can''t hurt anything." He replied. Pictures weren''t that big of a deal to him and he thought it was only fair since his cousin didn''t have a chance to have any photos of him together.. Later, they would have to get one of the three of them together.
Chapter 210 - Something To Remember
After the photo had been taken much to Lena''s annoyance, they were able to get their food and go back to where the rest of her family were seated at a table. The venue hadn''t been set up with too many tables as most of those who were attended preferred standing to sit in most asions, a few tables had been provided for those who wanted to take seats.
Samuel''s mother was even seated at the table and talking with Leo. It seemed that everyone else except for the three of them had already gotten food.
"Well it seems like you two were able to return not looking too much worse for wear." Leomented when he noticed that his sister seemed in less of a good mood than when she had left to go speak with the second round of guests.
"Just a tiny spot of annoyance. It has been taken care of already though so nothing that needs to be worried about." Jovani replied as he took a seat next to Evalyn. Hector and Jasmine didn''t seem to have returned yet. Neither one of them came to events like this very often, thus it wouldn''t have been much of a surprise to him if they had stepped outside to get some air and away from all the people.
"What do you think about everyone who''s here?" Zane asked, directing the question to Samuel as he took a sip from the ss of champagne that was in front of him.
"Interesting mixture of people, can''t say that everyone is friendly." He replied as he took a seat next to Julius so that Lena could sit on his left.
"Can you really say though that the mafia is a friendly bunch in the first ce?" Julius joked cause some of family members tough at this joke.
"You''ll get used to determining what is real and what is just bravado used to try and intimidate and deter without actually having any kind of power and position to back it up." Zane exined.
"I think that is something that he''ll be able to figure out sooner rather thanter. Some of the less pleasant members within the smaller families I believe aren''t exactly thrilled about what''s going on." Jovani told them.
"Little bit of time though and they will get used to it." Zane replied. For this he knew that it wouldn''t be his ce to intervene since Samuel was going to be shifting under Lena''s care after tonight.
This meant that on the side of the Red Scorpions, it would be up to her to handle anyone who protested against what was going on or acted out of line towards Samuel. On the Vedova Nera''s side, that duty would fall on Jovani. He preferred a more untraditional route when dealing with things, but he wouldn''t hesitate to put someone in their ce before he allowed his younger cousin to be hurt.
Once the clock hit five, everyone in the family knew it was time to make the announcement. They already discussed how they would handle things. Jovani would make the announcement first about Samuel being a part of his family which would allow the lead into the engagement announcement and the unity between the families to flow more smoothly.
"Can I have everyone''s attention?" Jovani''s voice boomed through the microphone. His previousid back and joking persona was gone and reced with a more serious and authoritative one. The moment he did this, everyone fell in line as they stopped talking and turned to face the stage. Once he was certain that everyone had stopped speaking he continued.
"First, I want to thank everyone who made time toe today, it is greatly appreciated. I know some of you are aware of the reasons why everyone has been gathered here while other''s may not have heard the news yet." He paused for a second as he turned back and motioned for Samuel toe up next to him. He ced his hand on his younger cousin''s shoulder as the other stood next to him with his hands folded in front of him staring out at the crowd. It somehow looked far more intimidating now that all the eyes were focused on him.
"This isn''t the official initiation however I want to make the announcement that Samuel here will be reconnecting as an official member of the Vedova Nera family as my cousin. I hope that you will give him the same respect and care that you have shown to me over these years." No one cheered over this announcement as he finished speaking instead everyone just pped.
"This isn''t all of course." Jovani told them before he stepped back and to the side so that Zane coulde up. Somehow the aura he gave off and the way he held himself as he surveyed the crowd in front of him before he spoke made him seem ten times more intimidating than usual.
"As Jovani has already said, thank you all foring today. I know not all of you know each other, I''m sure you''ll have no problem getting that to change over time." he started, pausing for a second before he continued.
"I think there should be another round of apuse for the Vedova Nera family for being able to reconnect with their rtive. We all know when unexpected events break apart families, it isn''t often that we get to find them again." In response to this, the crowd gave a round of apuse as some of them nodded their heads in agreement.
"I have two announcements to make. The first to official dere the unity from this time forward between the Vedova Nera and Red Scorpion families. This is a unity the rest of you over time as changes are made. The reason behind this unity has to do with the aforementioned Samuel and my daughter, Lena." as he said this, they the princess stepped forward to stand next to her father on the opposite side from where Samuel was standing. ncing over at him, she noticed he looked rather nervous over everything that was going on.
"The biggest celebration at this event and the reason why everyone has been brought together is to congratte these two on their official engagement. My daughter had already decided upon this engagement prior to knowing where Samuel came from, however we all know good surprises can be hidden within all sorts of packages. I hope you will help me in apuding these two and wishes for a bright and happy future for them moving forward." Zane stepped back after he had this while the crowed pped, some more exuberantly than they had when Jovani had made his announcement.
Samuel''s mother stepped forward to share a few words and to assure that she gave her consent to this and that she was also pleased to be reconnecting with her family though she wouldn''t be taking on any kind ofrger role in doing so.
Somehow, hearing the apuse of the crowd over this and what his mother was saying seemed to help Samuel be less nervous as he looked over at Lena who was watching him to see what he would do next as Julius came over. He was the in charge of helping them to give the rings to each other.
Lena was the first one to do it since Samuel was marrying into her family. She had no problem reaching for his left hand and fitting the ring on. Samuel followed her lead and did it the same way that she had, except that he put it on her right hand since her true engagement ring was already on her left finger.
What he did after this was the unexpected part. She had expected him to step back into position as the crowd would likely want to cheer once again for them after this since it was tradition. Instead however, Samuel kissed her hand and then like the crazy, entric person he was he turned to face the crowd and with a huge grin on his face as he still held her hand, he raised their sped hands above his head as someone would in a moment of triumph.
The princess was of course taken aback by this action and wasn''t quite sure how to react this until the crowd started to actually cheer, almost as if the action Samuel had did plus the smile on his face had some kind of effect on them. Who knew that a smile and strange disy of affection was all it took to get a room full of mafia hyped up? Even her family was cheering more than she had expected them to
Seeing this, a small genuine smile crept onto Lena''s face. Perhaps it wasn''t such a bad thing if everyone else didn''t react badly to it. He certainly wasn''t a traditional member of the mafia, but that didn''t meant that he wouldn''t be able to work to find his ce within this group of crazy people.
This was certainly going to be something to remember for time toe. Samuel was perhaps one of the craziest, un-mafia like person from the outside that they had let join the family, but he also somehow held the potential to have one of thergest impact on the families moving forward thanks to his personality.. Things were certainly going to be getting interesting moving forward.
Chapter 211 - Night Club
Following the announcements and the consuming of the dinner plus the engagement cake that had been waiting until the end which Ryan had outdone himself with in the princess''s standards, it was time for the part that Lena was less thrilled with than she had been stuck in the venue for hours dealing with over a hundred mafia members who wanted to talk with her.?
Leo hadn''t given up on his desire to end the night by going to a night club. In order to make sure that it would happen, Zane had even called up one in particr that had been on his mind when the other had brought it up.?
The night club in question was called ''The Blind Spot". Aptly named as the club owner was known for often turning a blind eye to the illegal activities that urred in the club. So long as whoever was behind them paid the right price for him to do so.?
Of course, it couldn''t be a family affair as it would''ve been considered rude to in invite all those who had taken their time toe and celebrate Lena an Samuel''s engagement along with the other announcements that had been made.?
Thus, more than half of the members who had attend agreed that they woulde along to enjoy the after party celebration. Some had to leave first in order to dress into something that would make them less conspicuous inside the night club.?
Because of the dress that Lena had picked, she couldn''t even use that as an excuse to get out of going. It was the perfect size that she wouldn''t have to worry about it causing her any problems even if the ce was overcrowded. The only thing that Samuel had to do in order to be ready to go inside was to take off the cufflinks that he was wearing so that no one would identally spot them.?
"You know that you shouldn''t look so glum, we''re going here to celebrate you after all." He brother remarked when he noticed the scowl that was deepening on her face the closer that they got to the night club.?
"If you were choosing some ce specific to celebrate me and expect me to tag along for, a night club wouldn''t have been my first choice if asked." She replied ck sharply. She knew that the real reason why he wanted to go had more to do with the fact that it was going to be one of thest fun things he got the chance to do before he would be leaving to head back to Ennd.?
"That''s only because you haven''t learned the art of rxing and having fun when the time is right." He pointed out as he looked out the window, he knew that they were getting close by the fact that he could see the top of the building over the shorter ones that they were passing.?
"I know how to have fun, this just isn''t my idea of fun. Especially when there are a number of people who will being with us that are known for getting a little too rowdy when they drink." She replied.?
The princess didn''t intend to drink a lot while they were there, but she also didn''t want to be responsible for helping to control those who did. In such a packed ce, things could end up getting messy rather quickly if the right care wasn''t taken with the situation.?
"We have got people with us to take care of that. You won''t have to worry about a thing except for enjoying yourself and celebrating the fact that your engagement is now official. One more step closer to tying the knot." He said with a wink which the princess red at. The marriage part was something that she didn''t want to have to think too much about yet. That was going to be a muchrger affair that would be causing her stress on apletely different level from this.?
Clive had been getting ready to find a parking spot as they approached the club when he noticed that there was a valet standing near the front with a sign that indicated that he had been waiting for them. Lena could only think that it was special treatment for whatever her father had agreed to help the club owner with in exchange for allowing them to be able to keep a low profile while being at the club for the night.?
This didn''t stop Zane from tipping the young man who looked rather nervous as Clive handed him the key and he watched everyone step out of the car. It was hard to tell if he was nervous because he knew who they were or just because they looked rather rich and didn''t want to identally do anything to the car that would get him on their bad side.
This different treatment meant that they also didn''t have to stand outside with the rest of the line to let let inside. The bouncer simply nodded his head at them and allowed them to enter ahead of everyone else. Some of the people in the line started to whisper among themselves, curious to know who those who were getting special treatment were.
Even though it was only a little after nine, the club already looked to be fairly well packed and only a number of the mafia members who said they would show up were there yet. Zane looked around at the club in order to find the best ce for them to move to. They were going to need a ratherrge space to upy just with their family, but he didn''t quite want to go to the VIP area as he knew it wouldn''trge enough to amodate everyone that would be showing up.?
The dimness of lights were rather nice for Lena who didn''t like unnatural lights were too bright. She could careless for the music however as it was a song she didn''t know that well. She had never taken much time to keep up with music as she had gotten older. It wasn''t something that was important to her ability to seed her father as head of the Red Scorpions.?
Some of the other people within the group seemed rather thrilled with the music that they were ying and were eager to get their drinks so that they could join the strangers on the dance floor.?
Zane finally decided on a ce that was more towards the far right corner of the room rather than the main part. There had been a few other people who were upying the table, but were happy to move when they saw that it was a ratherrge group looking for a ce to sit.?
They didn''t even have to head over to the bar to fetch their drinks as there were waiters scattered about taking the orders of those who wanted to keep their spaces. Most everyone who worked at the club seemed rather professional as though they took their jobs very seriously.?
Even though it was a ratherrge order to take with a number of hard liqueurs being requested considering the event, the man taking their order didn''t even raise his eyebrow or double check that they really wanted so many drinks as he read everything back to them to make sure that he didn''t forget anything. Once everything as good, he put the notepad away and promised to be back as quickly as possible.?
"What do you think about the ce?" Leo asked, directing the question at Samuel. He already knew what Lena thought so there was no sense in asking her if being inside changed her mind at all.?
"A little bit loud, but doesn''t seem like a bad ce to be." He replied back, raising his voice slightly so that he could speak over the booming music. Even though he hadn''t been thrilled about the the idea of getting anything to drink, Jovani had somehow convinced him he should try something light since it was his first time being in such a ce.
He felt like it was likely a bad idea to listen to the other who seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit with everything. He only agreed because he knew that if he didn''t like it, he wouldn''t have to finish it unless he really wanted to.?
"Well, I didn''t think that I would run into this crew again any time soon." a man remarked as he came over to their table. Lena immediately looked over as she didn''t recognize who the voice belonged to. She was quick to rx though when her father stood up to greet the other, shaking his hand and pping shoulder.?
"Richard! And here I thought that you had already move out of the area.." He greeted the other man who looking over all the other people who were sitting at the table.?
Chapter 212 - A Little Bit Never Hurt Anyone
"What brings you here tonight?" Zane asked when he noticed that the other looked like he was dressed more for business than a fun night out.
"I''m here to meet some fool actually. One who happens to be fifteen minuteste already. Something about some information that he wants to sell me that he thinks I would find interesting." Richard replied as he nced down at his watch again, he was waiting for notification that he other had arrived.
"What about you guys? Special asions I should take it since it seemed like there are quite a few of you here?" He asked looking over at Lena who he noticed had been watching him intently for some time. She looked vaguely familiar to him but it had been a few years since he hadst seen Zane so he wasn''t quite sure who she was.
"Engagement actually between these two." Zane replied as he pointed to Lena and Samuel. Ah that was why she looked familiar. Richard had met her on a few asions as he child. Certainly was an interesting catch considering he could vaguely remember how Zane had mentioned once in passing during a meeting that she wasn''t nning on ever marrying anyone.
"Good job kid." Heplimented as he ruffed Samuel''s hair since he was close enough to do so.
"What about the others sitting here, are they anyone that I should care for." Richard asked now that Zane had taken his seat again while the other still stood there waiting.
"Vedova Nera." Jovani replied, giving the other man a once over. He didn''t look that familiar to him, but he also didn''t look like someone that he should be worried about.
"Unity." Richardmented as though he already put the two pieces together. Made sense considering how close the two families looked.
"What about you? I thought thatst time we met you said that you were going to be leaving the state for elsewhere?" Zane inquired.
"If I had known that you were still sticking around, I would have reached out to you already. There''s still a lot of things that I could use your help with." Richard chuckled when he heard this, the mafia boss was always looking for something from him.
"You know how life works, things don''t always go ording a n. A few things have held me back but I don''t intend to stay here past the end of the year." Richard replied ncing over at his watch when he felt it vibrate, a sign that it was time for him to leave since his client was obviously there.
"I need to go now, but if you decide that you want to catch up some time over something that isn''t business rted, you still got my number and I would be happy to take you up on that kind offer." He shook the other''s hand once more before he left.
The princess was going to ask who he was after he had left, but didn''t get the chance as the waiter hade back at that moment with another to deliver everyone''s drinks. Seeing the club of alcohol, Samuel was second-guessing his decision while everyone else had already started drinking from their sses, even Lena.
Jovani had suggested that he order a Irish Cream Whiskey as it was supposed to be a little easier to handle due to the milk. Slightly sweeter and less bitter than other alcohols. His cousin had to convince him to take a small sip of it before he became invested in drinking it. Though it was still bitter, it wasn''t as bad as he had been expecting and the slight touch of sweetness on the end of it was rather nice.
Lena had gotten something simr, but could still taste the edge of alcohol on it as she took a deep drink from it. Perhaps not her best decision as could feel it warm her almost instantly. She needed to be careful over how much she drank quickly if she didn''t want to be the first one in the group to get buzzed.
"Isn''t anyone here eager to dance tonight?" Jovani asked after everyone had been seated for a few minutes. The only who had disappeared asionally was Julian and that was to make sure that everyone else who was showing up was behaving and not causing any trouble. Therger the crowd got, the more noise they were making.
Leo took him up on the offer as did some of the other younger members who were with him them. Lena wasn''t interested and Samuel didn''t want to go too far since he wasn''t certain yet what kind of affect that the alcohol was going to have on him. Leo tried to convince him that it would be fun despite therge crowd that were already enjoying themselves. He only left the other alone when he saw the look that his sister was giving him.
He wasn''t sure if it was just the fact that she really wasn''t thrilled to be at the night club or the fact that the engagement was now official. Whatever it was, from his perspective it seemed almost as though his sister had be more protective of her fianc¨¦ in the few hours after everything had taken ce.
He didn''t think that this was a bad thing as he knew the other man would be a good influence on his sister and perhaps help her to rx more than she usual did. He just thought that it was an interesting change that was taking effect with her.
He was only slightly starting to warm up to Jovani more after the dinner they had prior to the engagement and it seemed like he was far more harmless than the other had thought. He couldn''t yet say that he was fond of the other man or even liked hispany, but his dislike wasn''t enough to miss out the opportunity to have someone who wanted to be on the dance floor with him.
Eve didn''t want to go out with them simply because her feet were killing her from the heels she was wearing, plus she wanted to take a bit more time getting to know the Scarlet family in a setting that wasn''t business rted.
She hadn''t figured much else out about them except for the fact that it seemed the princess was the same whether she was at home or in the office. The only person that she seemed to change around was Samuel. Jovani''s cousin who she had only met on a few asions.
"What do you think about it?" Lena asked Samuel as she finished the rest of her ss. She could deal with the bitter liquid well enough if she didn''t think too much about the sharpness at the end. It certainly was starting to make her head feel fuzzy.
"It''s not bad. I don''t think that it''s something that I would find myself drinking too often though." He replied, taking another sip out of his mug. He had only drank about half of it. He was trying to gauge how quickly it might affect him based upon the way that everyone else was reacting.
"Coffee is far better." She huffed under her breath as the waiter came over to bring her another ss. She would drink the alcohol though because it was right there in front of her and helped to drown out some of the other noise that was going on around her.
Somehow in the minutes that passed, the table became more progressively empty as Eve left to find her own fianc¨¦ and Julian and Zane had to leave to speak with the club owner and go over some things with some of the other mafia members who had joined them. No fights had started, but some people were getting to be a little louder than the rest of the crowd in the room.
Lena didn''t mind this though, even after Jovani came back, it gave her more space to rx rather than worry about everyone else that was around. She couldn''t say that it was a bad day by any means. Everything had gone well. She would''ve just preferred to have been able to end it by heading back home and enjoying the few days left off without anyone else bothering her.
"The ring really suits you." She suddenlymented, looking at the ring on Samuel''s finger as he picked up his ss to take a drink. She had always admired it before, but between the alcohol and the dim club light, there was something about it that almost made it seem like it was shining more than it had before.
She reached her right hand out to brush her fingers against it after Samuel had set the ss down and held out his hand. She was certainly that he had said something to her, but her brain was too hazy to pick up on what exactly it was.
"I think that it was right the decision to make giving it to you." Samuel froze when he heard the princess say this, even though it was a little bit hard to understand her because of the way that she was speaking.
It was the first time that she had actually said something like this out loud to him.
Chapter 213 - How Far
Lena scowled when she saw the surprised look that was on Samuel''s face.
"Don''t look so surprised. I can say such things on asion as well." She huffed as she ran her finger over the ring again. It was how she had been beginning to feel more and more and thought that there was nothing wrong with verbally expressing it. Though, the alcohol might have been responsible for her being able to say it more openly.
"So if you keep drinking more, will I get to hear you more things along those lines?" Samuel teased shaking off some of the shock he had over what the princess had just admitted to.
"Don''t push your luck with me. There are a lot of other people around. I wouldn''t be a fool as to say too much because of that." She replied back waving down the waiter to ask for her ss to be refilled again and motioned for Samuel''s ss to be topped off. He was going to protest against this but the waiter had already grabbed it before he had the chance.
"But you know the music drowns out some of what can be heard around here and if I move closer like this, I''m sure that no one would be able to hear what you said." Samuel tried assuring her as he shifted seats so that he could sit on the corner sofa that was against the ck wall.
The princess nced at him out of the corner of her eye but didn''t really acknowledge how close he was to her since the waiter wasing back with their drinks. She thanked the man and handed him a ratherrge tip. She knew that they weren''t required to pay anything, but she felt better doing it anyways since he looked rather tired from all the people that he had been trying to amodate.
"So what else wouldn''t you say without everyone around?" Samuel asked as he leaned closer to the princess, cing his left hand on her knee. The dress covered rather far down on her legs when she was sitting, but didn''t make it difficult for him to slip past the fabric and ce it against her leg. Lena didn''t object to this, but he could see that a shiver must''ve gone down her spine by the way that she moved. Perhaps because his hands were cold and her skin was rather warm from all the alcohol that she had been drinking.
He took another sip out of his ss, rubbing his thumb against her leg as he waited to see if she was going to respond to the question that he asked or not. He really did want to hear what else was going through her head that she didn''t verbally convey to him.
"Do you have to keep your hand there?" She asked after a moment had passed by and he refused to move his hand from her knee was he kept looking at her expectantly. She had no chosen to say anything else and instead focused on the mug of alcohol in front of her and watching the floor where she could see her brother and Jovani messing around with the rest of the crowd.
"How about after you answer my question?" Samuel suggested as he shifted closer to her, moving his hand up her leg ever so slightly when he did this. Her father wasn''t around so he knew that there was a certain amount that he would be able to get away with because of that.
He wasn''t even sure though if Zane would stop anything from going on between them know that they were officially engaged. Or was anything beyond kissing and mild messing around considered off limits until after they were married? He tried to think but couldn''t recall due to the amount of alcohol he had if Lena had mentioned anything to him about it before or not.
"I told you there are too many people around and I don''t want to say anything else." The princess replied giving him a mild annoyed re. She didn''t like to be bugged about such things when she had already given her answer. Of course though, her fianc¨¦ had to be the persistent type of who didn''t like to let things be.
"And I told you it isn''t like anyone would be able to hear what we''re talking about with the music and how close we are. The only people who might here would be those whoe back over to the table, but they''re all safe and no one that you need to worry about hearing anything." Samuel replied in a lower tone of voice as he shifted closer to the princess. He figured that if he did this and spoke closer to her ear, she would see that there wasn''t anything to worry about.
Lena huffed but didn''t say anything else despite the fact that Samuel had almost stered himselfpletely against her side and didn''t seem like he was going to move until she spoke to him again. As she watched the other to see what he was going to do, she was only vaguely aware of the way that his hand moved on her leg. She only noticed it because of the cool trail that it was leaving on her skin.
"You know that I have nothing against biting if you keep that up." The princess warned when she felt Samuel brush his nose against her neck. The close proximity was making her body react to his touches in a way that she wasn''t used to.
"I''m not doing anything bad to you, plus you''re not really protesting against it either." Samuel murmured as dared to gently ce a kiss against the one side of her neck. It was a quick gentle touch, but enough of one to cause another shiver to go down the princess''s spine.
"Plus at this point in time, I think I''m more in a position to be the one biting you not the other way around." He pointed out as he kissed her neck again.. Since the princess wasn''t protesting to what he was doing, he didn''t think that it could be a bad idea to see how far he could get away with taking it.
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Chapter 214 - Busted
The princess made a grumble of a noise under her breath the second time that Samuel kissed her in what was apparently a sensitive spot that she didn''t know about. As she tried to form her thoughts to think about what to say, she found herself subconsciously titling her head slightly in a way that gave her fianc¨¦ better ess to her neck.
"Good girl." Samuel purred as he brushed his nose against the other''s neck again as he trialed his face down to her cor bone. The fabric of the dress was soft enough that he was able to brush it to the side slightly without using his hands so that he could reach closer to her cor bone.
He had his right arm wrapped around the princess while his left one moved further up her leg, getting closer to the hem of her underwear. He didn''t want to take things too far with her, but he was interested in knowing what he could get away with before she would protest. At which point, he would stop everything he was doing untilter point in time when they had time to discuss what kind of things were eptable.
Lena knowing that she was losing her head between the pleasure Samuel was giving her and the alcohol that she had drank. One of the reasons why she hadn''t been all that eager to go to the club in the first ce. Things were bound to happen where alcohol was involved.
She hissed when she felt a sharp pain on her neck followed by something cold and wet brush against her skin. She was fairly certain that the other had bit her, but her hands and mind didn''t cooperate enough to get her to try and push the other away. The way that Samuel had wrapped himself around her made this a rather difficult task to aplish as well.
"Brat." She hissed under breath as she moved her arm that was most freely to give a sharp tug to his hair. Not so much as to hurt him, but to let him know that she didn''t really appreciate what he had done.
Samuel didn''t seem to take it this way however and bite down on another part of her cor bone that was a little further down but soothing the pain warm skin with his tongue again. He knew that he would be able to get away with it since the cor of the other''s dress would hide the marks for tonight at least.
"If you don''t want me to keep doing what I''m doing you know that all you need to to do is tell me to stop." He murmured against her skin, ncing up to check the expression that was on the other''s face.
It was a bad choice on his part however because the moment that he saw how flushed her skin was and the look of mixed pleasure and annoyance that was on the princess'' face as she tried process what he said around what she was feeling only drove him to want to go further with her. Curse the fact that they were still at the club and there was only so much that he could get away with until they were back at the estate.
The princess felt the wave of pleasure that ran though her body and washed over her stomach when she looked down at the other''s face and saw the desire that was in his eyes. Did she also have such an expression on her face? She wasn''t sure nor did she exactly care at that moment in time. She just knew that there was something that she wanted and it was right in front of her.
Unlike her fianc¨¦, she wasn''t so concerned over the fact that there were so many people around them. Outside of her family, who would dare to tell her she couldn''t do what she wanted with the other? Besides, he had been the one to start it in the first ce rather than just letting her be.
Shifting her position, Lena leaned over so that she could kiss Samuel, not giving him much a chance to respond to the unexpected action before she nipped his bottom lip in order to gain ess to his mouth.
The kiss was rougher than some of the ones that they had shared recently with the princess from Samuel''s perspective being eager to dominant her mouth and him being a second too slow to take control the kiss. He let her have it though as she shifted so that she was practically sitting on hisp. This caused him to have to move both of his hands so that he warp them around her back and support her so that she didn''t slip off since the position was a rather awkward one.
They only broke apart when they both needed air. The break was short though before the princess kissed him again, with just as much intensity as she had done the first time, not seeming to care that the other was a bit more short of breath still than she was.
She found herself pressing herself rather tightly against his body as well, her inebriated mind only briefly processing the fact that her fianc¨¦ had be rather hard due to their most recent actions mixed with heightened desire due to the alcohol that he had. She didn''t pay much heed to it though as she was too focused on fighting with the other to keep control of the kiss. Her hands had be wrapped around the back of his neck so that she could lean in closer to him to deepen the kiss further without losing her bnce.
Things didn''t get much further than this however before heard a familiar voice speaking behind them that broke up the moment that they were having.
"Dear me, leave the two of you alone with alcohol and look at the kind of things that happen." Leo remarked, smug smirk on his face at the position he had caught the other two in.
"You two would be so busted if it was anyone else."
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Chapter 215 - Enough
"Feck off." Lena growled at her brother, turning around to re him before she flipped him off. She was enjoying herself at the moment and in no mood to be interrupted by her father.
"Easy there little tiger." Leoughed as he held up his hand in a defensive manner.
"I just thought that you might want to break it up before everyone elsees back. Not sure that you want to be giving everyone else a show." He teased, noticing that Samuel seemed to have a better understanding of what he was saying than the princess or did. Or perhaps he cared more about maintaining a certain level of decorum and dignity around her family.
"He does have a point." Samuel agreed in a low tone of voice causing the princess to look back over at him, she now didn''t look very pleased with him either.
"So easy for the one who started everything to agree when it''s time to stop it after provoking me this far." She grumbled as she tried to lean down to kiss him again. She didn''t really care what her brother was talking about, she wasn''t done with her fianc¨¦ yet and wasn''t really concerned about who saw what. If they decided to gawk at what was going on between her and Samuel, that was her choice, but not fault of her own.
Samuel used his hand to try and stop the princess from kissing. This ended up being a bad decision however as she bit his fingers rather firmly, annoyed that they had gotten in the way of the target that she was aiming for. It wasn''t enough pressure to break the sign, but enough to feelfortable.
"Sweetheart, why don''t we break it up for now and we can do whatever once we get back to the estate? I think that enough has been going on for now." Samuel tried to reason as he shifted into a position that allowed him to sit further up forcing Lena to have to shift her weight so that she didn''t slide off of him.
She didn''t seem all that pleased with thispromise however as she brushed her tongue over the fingers that were in her mouth causing a shiver of pleasure to go down Samuel''s spine. She certainly wasn''t helping to steady his resolve to stop what they had been doing even though Leo was watching what was going on.
Being referred to as ''sweetheart'' only added to Lena''s annoyance. She had never been found of that nickname even if her fianc¨¦ was the one addressing her as such. She also had no intention of letting go of his fingers until she had gotten what she wanted from.
This just created a more awkward situation for the younger who wasn''t quite sure what he should since he only had ess to one of his hands and he feared that if he tried to pull the other one back that the princess might bite down even harder on it than she currently was.
"We would be able to do a lot more than we possibly could here if we stop now and wait." He murmured as he leaned into ce a kiss near her ear.
"But if you don''t give me my hand back, I can''t do anything now orter that you might like better." He tried to keep his voice low enough as he whispered in the other''s ear so that Leo wouldn''t hear what he was saying.
He wouldn''t say that he felt mortified being spotted in this current position by the younger brother. It wasn''t however how he had been expecting the night to end. He figured that they would all have a little bit of fun before heading back. Most important part of that which fell through was the fact that he had ended up drinking when he said that he wasn''t interested in alcohol. That was Jovani''s fault through for pushing him until he agreed to get something so that the other would leave him alone.
Lena didn''t seem all that thrilled over what Samuel was saying, but she could she the reasoning in why he might want his hand back. Plus, it could potential create the opening that she was looking for to kiss him again if he wasn''t expecting her toply with his request so easily.
It didn''t work the way that she had expected however for the moment that she had released his fingers, Samuel moved so that he could safely deposit the princess into the seat next to him much to her annoyance.
The dark look that she fixed her fianc¨¦ with expressed how upset she was over the fact that he had tricked her into getting off of him by his simply promise of something else.
He wasn''t sure where he shouldugh or worry that she might retaliate against himter for this if by chance she happened to remember what happened in the morning.
Leo on the other hand found the situation to be highly amusing and took a photo of it to go along with the collection of other photos he had taken during times when he didn''t think that Lena or Samuel was paying attention to what he was doing.
He knew that it wouldn''t do well as a future option for ckmail, but at least it might be something fun to tease her about in the future since it was one of the rare times that she let her guard down enough to behave in this manner.
"I did tell you that we could continueter once we get back to the estate." Samuel told the other as he reached his hand out to brush her messy hair out of her face. The movement plus the sweat from their prior actions had caused some of it to stick to her face.
She refused however to allow him to touch it and moved the hair out of her face using her own hand, her expression not changing much as she reached for her ss to take another drink.
"Spoilsport." She huffed under her breath she took a drink. The little bit of fun that she had been having had officially been ruined by him. He had only barely caught what she had said, but it was enough to make himugh.
"Are you really pouting because we are having to put a pause on things here for now? I''ll admit that it is my bad for starting this without really thinking about what direction it might go in." He told the princess trying to sooth her even though he didn''t think it was possible.
"I think though that if you were more sober that you wouldn''t considering continuing our previous actions with everyone around who could see what is going"
"You think so?" She asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked at him. The desire in her eyes hadn''t dampened in the slightest despite how annoyed she was with the other.
"Has people being around in the past stopped me from doing what I want to? You think if my father or anyone else around here saw what was going on that they would be bothered to the point of interfering or stopping things before they went further?" She asked, looking at him very intently as the annoyance seeped into her tone of voice.
"Whether they are here or not wouldn''t stop me from doing something that I want to do. Even you yourself pointed out that if anyone happened to be around, they wouldn''t really be aware of what was going on between us because the music and othermotion was too loud. Or was that just something that you said at the spur of the moment to get me to do what you wanted?" Samuel wasn''t quite sure how to respond to this since it seemed he had sessful set off one of the princess''s bad moods that he hadn''t seen in a while.
When Samuel didn''t reply to what she had said, she tsked before turning away from him again only to re at her drink as she also ignored her brother who also seemed uncertain how to proceed with the current situation.
Leo shrugged as he looked over Samuel who had turned his attention over to the brother who he thought might have an idea as to what do about Lena''s current change in mood. He didn''t of course because this kind of thing wasn''t something that he had dealt with in the past with his sister.
"I think that it''s something that you''re just going to have to figure out how to sort on your own considering you started it. Everyone else should be back soon though so then it''ll be time to leave." Leo told the other before he turned to leave again. He didn''t want to waste the few minutes he knew was left of the fun that he could have before it was timeto leave.
This left Samuel alone to figure out how to sooth the annoyed princess who seemed to no longer want anything to do with him after he moved away from her rather than continuing what they had previously doing.
A/N: if you want smut next chapter-ment yes or no or you can send gifts as another way to say yes and to let me know.
Chapter 216 - Should Have Had Some Fun
A/N: Since there was noment on way or another- no smut this time around unless readers ask for it.
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After Leo had left, Samuel was alone with the brooding princess. She had finished her third or was it fourth ss? He had lost track with everything that was going on. Even though it was empty, she kept her gaze focused on the ss rather than paying any attention to the other.
The re on her face indicated that she was still annoyed over what had happened. He wasn''t quite sure what he should do to fix it however. He got the feeling that any kind of contact would get them back to square one again. Most likely though with an angry little devil who wouldn''t be as gentle with him as before.
It wasn''t that he would''ve minded this as he was still feeling fairly turned on over what happened himself. It was his concern over who else wasing to unexpectedlye over and see what was going on. He wasn''t certain everyone else would take as kindly to the situation as her brother had.
The only other one who might have would''ve been Jovani. He also knew though that his older cousin would likely egg on the princess to take things a step further since he seemed to enjoy pushing her buttons. Speaking of the devil..
"Why the pensive tension over here between the two lovebirds?" He asked as he approached the table. He hade back to check on them because of something that Leo had mentioned to him.
He didn''t quite tell the other man what happened, but it wasn''t hard to guess with the scene in front of him. No wonder the younger brother had asked him toe over. The fianc¨¦s were still rather inexperienced when it came to certain areas of life.
"Nothing that''s of much concern to you." Lena replied, her tone didn''t hold as much annoyance as it had when her brother hade over. She was slurring quite a bit however because of therge amount of alcohol that she had had.
He nced over at his cousin and raised an eyebrow, a small smirk at the corner of his lips. He hadn''t missed the two rather pronounced marks that were on Lena''s neck when she shifted position. The waiter hadn''te back yet to fill up her ss so there was no reason for her to being sitting so forward at the table thus she decided to lean back against the sofa.
Samuel gave the other uncertain look in response to the unspoken question. He had an idea what the other was thinking and evidentially already knew what had been going on. Thus, the younger cousin ended up mouth ''I don''t know what to do'' to Jovani who looked between him and the princess.
Out of the three of them he certainly had more rtionship experience. Eve however was nothing like the princess. She was a fairly easy woman to understand and he didn''t have to do much to make her content. Even when they did argue, it was never something that they couldn''t talk through and fix.
Give her what she wants?" Jovani suggested in a low tone of voice so only his cousin could hear what he was saying. Samuel made a face though that told him that as likely not the best idea.
He nced over at Lena again. Even though her eyes were closed he could tell that she wasn''t sleeping based upon the way that she was breathing.
"You''re going to have figure these type of things out when they came up. The rtionship conversation is going to have to be had sooner rather thanter now that the two of you are one step closer to marriage." Jovani told his younger cousin as he patted him on the shoulder.
"Right now though, you''re going to have just let the alcohol work itself out of both of your systems. Keep things low key and tryter. I believe the rest of the family ising back now anyways so it''ll just be about time to leave." He was right when Samuel turned to look in the direction that the other was paying attention to, he could see that Zane was approaching while talking with Julius.
It was hard to tell by the expressions that was on their faces whether or not they had had a lot to drink while they were away from the table. If he had to guess the answer would''ve been a yes. They were likely just better at holding their alcoholpared to him who hadn''t ever drank that much.
"It''s getting ratherte. I presume everyone is about ready to check out for the night?" Zane asked when he came back over to the table. Jovani decided to sit down next to his cousin to make it seem less like there was something suspicious going on as it mighte across if he was standing there and talking with the other.
"I believe so. Seems that one over there might have had a little too much to drink." Jovani replied as he pointed over to Lena who was still resting against the back of the sofa with her eyes closed and head tilted.
"I didn''t have nearly enough to drink." The princess replied without opening her eyes. Despite her small size, she was actually fairly good at holding her alcohol. She had learned how to because certain people further up thought that it would a deficit for her as a woman if she didn''t have good alcohol tolerance which could impact her ability to stay focused.
"Is everyone else already starting to leave?" She asked as she opened her eyes to look over at her father even though it was rather hard for her to focus at that moment.
"Some of the more troublesome ones are. The rest don''t think that it''ste enough to be leaving yet. They''ll probably stay till near morning." the mafia boss replied as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. He didn''t often smoke, but Richard had offered the packet to him one he bumped into him a second. Something about wanting to get rid of them so he would stop smoking.
"Well if you need to stay for a while longer and make sure that there aren''t any problems, I would be more than happy to watch over these two and take them back with me. Either to the estate or they could even crash the night at the hotel I''m staying at. I doubt it would be a problem to get another room." Jovani suggested, an idea already going through his head as he nced over Samuel to see what kind of expression was on his cousin''s face when he said this.
Zane seemed slightly hesitant about it. He didn''t distrust Jovani as much as he had before. He did know however that his daughter wasn''t that fond of the other and wasn''t quite sure what she would think if she didn''t remember agreeing to go to the hotel with him.
"It''s fine. He can take us if he wants." The princess replied without her father having to say anything about the matter.
"It''s probably closer than the estate at this point and Clive can just pick me up in the morning." She reasoned, running a hand through her hair as she sat up. It wasn''t the most desired situation, but she saw the sense in it with how much everyone else had been drinking as well.
Clive or her father were the only two people she trusted to drive her anywhere if they had been drinking. She knew though that Clive was busy with other things and if her father was sticking around, the other would want to be nearby in the event that anything happened.
"See? Won''t be a problem at all. Alonso can drive us too since I''m pretty certain that he hasn''t been drinking anything to night with everything going on." Jovani remarked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He would just then have to tell Eve what was going on so that she wouldn''t walk into anything unexpected.
"You know though you can contact me if anything happens or you change your mind at any point." Zane reminded the two of them.
His daughter waved him off though as she stood up knowing that it would take her a moment to step the world around her from spinning after everything that she had been drinking. She also shifted the cor of her dress ever so slightly to cover the marks that she knew were there.
If Samuel wasn''t worried about how she would''ve reacted, he''d havee over to help support her when he noticed how unsteady she was on her feet. He got the feeling though that Lena wouldn''t have epted his help even if he had offered it to her.. Perhaps it would''ve been better if he just had some fun with her rather than pushing back against it.
Chapter 217 - Which Is It
Lena didn''t want anyone to help her as she walked out of the club. A number of mafia members stepped her and Samuel on the way out to say one more set of congrattions to them as a sign of respect before they left.
Lena didn''t say much and mostly stuck to either shaking their hands of giving a small nod of her head in response as a thank you for their kind words. Samuel took care of most of the verbalmunication even though it was evident a number of them were still unsure of what to think of him.
Alonso had no problem driving them back to the hotel and already had the car ready to take them there. Jovani walked a few steps behind the two of them in order to watch out for them in case anything happened as he doubted either one had enough awareness about them to even recognize if something was wrong.
Lena was the first one to get into the car and took the seat on the far right next to the door so that she could look out the window during the drive. Samuel decided to take the seat next to the opposite passenger door even though he wanted to sit next to Lena as he wasn''t sure how she would take to this. She still wasn''t saying much to him even though they were now outside of the club.
Jovani sat up front with Alonso as to not cause a disturbance and also so that he could call the hotel and make ast-minute request for an additional room for the night. He knew that even though it was ratherte, they wouldn''t deny his request as he had enough money to cover any additional fees and trouble making such a request would cost.
Lena was annoyed but she couldn''t exactly say that she was upset with Samuel. She understood his hesitancy with her family and other unfamiliar people being around which wasn''t the problem. The real issue was the fact that he took things to the point he did but that there was no follow-through from him even though he started it.
She wasn''t the kind of person who took well to those kind of things. It was either that everything was on the table or it wasn''t. There was no in-between especially not when she was in the state that she currently was.
"You know that you don''t have to keep looking over at me like that. If you have something you want to say, you can just say it." Lena didn''t have to look away from the window to feel whenever Samuel''s eyes were on her. His bodynguage also gave away exactly how anxious? guilty? he was feeling.
"You seem upset still and I just want to apologize for what happened." Samuel replied as he nervously licked his bottom lip. He didn''t exactly think that it would that he managed to make her upset on the night of their engagement.
"Upset?" Lena asked as she turned to look at the other with a raised eyebrow.
"Sammy-boy. If I was upset with you, I wouldn''t have let things drop where they were at no matter who came over." She replied.
"Am I annoyed with you? Absolutely. You purposely messed around with something not knowing what to expect while we''ve both been drinking and then you retracted half-way through." She exined.
"Your brother came over though and I realized that I might have been taking things too far." Samuel admitted. It was the one thing that made him hesitate. What her family might have thought about what they were doing with so many other people around and not much forethought about it.
"My brother is no threat." The princess rolled her eyes at this. Certainly Leo could be annoying at times and may have on asion teased her about getting her in trouble with her father. However, he wouldn''t actually say anything to the mafia boss unless it was over something serious. Whatever happened between her and Samuel didn''t ssify as serious unless the rtionship was going to be called off or one of them genuinely hurt the other.
"He wouldn''t have done anything except for be annoying. If you handle him the way I do, he would''ve left anyways." she pointed out.
"See Sam, you would''ve been perfectly fine to continue with the make-out session with nothing to worry about." Jovani teased. He winced slightly andughed when Lena kicked the back of his seat.
"No asked you to get involved in this." She red at the back of the front passenger seat even though she knew that Jovani wasn''t going to be able to see the face that she was making.
I''m just lending my support for your desires to be taken care of. Nothing more than that." The older cousin replied, but wisely became quiet after this knowing that Lena wouldn''t refrain from kicking his seat again or worse if he annoyed her too much.
Even though he had enjoyed what was going on, there was still a small part of him that felt conflicted over what had happened. It was only natural that he wanted to take things a step further in the rtionship that he had with the princess. He found her natural reactions to enthralling in a way that made him want to take things further to see what other kind of reactions he could get out of the other.
But what happened at the night club felt different from what he had done back at the estate with Lena. Somehow his emotions and desire felt far stronger and he wasn''t certain that it was just because of the alcohol.
"Stop thinking so much about everything and just whatever it is that your inclined to do in the future. It isn''t some life or death matter." Lena huffed at Samuel when she saw the pensive look on his face.
"Because if you don''t, I won''t be so gentle the next time that I bite you."
"Like what you did to me neck?" Samuel asked, teasing slightly but also out mild curiosity.
"Are you tempting me?" She asked with narrow eyes when he reached his hand up to brush the spot near the cor of his suit. Even though a day had already passed since she bit him. The mark was still a touch raised and noticeably red when one got close enough to look at it.
"Do you think that this is teasing?" Samuel asked as he titled his head to the side slightly in order to expose more of his neck but not so much so that he couldn''t keep an eye on the princess to see what her reaction was.
Rather than verbally answering his question, the princess let out a low grumble of a growl as she watched the other. If it wasn''t for the seatbelt, she would''ve already been over to his seat to show him what she thought.
"Do you want to find out what would happen if you keep doing that?" she asked in a low, slightly husky tone of voice as she kept her gaze locked on the other. The seatbelt was only as much of an obstacle as she wanted it to be if her fianc¨¦ kept pushing his luck with what he was doing. Plus she knew that they were also getting rather close to the hotel.
Alonso gave Jovani an uncertain look. He felt somewhat out of ce being around with whatever was going on between the newly engaged couple. The other man though just waved him off and indicated for him to pay attention to the road and not on what was going on behind him.
The older cousin was actually quite enjoying the interaction that was going on between the princess and his cousin. It was far better than the tension that had engulfed the car for the first half of the drive.
Plus, he didn''t think that there would be much harm in the two of them having some fun here and there now that they were officially engaged. It wasn''t likely that they were going to end up breaking up either would negated some of the concerns that others might have about the current situation taking ce.
He also couldn''t deny that it was interesting to see Lena and Samuel interact after the two of them had been drinking. He already had an idea of how the princess would be considering how her true personality tended to shine through at odd moments.
Samuel though, he hadn''t expected the other to be more brazen after he had been drinking nor as much of a tease as he came across.
"Sammy, you have until the count of three to tell me which your answer is or you might not like what happens if you keep doing that." He heard the princess warn from behind him. By the slightmotion he heard, he suspected that she had moved her dress to make it easier to reach the seatbelt buckle.
Thankfully, Alonso was a rather safe driver which meant that there was no real reason to stop whatever was going to go on behind them.. It was also a good thing Jovani surmised that he had decided to get only one hotel room rather than two.
Chapter 218 - You Tempt Me Too Much
A/N: So before we get to the next chapter a few things to put out there.
First I want to say readers can thank David_Reed & Zachary_Patterson who are two of my lovely readers of this novel for asking/requesting this chapter.
Second- I want to put out there the importance again of joining my discord server to makemunication easier. link can be found in synopsis or November announcement. certain words causements to be gged and deleted. Not an issue with discord. If server link doesn''t work you can pm my ount directly at: Dame.Butterfly.94#4238. Now I hope you all will enjoy the content ahead.
**WARNING SEXUAL CONTENT AHEAD** It could be two chapters
The hotel came up sooner than expected before anything else could happen between Samuel and Lena though theter was close to breaking point with the way that her fianc¨¦ was teasing her. How far he hade from the shy, uncertain boy she had first met a few months prior. With the way he was going there was a chance that he might be able to in the future stand on equal footing with her.
Though that part would be dependent how well his training went. He still had a long way to go before he could physical keep up with the princess inbat and whether or not he would ever be able to use a gun was still questionable.
Jovani had expected to have to help one or the other get out of the car both to due to the alcohol and howte it was getting rather quickly. Lena refused of course. Her mind wasn''t any more clear than it had been before, but she was getting used to the fuzzy, disoriented way the alcohol made her feel so it wasn''t as hard for her to keep her footing on the ground.
Samuel on the other hand epted his cousin''s hand simply because he didn''t want to risk being thrown off bnce and falling while he was still wearing his nice suit. Jovani took this opportunity to whisper something in the other''s ear that the princess wasn''t able to hear though she saw what he did. He would regret itter if it turned out he was looking to cause problems again.
Even though it had been on such short notice, the new room was already ready and the receptionist was quick to hand off the key to it while Jovani made sure that everything had been correctly put in ce. He opted to give them something rather nice as his own way of offering congrattions to their engagement.
He didn''t bother going in to see how the room looked however and only made sure that he two made it safely inside and had everything they needed before he disappeared. He had other things to attend to and wanted to give them the privacy that he knew they would need.
Samuel was more aware of what kind of room his cousin had booked for them than Lena had been. The movement had caused her to feel more unsettled so she didn''t really care to pay attention to the interior as she waited for everything to stop spinning.
The red d¨¦cor of the room along with the rose petals and heart shaped pillows that adorned the bed told him exactly what his cousin had been thinking about. Even though the two of them weren''t newly weds, it the room did provide the right kind of atmosphere for what had been going on between the two. Plus there was a rather pleasant scent throughout the room that Samuel found to be rather soothing even though he couldn''t quite put his finger on what it reminded him off.
He didn''t get to think very hard about it before he found himself pushed against the bedroom by the princess. She still had quite a bit of strength in her despite how much she had been drinking.
"You do know that you really tempt me too much." Her tone was rather slurred as she spoke, but he could still understand what she was saying. He didn''t get a chance to reply however before she pulled his tie in order to aid in lower his head down closer to her level. One of the only times she would really hate the difference in height between them.
Samuel wasn''t caught so off guard this time by the action and reacted to the kiss, pushing back against the other slightly to try and take control which the princess didn''t seem keen to give him.
Pushing herself further against him, she wrapped her arms around his neck so that she dig her fingers into his back in order to pull him closer. Samuel could already feel himself getting hard from this action and the body heat that was generating between them.
Not wanting the other to fully take the lead, he pushed himself off from against the door as their tongues battled for dominance. Hisck of experience put him at a slight disadvantage with how assertive Lena was being.
He also had to be careful moving as neither one of them had the equilibrium to handle anything that was too quick without the risk of falling over.
When they had to break the kiss to breath, Samuel didn''t hesitate to lower his head further so that he could kiss the other''s neck as he wrapped his arms around her as a form of support so that he could move them closer to the bed. It would be the safest destination for the two them.
Lena felt the shiver that went through her body as the other peppered kisses all over her neck. She only let him do this as she was too focused on moving with this body so that she didn''t fall over.
She had to close her eyes though as a slight gasp escaped her mouth as she fell back against the plush mattress. She didn''t think they were as close to it as they had been.
Samuel loomed over her as desire burned in both of their eyes. They both knew what they wanted, the question was the best way to make it happen quickly. Clothes were an obstacle that had to go. The dress was less of a problem which is why Lena started working on undoing the buttons on the bottom while Samuel worked on the ones at the top. Once the top was off and buttons on his dress shirt were next to go, he leaned down to capture the other''s lips again, less gently than the first time as he pushed against the princess so that she was forced toy back against the mattress.
Pushing her hips up, she rubbed up against his groin as closely as she could with the fabric of her dress between them as he began to undo his tie. She could feel how hard he was through his pants.
"What are you doing?" Lena asked somewhat confused and a little uncertain when her fianc¨¦ suddenly captured both her hands and carefully tied her wrists with the tie that he had just taken off. She hadn''t been quite certain of what exactly he had been doing until she realized that she could no longer freely move her hands.
"Trying something a little different." Samuel replied as he moved her arms with his one of his hands so pin them above her head as crashed his lips against hers again before she had a chance toin over what was going on.
The tie would only be a temporary thing as he would need to move her handster so that he could properly remove her dress. He didn''t want to identally ruin it since it was new and oh so lovely.
Lena wasn''t quite certain how to feel over the suddenck of control she found herself having simply because her hands had been tied. The pleasure pooling in her stomach and lower down told her though that she wasn''t exactly against it.
Mostly, it was a frustration caused by the fact that she couldn''t move or react as freely as she would have liked to. Instead, Samuel became the one who was setting the pace for everything that was happening between the two of them.
When she voiced her frustration in the form a low growl when they stopped kissing for the fourth time, Samuel only chuckled as he kissed her cheek before gently nipping her ear.
"Patience. Good things are yet toe." He promised as he moved his hands to slip underneath her dress so that he could pull it up. If it weren''t for the alcohol, he wasn''t certain that he would have the ability to go as far as he was so quickly.
Once he saw her body and what the princess was wearing underneath- the rest of the rational thoughts that had been going through his mind quickly left and the other thing that he was left focusing on was the body in front of him and all the things he wanted to do it to once he had removed thest few things that were in his way from getting what he wanted.
The first thing that would need to go would the troublesome sleek silk looking panties that were blocking the treasure he wanted to try.. The smell of Lena''s arousal was getting stronger by the second and he was honestly curious to know how she would react to such stimtion.
Chapter 219 - Deep
**WARNING SEXUAL CONTENT AHEAD**
LLena felt her frustration building as each second passed. Samuel was taking things far too slow for her liking and the way her dress was hiked up made it hard for her to see.
He had somehow managed to wrap the makeshift tie around bed''s headboard which limited her range of motion even further.
She felt her breathing hitch in throat as she felt the other''s hands slip under the waistband of her panties, brushing mere inches away from her throbbing clit.
"You shouldn''t be so tense when I haven''t even done anything yet." Samuel teased when he noticed how tensely the princess was holding her body.
"That''s exactly the problem." She hissed back, tugging to free her hands but to no avail.
"I can see exactly why your brother would call you a little tiger." Heughed.
"I wonder how fiesty you will be after this." He mused as he brushes his fingers her pussy, dipping them slightly between the folds but only for a brief second to tease her. He was amused to see how wet she already was despite them not doing anything yet.
"Such a naughty girl. Already wet and I haven''t even done anything yet." He teased, tsking at the end as brushed his fingers over her pussy again with his left hand, dipping his fingers in further as he used his to spread her legs a little further apart.
"Naughty? Oh keep teasing like that and you can find out exactly how bad I can be when I get my hands." Sheughed. Her tone was huskier than it had been before which he hoped was a good sign.
He presumed by the way her body reacted that she was enjoying what was going on between them.
"And that''s exactly why I''m not going to risk freeing your hands." He replied as he dipped his head down.
Pushing her legs further apart to gain better ess, he brushed his tongue from the top of her clit to the bottom. He didn''t miss the way her body rippled and tensed underneath him or the way she bucked her hips slightly to get closer to the pleasurable sensation. He would have to keep it in mind forter.
I think someone likes that." He chuckled in a low voice as he repeated the action for a second time, this using his tongue to probe the entrance of her pussy.
"Stop that." The princess ordered in a short gasp of a voice as her back arched in response to the pleasure that she was feeling.
Samuel couldn''t help smirking at this. At least he knew that he was doing the right things.
"I don''t think that I will." He replied back as he shifted his position in order to be able to kiss her again.
The moment their lips connected, Lena found herself at the disadvantage when Samuel unexpectedly thrust two fingers into her tight pussy.
She felt the mixture of pain and pleasure travel up her spine as she arched her back. The other used this as a chance to take the kiss over.
The kiss was shorter than their previous one as Samuel wanted to use this opportunity to explore the rest of her body.
"Don''t. You. Dare." Lena warned between each panting breathe as she felt her fiance''s nose brush against the side of her neck rather far up. She knew that if he bit here it would be quite noticeable to anyone else.
"Very well then." He replied though slightly disappointed as he quite enjoyed the reaction that she had given him in the club in response to this.
Instead, he continued to scissor her with his two fingers as he searched for her sweet spot while moving her dress further up so that he could have ess to bra and pert nipples that were hidden behind them.
He couldn''t deny it was a bit of a challenge to move her bra with only one hand, but he didn''t want to stop what he was doing as with each thrust of his fingers, he could feel that she was getting closer to get climax by how tight she was getting.
A mixture between a gasp and a moan escaped the Princess''s lips when Samuel''s mouth began to attack her right breast, nipping it gently before sucking on it. The foreign feeling of intense pleasure was making it hard for her to focus on anything else except for what his fingers and mouth were doing to her.
When he moved to her left breast, he pulled his fingers out causing a noise of protest to escape the other''s mouth. This noise made him smirk as he nipped down a little harder on her right nipple. He could feel as she tugged against her bindings again, obviously wanting more than what he was giving her.
"Patience, we don''t want things to end too quickly now do we?" He asked, looking up at her to see her expression. She looked rather annoyed and that expression was what drove him to start peppering little bit marks all over her chest that he knew would leave marks but that no one else would be able to see.
He couldn''t deny that he was enjoying the power shift and having control at that moment in time. This feeling only heightened when he brought his fingers up to his mouth that had been in her pussy to clean off the juices that had been left and he noticed how bright red her face got when he did this. Things such as that had that kind of reaction on her? Something he would have to explore at ater point in time.
Right now he was just impatient to get inside her. He was throbbing rather painfully himself and the tightness of the work pants wasn''t helping him. He had to carefully undo his belt before he could any further in order to be able to take his pants off.
He would have thought about giving the princess a show if it weren''t for the fact that he didn''t have the patience for such a thing, his arousal was starting to cloud his mind and only one thing was going to be able to fix it.
Lena''s mind was too hazy to form any kind of coherent thoughts or words as she watched Samuel take off his pants. She knew what was going to being next but didn''t care to stop it. Her body wanted this as much as his did.
Samuel shivered when he felt the cool air touch his lower body. He knew it was only going to be temporary however as he was about to enter something much warmer.
He shifted both their positions and moved her legs so that he would have easier ess to what he wanted.
He leaned up to kiss the princess again, making sure that her attention had been shifted to focus on this pleasure before he bucked his hips forward and thrust his entire length to the hilt into her in one quick move.
The princess wasn''t expecting this and ended up throwing her back as her back arched from the unexpected pain.
She let out a his followed by a small whimper and Samuel could vaguely make out the word ''deep'' escape her lips as she tried to adjust to how she felt with him buried deep inside her.
"It''s okay." Samuel murmured as he kissed her neck. He could tell by how tight her body was that it wasn''t yet time to move. He needed to wait until he felt her rx.
He didn''t wait for her verbal response however and based it upon how she reacted when he shifted his weight. Her breathing was still elevated and her eyes were closed but she didn''t protest which he took as a sign that it was okay to continue.
Pulling out half way, he pushed back in, rocking his hips as he did this at an angle he presumed would hit her pleasure spot.
He knew he had hit the mark when Lena moaned and her body shuddered. She had been trying to watch what he was doing, but her eyes were too unfocused to pay much attention as her arousal built.
"You like that?" He murmured against her neck as he moved his hands down to grip her hips.
He intended to fully the pace that things went.
He knew though that although she was close to cumming this time that things wouldn''t end here for the night. There were still many hours left before the sun would be rising.
With each thrust her moans got louder and her pussy clenched tighter around him, the sound and sensation drawing him closer to his own climax. He kissed her again, nipping her lip to take control of it as he knew they were both at the edge.
"Cum for me.." He whispered in her ear as he pulled back from the kiss as he got ready to thrust into her onest time.
Chapter 220 - Odd Feeling
Lena woke up the next morning feeling off and she knew that it wasn''t just because of all the alcohol she had drank. It was because of everything that had gone one between her and Samuel. Not exactly how she intended to end the night, but there was nothing for her toin about.
Her dress hadn''t been ruined. It was discarded to the night stand on the left side of the room and had been reced by a bathrobe at some point in night. Which point it was, she couldn''t quite remember but wouldn''tin as it was rather fluffy andfortable.
Her fianc?? was still asleep next to her but that didn''t stop her from getting up and out of the bed. She figured he would still sleep for a while longer as he wasn''t as used to alcohol as she was and there was no real reason for him to be up early since they didn''t have anything nned for the day.
The princess wanted to take a shower however. Her head hurt and her body ached not in the same bad way her head did however. Still, she knew though that a shower would be a great deal of help.
On her way to the bathroom which was located across from the bed and hear the door, she didn''t miss the two sses of water, each with a pair of what looked to be pain killers next to it. Lena''s ss was the only one that had a note underneath it.
''I hope you enjoyed the gift. You can thank me for itter.'' -J
Reading the thing made her scowl even as she popped the painkillers in her mouth and drained half the ss of water. Of course it was his fault and she would kill him for itter if she had the chance.
Her desire to kill the older cousin only increased when entered the bathroom and took off the robe after she had started running the water. There was hardly a inch of her body that hadn''t been covered by Samuel. Some of the marks had even made it up to his neck which she was certain that she had cussed him out at least three different times for attempting to bite her there.
Running her hand over some of the marks, she sighed when she noticed most of the abuse had been concentrated on or around her chest. He had at least to listen to her but it was rather hard with the position that they had found themselves in.
The one thing she could be thankful of was that the tie that had been used to hold her wrists hadn''t left any noticeable marks.
She didn''t care so much if her family noticed what had happened. She was more concerned that others either above her or potential enemies would notice the marks and treat it as though she was being unprofessional about everything.
Even in the mafia world there was standard for a man and another for a woman. Even if it was unspoken, people were still held to it and treated a certain way if they didn''t follow it.
There was nothing that could be done about it now however she concluded as she stepped into the shower. She would just use makeup or figure out another way to cover the marks and hope that no one noticed.
She knew there was going to be blood as soon as she started washing off but didn''t pay much attention the dark pink colored water as her mind was focused on other things.
She didn''t know what time it was, but figured she should update her father and Clive as soon as she had gotten out.
One or both of them would be worried if there was no reply after a certain even though they were both aware of the level of alcohol that had been consumed.
She stayed in the shower until almost all the warm water had run out. It was enough to help her body rx and work out some of the aches she was feeling. The ache in her lower back was the only one she knew would take a while to workout.
It was only after she had gotten out and was drying off that she noticed the two outfits that had been set aside for her and Samuel.
Jovani really had thought everything through when he offered to get them a hotel room.
She had just been too wasted to notice what he had been saying on the phone while they were driving over.
Next time she wouldn''t be so quick to take him up on such an offer if he was going to try and scheme the same thing again.
Stepping out of the shower, she made sure to leave the door cracked as to not wake up Samuel who was still wrapped up in the nkets.
This also meant that she had to be certain to be quiet as she fumbled around on her side of the bed for her phone. She needed that to contact her father.
She managed to locate it without waking the other up but waited to check it until she had stepped out of the room on the off chance it would make a notification sound when she unlocked it.
Looking at it, she was surprised to see that ur was only half past ten in the morning. She had been expecting it to be farter than that. Still, she had missed a few texts from her father which she quickly replied to and moved to message Clive next.
At least with how early it still was, she would still be able to get coffee and breakfast which she was certain would help her headache immensely. She would just ask for something that had extra caffeine.
Lena was rather thankful that the breakfast buffet area was mostly cleared out. It meant that she didn''t have to worry about being around too many people after the night that she had.
The coffee was a weing warm relief even if it didn''t taste nearly as good as what she was used to Ryan making for her. It couldn''t be helped since what was served at hotels was usually mass brewed which removed some of the rich vor.
"Fancy seeing you here for breakfast. I had presumed you wouldn''t be up yet for a while longer." Hearing Jovani''s voiceing from her right side brought her annoyance back again.
"I thought that I was going to be getting a chance to dine in peace this morning without having to deal with you again so soon." The princess replied back.
"And I thought that the morning after was supposed to help put you in a better mood." He teased back as he took the seat across from her with his own tray of breakfast.
It was evident that he had gotten up not that long ago himself but his reasons for being upte where of a different nature from Lena''s.
"I was in a much better mood until I had to see you again." She snipped back, as she took another drink of her coffee before turning her attention to the porridge and toast she had dished up. She had wanted to eat something else, but knew her stomach would need something lighter until her hangover waspletely gone.
"Oh how you wound me after everything I did for youst night. I thought for certain you would appreciate me a little more after that." There was a hint of hurt in his voice but as far as the other could tell by the expression on his face he was only put the act on.
"After everything you do? You mean pushing something to happen between me and Sammy-boy with the room you set us up? I''m not sure that''s exactly something to thank you for considering the underhanded method you used to get things to go further." She replied.
"You mean the aphrodisiac? Well that wasn''t entirely me. The staff asked about it when they were getting everything together for the room and I thought that it might add a nice touch to the chemistry that was already going on between the two of you." he replied, a proud little smirk on his lips as he started to eat his own breakfast.
"You should know that you shouldn''t offer or give things that aren''t asked for. That wasn''t exactly how I intended things to endst night." She told. Did she regret it? Absolutely not. She had just hoped to have a better handle on the strange emotions she was feeling before anything happened between her and Samuel.
She wasn''t entirely to me however for the way things proceeded. Jovani had a part to y in everything and her fianc?? wasn''t that eager to stop once they had started things in the room again.. The situation could only be left for what it was and let everything else move on around it.
Chapter 221 - That Hurt
"Sometimes though the best gifts are the ones that aren''t asked for." Jovani pointed out. He had gotten far less to eat than Lena had. He wasn''t a huge fan of breakfast but Alonso would usually get on his case if he didn''t eat a little something as the day would unexpectedly end up rolling by with him forgetting to eat until dinner.
"Perhaps there are some people who enjoy surprise like that. I''m not one of those people. I prefer to be asked instead." The princess replied as she got up so that she could refill her coffee cup again. It was slowly starting to get rid of the terrible headache she had.
"Are you sure though? It seemed like you quite enjoyed it if these marks are anything to go by." The sudden voice next to her ear and the breath that tickled against the side of her neck caught Lena by surprise. Before she could catch herself, her reflexes had kicked in and she ended up pping the other on the right side of his face.
Jovani let out a hiss of pain as he stumbled back, barely managing to not trip over his feet.
"Dear Princess, you really are quite strong." he hadn''t initially been intending to say anything to the other as he waited for her to finish refilling her coffee cup so he could do the same. He couldn''t resist teasing her though when he caught sight of some of the hickeys that were around her cor bone. If he had known she would''ve reacted that way, he would''ve stopped himself.
"That rather hurt." He winced as he looked over at the other who had a rather murderously re on her face.
"Then I suggest you don''t do something like that again." She seethed back. Really, if it wasn''t for the fact that Samuel was fond of his cousin, she really would''ve killed him.
Some people had been watching themotion that had taken ce and were whispering amongst themselves. Most likely about the way Lena had reacted. People who didn''t know who she was were usually surprised that despite her small size, she was rather prone to violence when faced with such unexpected situations.
"Why because you can''t handle a little bit of teasing from time to time?" Jovani joked back, carefully to make sure he stayed a decent distance away from the other since her mood had quickly gone south.
"Teasing isn''t the problem, invading my personal space in such a manner is. You may be Samuel''s family, but I haven''t yet epted you as part of mine." She replied back rather coldly. People could feel the temperature in the room drop from the tone of her voice and the look on her face.
"What''s going on here?" Alonso had noticed that there seemed to be a bit of amotion going on in the breakfast buffet. He knew that Jovani had gone there before him in order to get breakfast. He didn''t expect though that the other would''ve been the cause of themotion.
He didn''t have to ask anything to know what the root of the problem was when he saw the look that was on Lena''s face with her attention directed at Jovani.
"I highly rmend you get this fool out of mypany before I do something that I might end up regretting." The princess didn''t have to take her attention off of Jovani to know that Alonso had entered the room. She could see him out of the corner of her eye.
"Truce, truce. Allow me to get my coffee and finish the rest of my breakfast and I will be out of hair." Jovani told her raising his one friend hand as he motioned with his other hand to where the coffee stand was set up. He could already tell by the warmth that wasing off his cheek that he was going to need ice for it. He would also have to figure out a good way to exin to Eve what exactly happened.
"Ten minutes." was all she replied as went back to take her own seat not before casting another withering look at the other.
"Can''t I leave you alone for a few minutes without you causing problems?" Alonso asked rather exasperated. This was exactly the who reason why he had originally asked Jovani to wait on him before he went to get breakfast.
"Harmless ident." The other replied as he refilled his coffee cup.
"I forget not everyone is good with others being in close proximity of them and can''t handle certain jokes." Jovani replied as he went back to take his seat without waiting for the other to get his own food.
Since there wasn''t much else for Lena to do, she decided to bring up lunch to Samuel since she figured the other wasn''t awake yet. His inclination to sleep in longer she put off on the fact that he wasn''t used to working on the same clock that the princess was. She knew though that after a year of getting used to doing everything that she was, his system would likely adjust to running on fewer hours of sleep.
She set the tray on the nightstand next to the bed beforeying back down on the opposite from the side of where Samuel still seemed to be sleeping. Since there wasn''t much else to do, she might as well lounge around until her fianc¨¦ was awake so she could request Clivee to pick them up.
She hadn''t beenying there that long before she felt a hand reach over to grasp her own. She didn''t have topen her eyes or look over to know that other was now awake.
"Would you miss your cousin terribly much if I killed him?" she poised the question, not sure how awake the other was but curious to know what kind of answer he would give.
"I rather enjoy hispany, but what did he do this time?" Samuel asked, in a groggy tone of voice as he rubbed his hand back and forth over the top of the other''s in what she guessed was supposed to be a soothing action.
"He''s rather annoying still and I don''t feel that there''s much value in keeping him around if I have to put up with that part of him along with everything else." She replied honestly.
"Annoying enough that you want to kill him?" The other asked, she felt as the bed next to her shifted and dip as the other moved around.
"Yes. He has no sense of boundaries and personal space and doesn''t seem to have the sense either when I tell him not to push either."
"You don''t like people invading your personal space?"
"No." She replied back. Following this response however, she found herself in an unexpected position when she opened her eyes. Samuel had positioned himself over her again and his face was mere inches away from her own. He unlike her hadn''t put on a bathrobe and was still rather naked except for the nkets that were draped over his back.
"So does that mean you also don''t like it when I invade your personal space?" He asked as he kissed her nose. The unexpected action caused a unfamiliar fluttering in the princess''s chest. She also noticed that her anger had dissipated almost immediately in response to this action.
"You don''t qualify as people." She replied back as the other kept looking intently into her eyes.
"Then that means I can do things like this and invade your person space whenever I want and you won''t feel like you want to kill me?" He rified as he kissed her gently before moving down to her neck. Afterst night, she felt the almost instinctive need to expose her neck to the other.
"That depends on what you doing. I think you''re getting a bit ahead of yourself though." She replied. It was morning now. There was no time for them to be messing around anymore.
"Hm, are you sure about that?" He murmured as he gently kissed her neck. He knew that it was there day off so didn''t really think that there was anything wrong with what he was doing. They had as much as they want.
"Yes, besides I also brought you breakfast." She replied, taking in a slowly steady breath in order to not give away the fact that he was already having an effect on her body despite the fact that he had hardly done anything to her yet.
"What if I want to eat something else for breakfast?" He then asked as he lifted his head to ce his forehead against her own. She could see that there was new desire suddenly burning in his eyes.
Even if she wanted to do anything else, she really needed to get them back to the estate after Samuel had breakfast and she was not on the menu.
Chapter 222 - I Dont Care
The drive back to the estate was a rtively quiet one, but not in the tense way that it had been the night before Lena and Samuel.
This silence was due to the fact that both of them were busy working on different things. Even though it was a day off, there was a number of text Lena still had to reply to since she had been ignoring her phone for thest day and the half.
Not everyone knew that she was getting engaged and she was happy to keep that way even though she knew that it would mean more work for her to take care of after the fact due to impatient people wanting to get a response about work matters sooner rather thanter.
"You''re honestly not worried about what your father or anyone else in your family is going to say?" Samuel asked as the silence continued to drag on.
"Is there any reason for me to be worried?" Lena asked, not taking her eyes off her phone as she continued to sort through everything that she would need to reply to.
"I mean it wasn''t exactly an expected situation that urred and I''m not quite sure what your family''s standards are on things like that." He exined. The only person he really worried about was Julius or Zane. Both who were rather intimidating despite the fact that neither one thus far had had a problem with epting him into the family.
"My father won''t care and my uncle won''t say anything unless my father first has a problem with it." The princess replied as she put her phone down to look at the other.
"Besides, I think it is a little bit toote to be worrying about those things. They would still know something happened even if we didn''t say anything to them at this point." She pointed. Even if though she had somewhat tried to, it was rather hard to cover the marks around her neck.
Not to mention the fact that her father was a very observant person who would probably know exactly what urred without anyone having to tell him anything. He had years of experience learning how to read people to help him in these kind of situations.
Plus, her brother would be likely to drop teasing hints about what happened without saying anything specific. Even if she asked him not to, he was just that kind of person as he didn''t think there was any reason to keep it a secret either.
"Engagement is close enough to marriage anyway. The ceremony that will take ce is more of a tradition rather than something that''s important." She continued as he nced at her phone when she noticed that her father had messaged her back. Seemed he had spent most of the night with everyone back at the club. Fun somehow always turned into business when he was involved.
"If it was up to me, it wouldn''t be happening in the first ce. Appearances are too important to everyone else however and thus it must go on regardless of difference in opinions." The princess said with a sigh. Like her father there were a number of things that she wanted to change when she took over. She knew though that some of them wouldn''t be possible due to the people who were in charge at the top. They would only allow her a certain amount of power.
"So just let it be then unless it is brought up?" He asked, focusing on his own phone he saw that he had gotten a text from Jovani with an image attached to.
"Exactly. If it bes a thing, we can discuss it then. I honestly only care about whether people on the outside cause any problems about it. Most won''t say anything, but there are some people who would make a deal out of it." She replied.
"You did this?" Samuel suddenly asked, changing the subject as he showed Lena the picture that Jovani had sent it. It was of his swollen cheek.
"He unexpectedly got into my personal space and said something annoying. It was reflexes that caused that to happen." She exined. She couldn''t deny that it did look rather painful, but she didn''t feel sorry over what had happened. It was the other''s fault for doing something he knew he ought not to.
"You probably should''ve have apologized to him at least for reacting subconsciously, it looks like it is rather painful." Lena cast an indifferent look onto the picture again.
"No reason to apologize for something that was his own fault. I have warned him before about not getting into my personal space or doing things like that and he didn''t listen." She replied, defending her action.
There were other people who would have done far worse to him for that kind of action than what she done. Perhaps a bit rough because he was considered family. She hadn''t however gotten over her bad feelings towards him after what had happened with Samuel.
At least she wouldn''t have to see him for a while after this and Jeff would be getting toe home soon so somethings would be taking a more normal turn for a while.
"Still, you should be careful about those kind of things." Samuel tried to reason as he texted his brother back.
"No, other people should be more careful of what they do around me if they don''t like the results of their actions. I only react if people do something to me, I rarely ever instigate anything." The look on her face told him that there was no point in arguing about the situation any further.
She wasn''t going to change how she reacted to people as she felt that there was no reason to. She had personal space and she expected other people to respect it the same way that she did with most everyone else except for Samuel.. She didn''t mind him invading her space too much.
Chapter 223 - Plans For Days Off
"What about me though, do I have to worry that you might do something like that? He asked ncing over at her as he sent the text.
"Only if you catch me by surprise and I don''t expect it. It''s a defensive result." She answered.
"The only person in my family though that has ever had to deal with that kind of reaction was my brother and that was only because he caught me off guard and thought it would be a good idea to surprise me suddenly one of the times that he had gotten home from Ennd for the holidays." She borated. She could tell by the passing scenery that they were almost to the estate now.
"I think the more important conversation though should be how do you want to spend the next three days since I am going to be barred from working." she said as she shifted the conversation on to the other, looking at him expectantly.
"There are few things I could think of that might be enjoyable to do while we have the time." Samuel replied as he went back to texting on his phone again.
"Isn''t there anything that you might want to do also that you could think?" He then asked as Clive turned the corner that lead to the road the estate was on.
"This is your time off as well so I''m sure there are somethings that you''d like to do while you have." It was a thoughtful question on Samuel''s part. The problem was though that Lena didn''t like being put into a position where she had to make a decision about such things.
"I don''t really like having to decide such things. I prefer other people to make the arrangements and I go along with them. It''s easier when one has to deal with making difficult decisions each and every day." She answered honestly.
Samuel was rather surprised by this at it was again one of the few times that Lena had been honest about something like that.
"So you would prefer if I stayed in charge of the itinerary for the next few days so that you don''t have to worry about making those kind of decisions over small things?" He rified. He already had ideas about things that he would want to do and if Lena was going to give him the right to take charge of it, he already knew what kind of way he would want to set things up.
Lena simply nodded her head as Clive pulled the car up to the front of the Estate in order to park it.
"Well I do think then that today we should stay here and do nothing after yesterday. I think both of us still need some time to recover after all that alcoholst night." he told. Samuel wasn''t certain if Lena was still suffering from a hangover or not. He just knew that his hadn''t fully gone away yet and that doing too much might end up triggering it to be worse.
"If we do stay here, I will most likely be spending most of the day sleeping." She warned. There was a lot of sleep that she wanted to catch up on that she had missed from the night before.
"That sounds reasonable. Maybe even take some time to swap the rooms around now that the engagement is official." Even though the other had tried to say this as a harmless thing. The princess knew how to read between the lines to know what he was meaning with his idea of swapping their rooms around.
"Allowing me more time to enjoy the freedom of my own bed before we do that. I also don''t think that you''re quite ready to be waking up regrly on the schedule that I have for myself everyday." She replied as she stepped out of the car.
She had on intention yet of making what had happened at the hotel an every night urrence. Unlike other couples, they didn''t have the kind of free time to be consistently doing that kind of thing.
"How many free days do you want?" Her fianc¨¦ asked as he came around the other side of the car in order to hold her hand before they walked in side.
"As many as I can get away with." Was the answer she gave before they stepped inside.
As much as enjoyed being with Samuel, she still liked having her own personal space to dpress from everything that she had to deal with on a daily basis.
He was a good support system for her but not yet at the point where he could fully understand everything going on enough to be the partner that she needed. It would take time for that to happened since he knew hardly anything about the world that she worked in still despite what Jovani had been going over with him.
"That sounds like you want infinite days." He joked the princess removed her hand from his so that she could get ready to head to her own room.
"Maybe I do." She replied. Not missing the fact that her fianc¨¦ seemed rather intent of following her wherever she was deciding to go.
"I wouldn''t be able to allow that though. I do rather enjoy spending the nights with you. I think that it is rather peaceful."
"Peaceful when you''re not the the one causing trouble." The princess retorted. The conversation ended there when she noticed her father approach out of the corner of her eye. She could tell by the expression that was on his face that there was something they were going to need to talk about.
"When you two are done, there is something we need to talk about." Zane told the two of them. He looked rather tried so his daughter knew that whatever it was was important enough for him to have stayed up rather than sleeping.
Something that would perhaps worrying the intended ns to be able to not work for the next three days.
Chapter 224 - Got Him
Lena was the first one toe back down as she was impatient to find out what was going on. She hoped whatever the matter was it was something positive rather than one more problem that she needed to deal with.
She waited for Samuel as she didn''t think that he would know where exactly to go to find them. Knowing her father, he was likely waiting in his other office. The one which had more amodating for one that was suffering from a hangover.
It was located further inside the estate than Samuel was used to going. Part of that was also due to the fact that it acted as a safe room of sorts as well because of how it was built and where it was located.
The princess didn''t bother knocking before she entered the room. Zane was already in there and Hester was with him. Theter was typing away on hisputer and had very focused expression his face.
"What''s up?" Lena asked as she came over to the desk, the other following closely behind her.
"Hester thinks that Jovani''s contact managed to find the guy that we''re looking for. The one that would''ve killed Ashton." Zane exined as he stood with his arms crossed while watching what Hester was doing.
"He''s doing cross referencing right now and checking to see what circles the other runs in to see if there is any connection with Marcus or if this is rted to something else." He continued, motioning to Hester who was too busy to pay much attention to the others who had entered the room.
"It''s a bit hard to do since it seems like he was a rather careful man." Hester exined. Without looking up, he held his phone out for the others to take. He had been the one that had been sent the photo. Lena had requested this from Jovani as Hester was the best person to know what to do with the information and find out exactly what they needed from it.
Lena took the phone while Samuel looked over her shoulder at the picture. It wasn''t the best picture, but clear enough that they could tell what the person in it looked like. The most distinct thing about him was a tattoo on his arm which could be visible as he had phone up to his ear and seemed to be talking with someone.
"Isn''t that simr to the tattoo that was spotted on Ashton?" Samuel asked, trying to get a better look at it in order to see if he was right or not.
"Simr, but not quite the same. If I had to make a guess I believe that it isn''t a genuine one but perhaps a mock used for disguise." Zane replied.
"Hester did aparison and found that there are a few subtle differences between the two. One of which is that it doesn''t seem like it is a real one."
"So you think that he used it simply to infiltrate their group just to kill Ashton or he was killed before he found out that there wasn''t part of their family?" The princess asked with a frown. It sounded like a mess even though this was a positive bit of information that they got ahold of.
Still though, it didn''t quite exin what Ashton was doing in theirpany and why he was taking the money. It didn''t seem reasonable to assume this person of interest simply killed the other because he was syphoning money out of a big business. That motive seemed rather weak.
"That''s what Hester is trying to find out. Beyond figuring out who he was and that Ashton knew him and was reported as being one of thest people to see the other alive, there isn''t much else they got about him." Her father replied ncing over at the other as she handed the phone back to him.
Samuel didn''t miss the fact that there was an odd look that passed between the two one this happened, but when Lena narrowed her eyes at him, it seemed like he decided to drop it as he turned his attention back to what Hester was doing.
"You don''t have to stand around waiting if you don''t want to. I have honestly no idea how long it will take me to sort through all of this stuff." Hester warned them. He didn''t mind them wanting to know the moment that he found anything of interest. He felt a little like he was boxed in in the small office with more people now standing around.
"We''re just waiting a few minutes to make sure that you don''t find anything quicker than expected. Then, we''ll leave you to work in here." Zane replied.
He needed to catch up on some sleep, but there were also other meetings that he needed to take care of today. Julius was still out for the next few hours as he didn''t get a chance for a break as someone wasing in for a business deal and he couldn''t put off meeting him.
"This two also shouldn''t be spending too much time on this as well." Zane added.
"We have three days off before returning to work. Spending a few hours on this won''t take away too much of that time." Lena replied. She didn''t want to waste the free time that she had with Samuel, but she also didn''t want to miss out on hearing back anything important about this matter since it was going to effect them as well.
"If you would prefer though that we leave and wait until you have something solid for us, we can leave for the time being as long as you agree to text." The princess looked at her father when she said this.
"I can have Hester do that. Information from me would likely be dyed because I have a lot scheduled today. There is something that I would like to talk with you about before that however." Lena had to refrain from sighing when he said this.
But didn''t object when he came around to open the door so that they could head out of the room. Samuel got the idea that he was supposed to stay there with Hester while this was going on.
It wasn''t a closed-door conversation so Zane only waited until they were a little ways out of the office before he turned to talk with the other.
"Is this something rted tost night or not?" Lena asked. She already had an idea of what it was that the other was going to want to talk about.
"This is rted tost night." Zane confirmed.
"You think that there''s something wrong with the way the rtionship is proceeding between Samuel and me and think things should be different?" She guessed but was rather surprised when he shook his head.
"I don''t care about that so much as long as the two of you know what you''re getting into and it''s a discussion you both have. I am concerned about what trouble what might being stirred now that Samuel is being recognized as part of the Vedova Nera." He exined.
"There were a number of things I hadst night that I''m not exactly thrilled about." He admitted.
"While I trust that most of our men have themon sense not to do anything, I''m not sure of those who fall under Jovani''s jurisdiction. They seem to be more of the rougher types than those under us."
"You think that they have a problem with him because of the alliance or because of his position even though he''s new?" Lena asked. Jovani had warned that there might be some issues taken with him, she didn''t expect though that it would be being made known on the same day as the announcement.
"Both from what I have had ryed back to me." He replied as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Some thing that it was a calcted move on Samuel''s part or his family''s to help position him well before he reentered the family. Others think that we''re purposely using him to get ahead and he''s simply going along with everything."
"Isn''t that Jovani''s job to straighten those things out?" Lena asked.
"Jovani would only be able to take care of so much though." Zane pointed out.
"People know the position that he holds as well as his rtionship to Samuel and with us. It''s not likely that they would bring this type of stuff up around him." The unspoken part of that was also that they might react differently to Jovani since him and Samuel were rted.
"So you think that this is something that we''re going to have to keep track of in order to make sure there isn''t a ripple effect?" her father nodded his head.
"While I''m certain Jovani is capable of watching out for Samuel, I think that there are still some things we will have to watch out for.." This wasn''t how Lena had been hoping to spend her afternoon the day after her engagement party, but such was life.
Chapter 225 - Itll Be Fun
Once Lena and Zane had finished talking and hade back into his office. The princes decided that it was time to leave with Samuel for the time being. Hester hadn''t had any luck finding anything else yet which made it pointless to stand around waiting.
"Don''t worry about it. It had nothing to do with whatever you thought it did." The princess told her fianc¨¦ as they were walking away from her father''s office.
"It''s about another annoying thing that might end up bing a problem in the future."
"Something rted to me though I suspect since your father didn''t want to talk about in there." Of course he was sharp, though it could''ve been pretty obvious to most in that kind of situation.
"It is but nothing that you need to be worried about at this point in time. We can about itter after these next three days." Lena replied.
"Right now, the only thing for us to do until Hester finds anything is to enjoy these three days. Whatever enjoying them looks like." She added thest part because she really wasn''t certain how that was going to happen.
Even if she or Samuel didn''t want to work, work somehow always ended up finding them. The only person who hadn''t really been bothering them thus far was Jovani. He might''ve been the only one who could get away with leaving Samuel and her be over the next three days since he was technically still in control over everything that Vedova Nera did.
"You said that you wanted to do something here today rather than going out?" Samuel rified as they made their way back to the main part of the house.
"That would be my preference, but it doesn''t have to work out that way." The princess replied. She didn''t want to limit what the other decided even though all she wanted to do was curl up in the sunroom and spend her day there reading or sleeping. Whichever happened would be fine with her.
"Why don''t we make a movie day out of it then?" He suggested.
"Movie day?" Lena replied a bit confused as she looked at the other. She knew what it was, she just wasn''t quite certain where the idea came from.
"Yeah, we can make a day of it. Leo mentioned once that you do have an entertainment room here. I''m sure there''s also plenty of snacks and other things that would fit well with it."
"We do have an entertainment room, but it hasn''t been used all that much recently." She confirmed. In fact, she only knew for certain that it hadn''t been touched in thest two years or so. There was hardly time for such things anymore.
"Then I think that would be a good choice. If you don''t have a lot of movies here, I''m sure there are some would could stream that we''d both enjoy." He said resolutely. Samuel hoped that Lena was as fond of the idea as he was.
It was something rxing that they could do, but that wouldn''t suffer if it had to be interrupted by anything that anyone might need.
"We can look into. The room will likely need to be cleaned up. I''m not sure if Ryan is back yet, we might have to ask someone else about the snacks."
"Or." Samuel started to suggest with a pause as a smile spread across his face. "If Ryan isn''t around, we could take care of making the snacks ourselves and that could be part of it."
"You do realize that I have limited knowledge in respect to what kind of snacks are part of a movie day? I am only aware of things such as popcorn or candy." She admitted. Those at least where the snacks that her family had around when they watched movies.
"Don''t worry. I can teach you when we''re in there. So long as the rest of the kitchen staff doesn''t kick us out." Samuel assured as he grabbed her hand, lifting it up to give the back of it a kiss. Lena still didn''t quite understand why exactly he enjoyed doing that.
"First the entertainment room though. We need to make sure that it''s something that we''ll be able to use before we get started on anything else." She suggested. She knew that the room wasn''t one that was kept locked. What she didn''t know was what kind of condition it would be in.
It was the ce that Leo used to spend most of his time when he came home around the holidays and wasn''t doing other things with this family. He wasn''t exactly a messy person, but he also wasn''t the best back at the point at tidying up after himself.
"We can find someone to help with that?" He suggested as she lead him in the direction that she knew the room was in. There was still so much of the estate that he needed to finish exploring when he got the time or ask someone to show him around to.
"Of course, but there''s no point in asking anyone toe and help if there''s nothing to help with." Lena pointed out. It was located on the third floor of the house.
The thought was that if it was located further up all the noise that came through it wouldn''t be so troublesome to those who lived on the floors below. Zane had originally wanted to make it a room that was sound proof, but it turned out to be too much trouble so he didn''t bother with it.
"Howe I have never been up to this floor before now?" He asked noticing that though it was smaller than the two floors below that there were still a few rooms on it with closed door.
"Perhaps because you haven''t taken much time to explore ande up here to look around." His fianc¨¦ suggested giving him a look that said it was an obvious answer.
"Am I allowed to freely look around? I always got the feeling before that it was better not to because I wasn''t sure what I would end up finding." He said as Lena made her way down the hall to where the entertainment room was located. It was put towards the end because it was thergest room on the third floor.
"Before, no. It was better that you don''t go looking around." She confirmed.
"But now that we''re engaged and you''re technically a part of this world even though you haven''t gone through your initiation yet, there''s very little that you''re not allowed to see here." She exined.
"Initiation?" Samuel asked. This was the first time that he had heard anything about anything like that. Jovani had never mentioned it to him before.
"Don''t worry about it right now. It''s something that will be exined to you at ater point in time." The princess replied. Stopping once they standing in front of the door.
She took in a deep breath as she grabbed the door handle to open it. She really didn''t know what to expect when she opened the door.
She was oddly surprised though that aside from the fact that everything looked like it was covered in a decentyer of dust, not much was out of ce or as big of a mess as she had expected it to be.
"This is a rather impressive space." Samuel remarked as he entered the room. It pretty much held everything and anything one might imagine would be in an entertainment one.
One of the things that Zane had put a lot of money into not just because his wife enjoyed it, but also because he wanted both Leo and Lena to have options to try and engage with different things growing up since he didn''t know what kind of interests they would have.
"I''m sure it is for someone that didn''t grow up like this." Shemented as she texted on her phone to have someonee up and help them tidy it up before they used it.
For her though, growing up with it she was used to this kind of thing so it didn''t have as much of an impact on her as it did Samuel.
The TV was huge as was the stereo and speakers that went with it. There were a number of different game systems and rted essories. The chairs and sofa in the room looked rather luxurious as well. There were a number of different cabs which he presumed helped either movies or games inside. They were closed though so he wouldn''t know until he opened up and looked inside to see what they held.
"This could end up being a lot of fun." Hemented as he continued to take everything in.. He knew that it was better to wait until everything was cleaned up before he messed with it, but he was rather eager to explore everything that was inside.
Chapter 226 - Teasing And Snacks
A/N if you want to read another book with FL simr to the adored Princess and don''t mind werewolves, please check out ''My Mate is A Human Mafia Boss?!''.
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Once a few of the staff hade up to help clean up the room, Lena excused herself and Samuel after helping to clean up a few things and ensure that everything was hooked up the way that they needed it to be.
Samuel had wanted to get a chance to look at everything before they let, the princess wouldn''t allow it however as she knew that they would just end up getting in the way.
"There will be plenty of time do itter." She told him as she pushed out of the room. He poking pouted and that only earned him an unamused re from the other.
"It was your idea to make snacks in the first ce. If you want to do it, then the kitchen is where we should heading rather than standing here and watching them work." She remarked as she started to walk away from the room ahead of the other.
She knew that he would follow if he was serious about wanting to do it. If he didn''t then she would just request that the kitchen staff put something together for them rather than doing it herself.
The only reason that she had entertained doing such a thing was because Samuel had brought it up and made it sound like something he thought would be fun. And at least if anything happened to the kitchen, she could just tell Ryan that it was the other''s idea and fault.
Samuel did follow after her, but this time, she moved her hand at thest minute when he went to grab it simply to give him a hard time now that she was getting used to expecting him to do that.
"My hand?" He asked as he held his right one expectantly as though he thought she might put her right hand in his if he asked her for it.
"You have your hand right there in front of you." She replied indicating to the hand he was holding out just to give further give him a hard time.
"I''m not referring to this." He replied as they got ready to head down the stairs.
"I''m talking about the hand that I always hold." He emphasized what he meant by pointing to her right hand.
"That''s my hand, it isn''t yours. I simply loan it to you on asion when I feel generous." She retorted. She made sure to keep her hand in front of her so that the other couldn''t try to grab it.
Sometimes Lena still enjoyed giving Samuel a hard time when she thought that he wouldn''t expect it.
"Then you''re not feeling generous right now?" Samuel asked as he caught up to her once they were done on the bottom floor again. Since she didn''t want to give him her hand, he thought that the best approach might be to try and hug her instead.
"No I''m not." She replied, freezing slightly when he wrapped his hands around her waist.
"Even if I hug you like and ask you nicely?" He asked, speaking next to her right ear in a way that he knew would invoke a reaction from her.
"No because I''m already being overly generous at this point in time. I don''t have anymore to spare." She replied tly as she pushed back against the other to try and get him to let her go.
"Plus, the more time that you spend on this, the less time we''ll have to make those snacks that you want." She informed him. Did she actually intend to put a time frame on how long they spent on cooking whatever Samuel wanted to make for their movie day? No but that wasn''t something that he had to know.
"You drive a hard bargain." He pouted as he let her go but not before kissing her cheek.
"You have to make it up to me then when we''re actually sitting there watching the movies." He told her. Causing her to give him an odd look as they started to make their way to the kitchen again now that he had let her go.
"How so?" Lena asked, but Samuel only offered a tiny smirk in response to this.
"That''s something you will have to wait and find out." was all he told her before they reached the kitchen.
It was one thing when she said that kind of thing and another when her fianc¨¦ was the one who was saying it. Somehow it was annoying because she didn''t like not knowing what he meant by the things that he said.
"Sammy-boy." She warned, but the conversation ended up being halted because the other had started talking to the kitchen staff, trying to petition for them to be allowed to have ess to the kitchen for a set period of time.
It was obvious that they didn''t want to deny the request since it was something that Princess was imploring about and not just her fianc¨¦. The nervous nces that they cast each other however let her know that what they were most concerned about was what Ryan would have to say about the matter if he found out what happened.
"Don''t worry about that. I will take care of it and he''ll take responsible for anything that happens." The princess assured them as she pointed to Samuel when she said thest part.
"You won''t get in any trouble for it and we''ll make sure that everything is reced exactly where we got it from and cleaned up."
It was going to be a little bit hard to be sure that they would manage to do all that, but it was the only thing that she could promise to get the staff out of the kitchen so that they could use it.
Samuel already had an idea of where most things in the kitchen were located from the few times that he had cooked for Lena. Being in the kitchen reminded him though that it had been a while since he had done that and perhaps it was something that he should make some time for in the future. Maybe something to surprise her with.
"What are you thinking about making?" She asked as the other gathered together some ingredients that she didn''t even know were stocked in the kitchen.
"Puppy chow." Samuel replied, rummaging around until he managed to find some chex mixed in with the other boxes of cereal and shelf stable items. He would probably end up using the rest of it so he knew that he was going to have to make sure it was reced rtively soon.
Seeing as he had never seen cereal served at any of the meals that Lena and her family ate, he could only presume that it was for the staff in the house and he didn''t want them to go without because he didn''t rece something he used the rest of.
"What exactly is that?" She asked as Samuel located the double boiler.
"It''s something that''s amazing and sweet." He replied as he began to put the ingredients into the double boiler. It was something that his family had made often enough growing up that he knew the basic recipe by heart.
Lena didn''t however so he took some time to exin what he was doing before he grabbed the whisk and indicated for her toe over.
"You can whisk this slowly while I get a few other things." This wasn''t all that he had wanted to make. There had to be popcorn of course, but he felt that it would be boring if they only had in popcorn to eat. He wanted to make caramel corn as well as some finger foods he presumed would be in the freezer.
"How long am I supposed to do this for?" She asked when she noticed that the mixture of butter, chocte, peanut butter and milk was starting melt and meld together.
"A little bit longer until it looks like everything is put well together." He replied as he rummaged around in the freezer for the snacks he was looking for. He didn''t quite find what he was looking for but what he had would have to be good enough.
Once he was done with that, he came over to see what the mixture looked like and nodded his head as he turned the heat down. It was now done enough so that he could put the chex in and mix it together.
He took care of this part since it required one to gauge by eye exactly how much needed to be mixed in. Lena watched with her arms crossed. Her expression was hard to read to tell if she was bored or just intently watching what the other was doing so that she could memorize it for the future.
Samuel determined that it had to have been the second option because when he went to go and get the powder sugar and came back, she still watching the bowl intently. She couldn''t deny that it both looked and smelled good. She wondered though by it needed the powder sugar when it looked already as though it was good enough to eat.
She was too distracted to notice until after it happened that the other daubed powder sugar on her cheek. She was about to wipe it off and ask what Samuel thought he was doing but before she got the chance, the other had already hugged her from behind.
"You know you always taste so good." Thisment was followed by him licking her cheek that he had put the powder sugar on.. Why did he have to keep doing such things to her? Even though she didn''t know what to say in response to his words, she was fairly certain of the fact that her face was red.
Chapter 227 - This Isnt Bad
Aside from the one or perhaps two sticky incidents with the powdered sugar, Lena made sure that the Samuel didn''t try to do it. She wouldn''t have minded if her face didn''t feel ufortable after the fact.
A small amount of such things were fine on asion, but not when she was trying to focus on what was going on and the seemed more intent on making subtle sexual passes at her only one night after everything happened.
Samuel seemed to get the hint though when she threatened to not share the snacks or the sofa with him if he didn''t focus on just showing her how to make what he was working on.
He didn''t really want to stop because he found it amusing, but would give it up for the chance to share the sofa with her. Plus, there would be other opportunities in the future.
Drinks were a divided debate as well. Samuel wanted to include soda since they were watching movies, the princess wasn''t very fond of it however.
She didn''t grow up drinking much of it and the taste of it somehow bothered her. She figured it was likely due to the carbonation since no other drinks bothered her in the same way.
She was willing topromise on having juice but also insisted on drinking coffee as well.
"Because drinking coffee means that I will better be able to focus on whatever we''re watching." Was the argument that she had given the other. It wasn''t like he''d stop her from making it anyways. It would just turn out to be one more strike she held against him.
Once everything was finished, the snacks had to be brought up in different trips.
Samuel had probably made a little too much for them, but didn''t care because he wanted it to be a good experience. One he didn''t think that his fiance had had before.
At least not in the way that he remembered such things happening with his own family. That was how they ended up with the caramel popcorn, in popcorn, puppy chow, odd pretzel things Lena wasn''t quite sure about, mozzare sticks, and nachos but different from the kind that she was used to eating.
These nachos were using only cheese sauce and sliced jpe?os.
She wasn''t about toin though since it looked like it would taste good.
The princess wanted to help bring stuff up, but besides the drinks, Samuel took care of most everything else.
The room had been cleaned up so that there would be enough space for everything. The staff had done a good job with their work and had even done more than they asked.
She took care of the setting up of the TV and other things as he finished bringing everything in for them.
Some seemed as though they were curious about what was going, but no one had asked since they presumed it was something that the princess had decided on or agreed with.
"Everything is fine and we have more than what we need." Lena told the other when she saw the way that he was looking at the table.
"I don''t think there''s such a thing as too much." He replied back as he turned his attention away from the table so that he could help figure out what they wanted to watch.
When the princess opened up the cab where the movies were located, there were far more than he had expected there to be.
"You can pick some movies you haven''t seen before." She told as she headed back to the sofa.
"Isn''t there anything in particr that you would like too watch?" He asked looking back at her as he continued to go through them.
Though he had seen a lot of movies growing up, there were still some titles that he didn''t recognize.
"I pretty much like everything that is in that one. There isn''t much I''m picky about." She told him.
Even though she said this, she ended up getting off the sofa in order toe back over and look at all the movies.
She realized that it would be better to pick something she liked rather than making him wonder if she was enjoying herself or not.
Her movie choice was perhaps not the best choice as the other gave her an odd look when she pulled it out.
The movie she had picked out of recognition had been ''The Godfather''. She had forgotten that horror movies had been located elsewhere so she would have to pick something else for her choice.
There had been an odd system to how the movies had been setup which forgotten until she started looking through them. It didn''t matter though, it was still too early in the year to watch something horror.
Samuel had thought about teasing her for the voice but decided not to since she had made a choice on something which he hadn''t expected.
He had only chosen to because of howte into the day it already was. The first choice was ''World''s End'' an odd move but one he enjoyed and the other was one about a spy he hadn''t seen yet.
The princess suggested that the way the movies should go was his choice first andst and hers in the middle.
Once this was decided, everything was able to be setup on the sofa so that they would befortable and the sound was adjusted prior to the movie starting to make sure that it wouldn''t be too loud.
Movies were always odd in how the previews tended to be louder than the actual show itself.
The first movie she didn''t quite understand and found the premise to be rather weird. If it wasn''t for her brother, she wouldn''t have even been able to understand half the humor in ''World''s end''. She listened enough to him talking about things however to pick a lot of it up.
"How is it?" Samuel asked once the first movie was over and there had been enough time to try a little bit of everything.
"This isn''t bad." The princess replied as she finished the rest of her coffee. She would have to opt for drinking something else unless she wanted to leave thefortable space on the sofa to get more.
The snacks weren''t bad either though she preferred the sweets the savory. Mozzare sticks were something she hadn''t had in a while.
She didn''t understand the point in having dipping sauces for them though. They tasted good enough on their own.
"Why this movie?" Samuel asked after he put her movie in and rejoined her on the sofa.
"Because the premise of it." She replied as it started
"The idea that you go so far for family and handle who dares to hurt them." She borated.
It was a movie she had gone back to often after everything that had happened with her mother. She wasn''t quite sure at first what attracted her to the movie.
But after watching it a few times, she could onlye to the conclusion that it had to do with what her father had done after her mother was murdered.
The only difference was that what happened to Lena was the real world and not something that was created by a talented group of actors and actresses for the screen.
She knew however that philosophy was something that she wanted to carry with her when she took over after her father.
And if she got the power to change anything, she would take it even further than he had.
She didn''t tell Samuel much more after the movie had started even though he was intrigued by what she said.
He had figured he would have time to ask afterwards once they had watched it through as it had been a while since hest saw it.
His chance to ask questions didn''te however as the princess ended up falling asleep half way through the movie. With her head leaned against his shoulder which meant that he wasn''t going to be able to move until she woke.
He couldn''tin about this however since she had willingly shifted her position like that. He took it as a good sign and something he could bask in for a while.
He could just put the movie on for a second time and watch to see if there was anything else he could notice about it a second time around.
At least his opposite arm was still free which meant he had ess to the snacks If he so desired.
He couldn''t resist kissing the top of her head and silentlymenting the fact that she wasn''t more willing to do such things when she was awake.
Perhaps though if this situation turned out well, he could use it as leverage to convince her to move them into the same room sooner. It couldn''t hurt to try.. The worst case she would just keep denying him the same way she already had been.
Chapter 228 - Ill Handle
Lena still hadn''t woken up by the time the movie had run through the second time. At least it wasn''t a body move to watch again. He had turned the sound down in order to make sure that the noise wouldn''t be too loud for the princess.
Samuel was now in a bit of a predicament. He was quietfortable in his current position with the princess, but his dder was however protesting as he had been there for over six hours.
Not only did he need to use the restroom, but he knew that dinner would be ready soon. He might not have been as hungry because of all the snacks, but he was fairly certain over the fact that the princess would be since she had been asleep for a few hours.
He wasn''t exactly sure how best to get her up, but he presumed it would be to try and wake her up rather than moving himself out from under her. Even if he tried to do it gently, she might wake up from the shift in position.
"Princess, it''s time to wake up." he told her in a low tone of voice as he ran his hand through her hair. He was honestly surprised by how she always slept when they were together since it always seemed like she was a light sleeper at night with how early she woke up each day.
Aside from a huff sound in her sleep, it seemed as though she had no interest in waking up even though he was doing his best to try and coax her to go do. He even tried kissing her cheek but this didn''t seem to have much affect on her aside from making her turn his face away from him but still keep herself tucked against his shoulder.
Samuel hated to wake up her up, but he really couldn''t sit there too much longer without it being a problem. He had also missed two calls from Jovani earlier that he knew he was going to have to follow up with as well. He didn''t want to have to tell him that it was because his fianc¨¦ had kidnapped his shoulder and he didn''t want to risk waking her up so he couldn''t go anywhere to take the call.
He wasn''t certain if it was a miracle or perhaps a curse that a knock sounded on the door of the entertainment room and Julius entered. He assessed the situation quickly enough to see that his niece was asleep.
While Zane was a forwardly intimidating man, Samuel wasn''t yet certain what to think of Julius. He certainly didn''t have as much of a presence as his brother did, but he was still a daunting person in his own right.
"Do you need help with her?" He asked as in a hushed tone of voice. At least from what he could see, it seemed as though the other had been trying to move Lena. Rather than verbally replying, the other man simply nodded his head in an affirmative answer.
Julius made sure to move everything around on the table and in the area so he didn''t bump or identally step on everything. He didn''t want to make any sound that could wake up the princess before he coulde and pick her up.
Unlike the fianc¨¦ who had been trying to be careful, Julius shifted his hands so that he could pick Lena up with ease. She hardly stirred when he did this.
"It would be better for her to be here still when she wakes up." Julius told him as he did his best to indicate to the other to fix the nkets so that he could set her back down after he had moved out of the way.
It wasn''t the mostfortable ce to sleep but it would have to do for the time being. Trying to get her down the stairs would result in arger risk especially if she ended up unexpectedly moving.
Julius helped him to tidy some of the stuff up before turning the movie back on. He was abut to leave the room but stopped when he saw what was in. Without asking anything he already knew that it would''ve been his niece who had picked this movie.
Once they had left the room and the door was shut behind them, Julius started talking.
"I was originallying to tell both of you something but Lena can be caught up on itter." He told Samuel as they stated descending the stairs.
"Hester found some of the information that we were looking for. It''s a weak connection, but it is all we have to work with for the time being that creates the connection between the man who murdered Ashton and Marcus, your and Jovani''s cousin."
"And what connection is that?" Samuel asked interested to hear what they had found out.
"Well it seems that it is actually a client of someone me and Zane know. A Richard, I believe you met himst night at the club?" He checked. Zane had already told them that he had bumped into Richard while they were at the table. He just wasn''t sure if the younger man remembered who he was.
"I vaguely remember him and that he said he had a meeting and was waiting on someone." Samuel confirmed as she tried to remember back to what had happened the night before.
"Richard isn''t to me as he didn''t know anything about this though. Turns out there was a deal to sell him some information that''s pretty high security level stuff. The catch was though that he had to sell him in exchange everything he knew about us." Julius exined as they began to descended the second flight of stairs.
"He rejected the man''s offer?" The younger man then asked to which Julius shook his head.
"Not quite. Zane has gone to meet him now. Richard simply said that he needed more time to think about the matter before he decided what he wanted to do and if the price the other was offering was enough." Julius answered as they entered the room that Hester was still in.
"If it wasn''t for the fact that Richard had reached out Zane and let him know and asked if they could talk about this, we probably wouldn''t have easily been able to uncover this." He admitted.
Even when they hadn''t seen him for years, Richard still somehow turned out to be one of their most useful intel people. He was good at keeping a low profile and making it seem as though he knew far less about anything that hen actually did.
"So what''s the n then?" Samuel asked as he looked at Hester''sputer. The other was still pulling up a bunch of different files on the man and whatever else he could find.
It wasn''t an easy job however as much of what he encountered had been carefully hidden and encrypted at a high level that was hard for even him to decode.
"Well, Zane thinks that it might be best to go ahead with a deal but to trick the other man into giving away what he knows without Richard actually having to sell him anything serious." Julius exined.
"It would be a bit of a hard thing to aplish as there would be need to be someone else with Richard who could help pull this off." That was the sticking point that they had kepting up against. Who could they send that wouldn''t be easy to recognize but that could still help them get the job done.
"Why not me?" Samuel suddenly offered catching the other two men off guard. They both gave him surprised looks.
"I might not have lot of skill, but the fact that I''m not well known mighte in handy in this type of situation." Hester looked uncertain about this suggestion but Julius thought about it seriously.
"You''d have to ask Jovani about that and we''d need to bring Lena and Zane in on this conversation as well as Richard since he''s the person that you would be working with." He replied as he pulled out his phone. It was something that he could text his brother about now and that they other could discuss with Richard if he saw it while they were still there together.
"I need to call Jovani back anyways over something else. I can let him know that I want to discuss it tomorrow." Samuel told them as he got ready to step out of the room to make the call. Julius stopped him however before he got that far.
"This is something pretty serious that you would be volunteering to do. You need to think about that and decide how you want to approach this situation yourself." Julius advised.
He didn''t think that the other was incapable of doing it, he just wanted to make sure that he knew what he was getting into.
Chapter 229 - I Can Do It
Samuel knew that it was a big thing that he was trying to take on by suddenly requesting to work with Richard on this. He felt though that it was something that he could do.
He went outside to call Jovani in order to make sure that no one else would interrupt while he was talking with the other. He knew that once the other had gone over it with him and agreed to it or not, he would need to talk with Lena about it next.
"I was wondering if you were going to be calling me back tonight. I guess you were wrapped up with the princess all day?" He didn''t miss the joke that Jovani made but he was too focused to properly respond to it.
"We were enjoying our day off. figured that whatever it was was something that could wait untilter for me to get back to." Samuel replied.
"Hm, so if you''re not calling to get back to me about that, what is it that you need then?" His cousin asked. He likely could tell that there was a difference in the other''s tone of voice that let him know something else was going.
"I actually have a favor that I want to ask you about or rather your opinion about something I want to do."
"Is this something to do with the issue that is going on with Richard. If so, I''m not sure that''s something you should be so quick to jump into and try to handle." Jovani warned. This wasn''t the kind of answer that Samuel had been expecting from his cousin.
"I think though that I would be the best person to handle this though." Samuel pushed back as he put his left in his pocket. It was a little bit chilly not that it was gettingter on in the year.
"You even said yourself that it''s better not for people to know what my real position is because it would be easier for me to gather information because people wouldn''t be careful talking about around me yet."
"I did indeed say that but not so that you would try to jump into something like this. I don''t by any means think you''re incapable of handling this. For a first time job though, it might be a little hard." He didn''t want to shoot the other down, but there were a number of reason Jovani could think of as to why it might not be a good call to let the other do this.
"Have you talked with Lena about this? It''s also something that you would need to clear with her before you thought about doing it." Even though neither said it aloud, they both knew that she would be the biggest obstacle to getting clearance for this type of thing.
Despite the fact that shecked the ability to be openly affectionate with Samuel, she was far more protective of him than Jovani would''ve thought her to be. If she ended up giving him clearance, then he might be willing to further discuss the matter with him.
"No because I thought it would be pointless if I couldn''t get you to onboard with it first since you''re the one who has all the information about the situation." Samuel replied honestly. It was getting past dinner time which meant that she would likely be getting up soon if she wanted to eat. If not, he might have to wait until the morning to discuss anything with her.
"How about about doing this backwards then? If you can get your little fianc¨¦ to agree to it then I will talk further with you about it and we cane up with some kind of n. Only if she agrees though. Depending on how things turn out over the next few days however, I might also change my mind as other piecese into y."
He didn''t want to t out reject giving his cousin this opportunity. There were however quite a few pieces going on that Samuel wasn''t yet aware of but that his older cousin was trying to keep track of.
"I will call you back tomorrow then. If there''s anything else email it to me and I''ll look at it tonight and we can go over it to tomorrow." Samuel told the other before bid farewell and ended the call.
Now though, he had to figure out how best to bring this up to Lena. It wasn''t something that was going to impact the next few days that they had off together. He didn''t think though that she would still be thrilled about it.
Lena had woken up not long after Samuel finished calling Jovani. She knew even though her sense of time was distorted until she looked at her phone that something was different. The difference being that Samuel was no longer there with her.
Even though she had been sleeping for quite some time, she still wasn''t ready to get up. The position wasfortable and her body still felt rather heavy. Godfather was still ying in the background which meant that they had never made it to the third movie.
Watching the movie though, it made sense as to why she had the dreams that she did. They were likely influenced by the background noise of the TV. She wasn''t a big fan of dreams but these weren''t as bad as some of the ones that she had had in the past.
Huffing, she knew that she would have to get up however if she didn''t want to. She would be hungryter on if she missed dinner and she didn''t fancy the idea of bothering the staff to feed her in the middle of the night.
Her sleep schedule was going to beepletely off now though thanks to how things had gone over thest two days. This meant that she was either going to have to stay up for one whole night in order to fix it or try to sleep early for a few nights until it evened out.
She had hardly sat up and began tidying the things around her after brushing her hair out of her face before the door creaked up. Because of how careful the other person was being, she could only presume that it was Samuel.
"I''m awake." She informed him before his head poked around the side of the door.
"Oh I had hoped that you would still be asleep." He replied. If she had been, that meant he would be able to put off what he wanted to talk about until the next day.
"I slept too much." She told him as she stood up and stretched her back. Her body might have still been tired but her mind was going to be awake now for the next few hours.
"Should I have woken up you sooner?" he asked as he came over to help her fix everything.
"You could have tried but I doubt that I would''ve woken up." She answered honestly. On the rare asions that her body shutdown so that she could catch up on missed sleep, there was very little that could wake her up. This kind of thing usually on urred in spaces where she felt that she waspletely safe.
"Your body just needed the rest then. Maybe it means that we can focus on other things tonight?" The princess couldn''t help but roll her eyes at what the other hinted at. She wasn''t likely to be in the mood for that kind of thing.
"Probably not." She replied as she turned to look at him. Her eyes narrowed though when she noticed the expression on his face, he didn''t have to say anything for her notice that there was something that he wanted to talk with her about.
"What is it?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. He probably shouldn''t have been so surprised that she could read him so easily.
"There''s a little something that I want to talk with you about. It is kind of a huge thing but nothing that will be taking ce right away if you agree to it." Samuel replied. He figured he would be easier to be straight with her.
"Just tell me what it is then." The princess replied. She got the feeling that it wasn''t as small as he was saying it was based upon his behavior.
"It''s about something that Hester and your father found out while you were sleeping." He exined.
"Something that I would like to be a part of because they need help getting some information and I think that with my position I would be the best fit for the job." Lena stared at him quietly. It was a rather vague exnation that he had given her which meant that she would have to hear it from her father or Hester to understand it better.
From her perspective however, it sounded like Samuel was wanting to offer himself as bait for whatever it was that they needed.
Chapter 230 - Lets Talk To Him First
"This isn''t one of Jovani''s suggestions is it?" The princess then asked tly. She could see that this would be something that older cousin woulde up with. Both because it was a chance for him to do something and an opportunity to rest how effective his cover.
"No. I brought it up to Julius and Hester first." Samuel replied.
"Jovani didn''t want to give it to me until I talked with you and even then he seemed a bit hesitant to agree to it." He exined honestly.
"I guess there''s a first time for everything." The princess remarked. Jovani was actually approaching the situation from a logical perspective for once. She might have to apud himter for that.
"What made you think that this is something that you would want to do in the first ce?" In the back of her mind she partly wondered by things like this tended to happen at odd times when she was asleep.
"Because Hester said that Richard is trying to figure out how to get information from this person without having to sell anything about your family to him." He answered.
"And I thought that since only a limited amount of people know who I am or only know I just entered the Vedova Nera family, it made be worth it for me to be part of negotiation. He might be willing to let more sleep if he doesn''t think he needs to be cautious of me." She couldn''t deny that his reasoning was spot on.
What hecked in certain areas ofmon sense, he made up in situations such as these were he tended to look at such situations from arger picture perspective.
"I''m not going to say no to it since I don''t know everything that''s going on yet. However, if you''re thinking about doing this, I want to speak with Richard first and hear what he has to say." Lena told the other.
"I''m not keen on you doing this, but I''m not going to shut it down since it''s something to do with your own family as well." Her first instinctive response was of course to say no to the other and tell him to let someone else handle it.
The princess knew however that was something that she couldn''t keep saying. Whether she was thrilled about it or not, Samuel was part of the mafia world and things like this he was going to have to take part in whether it was now orter.
"Zane is actually there speaking with him right now, or at least he was before I came in to talk with you about this and see if you were awake for dinner." Hearing this Lena picked up her phone.
She texted her father to see if he was still with the other. If he was, she figured it might work best to see if Richard would be willing toe for dinner and they could discuss everything afterwards or in the morning if the other was willing to stay.
Even though the princess knew that she wouldn''t be able to sleep for quite a while, that didn''t mean everyone else was working on the same internal time clock for sleep that she was.
"Are you worried that something might happen to me?" Samuel asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder, disregarding the fact that she was trying to text.
"I do worry because Sammy-boy, I find you to be a strange person whocks some of themon sense that is necessary to be in this world." She replied, shifting his left arm slightly so that she could finish texting. He was about to say something in response to this, feeling slightly offended by herment before she continued speaking.
"But you somehow make that up with being oddly insightful and having keen instincts." She added thest part as she tilted her head up slightly to look at his face.
He had one of those contemtive and affectionate expressions on his face again that made her stomach feel weird whenever she saw it.
"So you think that I might still fit in this lifestyle even if there are some skills I need to brush up on?" he contemted as he processed what she said. Lena couldn''t help but scoff when he said this.
"In a sense, but you do know thatmon sense isn''t something that you can so easily brush up on?" She didn''t mean thement as rude, but there was something amusing to her about the fact that he acted like he could gain moremon sense so easily.
"It''s not impossible though. Something that wouldn''t be too hard for me if I focused hard enough of it. I''m stubborn enough for it." he replied.
"Not as stubborn as me which means it''ll take you longer still to do it." Lena argued. This reminded her though that soon she was going to have to get his previous schedule back on track. Everything had been thrown in it array with all the recent events that had taken ce.
"I don''t know, I think that I can be more stubbornly persistent than you in some areas." Her fianc¨¦ replied as he nipped the top of her right ear. She pulled away before he could bite her too hard. It didn''t stop the odd feeling from forming in the pit of her stomach again.
They only did it one time and he was suddenly being this way around her even more than he had been before. She wouldn''t have minded except for the fact that she didn''t want it to interfere with important matters that needed to be taken care of.
"And this is exactly why you don''t give a mouse a cookie." She sighed under her breath when she felt the other nuzzle the back of her neck with this face.. She was going to have to do something about him if this was how things were going to be.
Chapter 231 - Beach?
Richard ended up denying Lena''s request toe over even though he was still speaking with her father. It wasn''t an issue of the fact that he didn''t want to discuss the matter with her, but that he knew she had just gotten engaged only the day before.
The princess also had a suspicion that her father had said something to him about the fact that she was taking days off in order to celebrate that. She didn''t want this matter to cut into that time, but she also didn''t want to put off dealing with it any longer than was necessary.
Richard instead agreed that he would met her at ater point next week. Which he assured her wouldn''t cause problems since he hadn''t set a strict meeting date with the man who wanted to make a deal with him yet. He wanted to make sure he had enough time to talk with them about everything that was going on first.
While Lena was put out about this matter, Samuel on the other hand was happy that it wouldn''t impact their time together. Since she had said he could decide what they did with the days off, he had already nned a few things that he had hoped she would enjoy.
Even though she had said to him time and again fun wasn''t something that she was used to having, he had noticed that there were a few things she seemed to have an affinity for. One was quiet things which is why he thought that she would enjoy watching the movies since it would just be the two of the sharing the same space and not a lot of othermotion going on except for the moving ying in the background.
The second idea he had, he didn''t think that the princess would be terribly thrilled about, but it was something that he wanted to do but hadn''t had a chance to enjoy for quite some time.
"You''re talking about going to the beach?" His fianc¨¦ asked with a raised eyebrow as they were having dinner with everyone else.
"Yes. Before the weather gets too much colder I thought that it might be something fun that we could do." Samuel confirmed. He knew that they would have to be around a lot of people to do that, but he didn''t think that it would be horrible since they would be in a ratherrge open space.
Julius who was the closest to the two of them heard the conversation that they were having and wanted to interject into. He knew what a cat his niece was and that she likely wouldn''t enjoy spending time at a beach since it was near the ocean and the risk of getting wet in such a situation was rather high.
He could remember how fussy she would get about it the few times that they had gone as a family when she was younger. She enjoyed the sand and ying with other kids, but she hated getting wet or going near the water too much.
"That would depend on what you intend to do while we''re there." She told him. Not entirely thrilled about the idea but she said he coulde up with what he wanted.
"It could be anything really. Though I did think we could have a pic while we are there." Samuel replied.
He didn''t think that Ryan was set toe back the next day which meant that he could steal the kitchen again to make good for them to take. He had ideas about what he wanted to make.
"I won''t say no to the idea, but there may be some things that I won''t partake in." The princess told him honestly. Most things had to do with spending too much time in the water.
Though she doubted that dealing with the ocean would be worse than the water park that she had to go with her fiance and broth brother.
"I''m flexible with whatever we want to do once we get there. I just thought that it might be something fun and different to do." He exined.
Samuel had also hoped by deciding to go in the middle of the week that there would be less people around then there would be on a weekend.
"If we do go, we''re taking my motorcycle because it''s easier to deal with." She told as she finished the rest of her good. She hoped there would still be something good for desert even if Ryan wasn''t around to take care of it.
"Can i ride drive it this time?" He asked with a mild amount of hope.
The look that the princess gave him however told him that the answer was going to be a hard no.
"Firstly, no because you have no experience driving or knowing how to control such a thing. Second, it''s mine which I''ve put a lot of time and effort into building." She replied sharply. It was one of the few things she had the she left no one else in her family touch.
"If you want to go through the trouble of learning how to drive, it''s possible with some time to look at building one of your own."
"You would do something like that?" Samuel asked. Ah there was that tone of surprise in his voice that she disliked so much.
"Of course I would if you happen to seed in passing the test that would certify you to drive one." She replied.
"It would take some time to put together since we would be doing it from scratch." She exined.
"Wouldn''t it just be easier to buy one that is already put together?" He asked curiously. He didn''t see the point in going through all that trouble. Lena huffed in response to what he had said.
"It''s possible to do that. It''s better however to build one of your own so that everything is setup the way that you want it to be." She exined. It was the whole reason she built hers the way that she had.
She had wanted something that was faster than most that were sold on the market. She had a friend who helped her figure out the first steps to doing such a thing.
"We''ll consider it in the future once all of the immediate things are taken care of.." She told him.
Chapter 232 - This Is Not Ideal
Leo had been rather put out to hear after he wasn''t invited to the beach. He hade back after dinner was over and caught the end of the conversation that Lena and Samuel were having.
Even though he knew that he wouldn''t have had the time toe along anyways since he would be leaving in a few days, that didn''t stop him from making ament about it.
"If you want to do fun things like this, go do it yourself or find someone to take with you." The princess told her brother with a roll of her eyes.
She got the feeling he often didn''t understand the point of her and her fiance doing things alone together.
"But what if the person I want to borrow happens to be your lovely fiance?" Her brother asked as he put his hands on Samuel''s shoulder.
Samuel had gotten used to most of the younger man''s antics, but some of them still made him ufortable at times.
"No because he isn''t yours and he''s going to be doing things with me. Why don''t you invite his annoying older cousin instead? I think the two of you could get along quite well." Samuel couldn''t stop himself fromughing at thisment which caused Leo to frown.
"Even you think that he would be a better fit for me?" He asked looking down at the older man.
"Honestly, I can only barely tolerate him after everything that happened." he told them.
"That''s a bit of surprise considering how well it seems like the two of you get along whenever you share the same space." Samuel told him as he looked up at the other.
"Aside from that first day you met him, I didn''t think that you held any kind of grudge against him." Leo stifled augh when he heard this.
"That''s only because I''m good at acting like I''m not bothered by people even when I really am. A good skill to learn to deal with even the most difficult of people." He exined.
"Regard less. I still think the two of you would be a better fit rather than tagging along with the two of us." His sister told him as she swatted his hands away from her fianc¨¦. Mostly to give him a hard time but also perhaps due to a tiny amount of possessiveness.
"How sad. I will only be here for a few more days and the only two people in this family I want to spend time with are rejecting me for such unfair reasons." He sighed dramatically as he turned to leave.
"There will be plenty of time to do things when youe back for the holidays if you don''t turn around ande back before then." The princess pointed out effectively shutting down his dramatic disy.
If her brother could get away with it, she knew that the other would being back home to spend time with his family and to see how things were going if he got any kind of time off from sses. He couldn''t do it so much before when he was younger but now that he had more autonomy, he could practically do whatever it was that he wanted.
"Would I though? Considering the way that everyone is treating me, I might decide not toe back at all this time." Leo teased.
"There''s plenty to do in Ennd during the holidays that I doubt I would even miss anyone around here if I decided to stay there for the holidays." Lena was about to say something in response to that, but Samuel interjected first.
"That''s okay then I suppose. You''ll just miss the vacations and adventures we intend to have over the holidays when have the time." Lena wasn''t quite sure what he was talking about or had in mind by hisment as it was something that he hadn''t brought up to her, but she wasn''t about to say that aloud when she saw the look on her brother''s face.
"Insult to injury!" He eximed rather surprised that his half-way to brother-inw had said such a thing to him.
"I would imagine thising out of my sister, but from you? I am rather disappointed that you would treat me this way. Excluding me from such things despite how nice I have been to you." The older man just shrugged his shoulders slightly as he looked over at Lena rather than at her brother.
"I''m not excluding you from anything. Just that it can''t be helped if you don''t intend toe home for the holidays because you''re having too much fun in Ennd. We''ll of course send photos and postcards to you so that you''ll know what went on even if you can''t be there."
Leo really didn''t know what to say in response to this. Lena had apparently been rubbing off on her fianc¨¦ for him to suddenly start treating her brother that way. Two against one wasn''t an ideal situation for him and left him without an idea as to what kind ofeback he could give.
"I see then. Well I don''t n on sending anything back to you if this is the way that you two will be. I might have considered inviting you over for the holidays, but I don''t think I will be doing that now." He didn''t even wait to see what kind of response this would give him before he left the room.
Neither Lena or Samuel knew if his reaction to the situation was exaggerated or real but neither one could deny that it was rather amusing to watch.
"Don''t think that I missed the way you referred to me as yours just a few moments ago." Samuelmented once her brother was gone. This caused the princess to make an odd face when he brought this up.
"Should I take this to mean that your feelings are starting to change even more for me?" He asked though he was already certain that he knew the answer to this, he wanted to see if she would say it herself.
"Possession and affection are two different things." was all she replied with.. He didn''t quite know what she meant by this except that it wasn''t exactly a no.
Chapter 233 - Anything?
Samuel was disappointed when Lena refused to go to bed with him that night. He couldn''t me her since she had slept for so long during the afternoon. He would''ve just preferred to have within arms length of him and to feel her warmth to know that she was still there when he fell asleep.
He got the feeling that his fianc¨¦ still didn''t quite understand what he enjoyed about it or why he kept wanting to have such close contact with her, but he was fine with it since she wasn''t rejecting him. It was good progress in his eyes.
He felt proud about how things had been going on between them. He didn''t know though if it was because of the progress that he had been making or because of how far the princess hade.
She was still her huffy and mostly stoic and distant self, but there were times still where other emotions peeked out and floated to the surface. One had to watch carefully at first to notice the small difference in her facial expressions and tone to be certain there was something else there.
But as time went by, it became more obvious that he was having some kind of positive impact on her. From the way she blushed when he did small little affectionate or silly things to the grumpy reactions she that weren''t followed by t out rejecting his touching. Holding hands as well.
He hadn''t thought that in just a few months this type of progress would be possible between them. Samuel still couldn''t say that there was anything close to love between them, but he knew that there was potential for it to blossom as long as things kept moving in the direction that they currently were.
It might have made him a little giddy thinking about the fact that his stubborn patience had gotten him this far. He had done what Lena had first said wouldn''t be possible for him and what he had initially thought he would have to give up on.
Now, he just had to make sure that things kept going in the right direction. The engagement had gone through without any issues. He wasn''t quite sure what to expect next though since Jovani had mentioned to him in passing that there was still some kind of initiation that he needed to go through.
His older cousin hadn''t been willing to tell him what exactly it would be though. Why? he didn''t know except for the fact that the other enjoyed keeping little secrets until thest moment. Samuel doubted though that it would turn out to be anything that he couldn''t handle.
Those were things to be worried about after the next two days passed. Along with talking to Richard to see what he could do about the situation that the other was dealing with. Though he didn''t really have any clue what he was requesting to step into beyond what Hester and Julian had told him, he didn''t think that it would turn out to be anything tooplicated that he couldn''t handle.
He rolled over onto to his side as heid on the bed. Tonight, his primary focus needed to be on thinking about how he could convince the princess that spending time in the ocean while going to the beach was a must. He didn''t quite understand why exactly her aversion to water was about, but it was a mystery that he wanted to solve.
How he would do that, he didn''t know since Lena was still a step ahead of him when it came to anything physical between them. While she was certainly more gentle with him than she was with other people, he wouldn''t put it past her to ''hurt him'' if he pushed things too far and did something she didn''t like.
If they were a normal couple, he would''ve just done what he had seen take ce in various movies he had watched where the male lead picked up his lover and carried her into the water with him or dropped her which was usually followed a certain amount of indignation or screaming before things turned fun.
Samuel got the feeling though that if he even thought about secretly trying this with his little spit fire of a fianc¨¦ that she wouldy him out t and refuse to allow him to touch her again in the near future.
He would instead have to find a different way to convince her to go into the water with him. What method he could use, he was certain of as he figured bribing her wouldn''t work since it had been a fail back when they were at the water park together.
It was a problem that he would have to ponder about in the morning once he had gotten some sleep. He knew that a solution existed, he just couldn''t think of it off the top of his head. Likely because he was too tired and his mind was trying to think of one too many things at once.
The issue resolved itself next morning however before Samuel had even really had a chance to give it much thought after waking up and immediately shifting to get everything ready for them to go to the beach. Lunch had to be made, beach towels and appropriate wear collected, and anything else they needed to be packed for the few hours they were gone. Nothing too heavy since they were only taking the princess''s motorcycle.
"Why don''t you pick one thing that you want to do at the beach." The princess told him as she helped to pack the pic basket that they would be taking with them. She pushed him into taking one of the smaller ones that they had versus therge one that he wanted as she didn''t think they would be able to eat everything he wanted to take with them.
"Anything at all?" Samuel rified, a twinkle in his eyes when she said. The princess narrowed her eyes at him when she saw the look on his face but simply nodded her head to confirm it.
"I have one thing in mind, but only if you also agree to pick one thing you want to do at the beach as well." he told her.. It wouldn''t be as fun if he was the only one who made a request.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 234 - Live For This
Samuel didn''t end up telling Lena what he was thinking about and that made her question her decision to say such a thing. Sammy could have odd ideas at time that she wasn''t thrilled about. She was trying to work onpromise however since she fully intended to go through with marriage since they were engaged and would be tied together for the next few decades.
"Don''t do that." The princess told him as she pped his hand away from the front handle bars of the motorcycle as she focused on attaching the pic basket securely to it. Samuel had never done it before so it was left up to her to make sure that their lunch wouldn''t fly away while they were driving.
"So that one thing I wanted to do wouldn''t include me being able to ride this?" He asked in a overly sweet tone of voice as though to curry favor with her. She was unaffected by it however and just simply rolled her eyes as she finished attaching the the basket.
"Does it look to you like we''re on the beach yet? If the answer to that is negative then the answer to your question is no." She was too focused on what she was doing that she hadn''t noticed the other move to stand behind her as she put thest straps on the basket and gave it a firm enough tug to make sure it was securely in ce.
"I''m sure if we closed our eyes and imagined it we would be." He told his fianc¨¦ as he put his hands over her eyes to cover them. Even though she knew it was Samuel, she had resist the urge to strike her elbow back against him.
"I rmend in the future that you avoid doing that kind of thing." She warned as she pulled his hands off her face firmly. Unexpected touching was one thing, but impairment of senses was something else that she didn''t tolerate all that well.
Training had taught her to instinctively react against such things with force. This meant that it actually took an extra mental step for the princess to stop herself from striking out.
"So blindfolds are out of the question in the event any future surprises?" Samuel took the helmet the other had handed him and put it on. He was always surprised by how well insted motorcycle helmets were despite the fact that the stic on the front looked rather flimsy.
"You could try if you wanted to, but I cannot promise how I might react if you did it unexpectedly and I was unaware of where we were heading. If not you, someone else might up getting hurt." She exined as she brushed her hand over the seat of her motorcycle. Even though she always made sure to store it somewhere safe, it never managed to escape getting dust on it if she went too long without driving.
"I hope you remember how fast I drive." She told the other once she had gotten herself positioned on the motorcycle so that it would be safe for Samuel to join her.
It had been a while since she hadst had the opportunity to drive. She knew that the moment they took off and it was safe that she wouldn''t be able to ignore the intense urge to speed as fast as she could. It would only be a temporary thing however as once they hit the interstate there would be too much traffic for her to go as fast she normally would have like.
"I wouldn''t expect anything less from you princess. I''m well aware that you''re quite the speed demon." Leo hadn''t been the only one to talk to him in passing about how fast the princess could drive.
Samuel actually found out that there was a period of time where her father banned her from using it. Apparently after she had altered it, there was a period of time that she would drive so fast that the security detail that her father had assigned to her was unable to keep up. She did this on purpose of course as she hated being followed and liked to have points of time where she could be left alone to herself. "
"The only time that we rode together I wasn''t going as fast as I could so might suggest that you hold on a little tighter and buckle your legs more." Lena instructed as she reeved the engine on the motorcycle.
Feeling the rumbling and hum of the engine under her caused a spark of life to zip through her body. Lena didn''t even try to hide the smile that burst across her face when she felt all the too familiar impatient feeling on the engine wanting her to let it take off. These small moments of exhration andplete control to push the limit as far as she wanted to were one of the things that the princess lived for. It was exactly the kind of therapy she needed after everything that had been going on recently.
Had she been on her own she would''ve taken the chance to shout out her delight as the motorcycle kicked and took off at a speed faster than even she had expected. Instead, Lena had settle for letting the feeling of delight building up in her cheste out as a excited trembling her arms as she reeved the motorcycle to push it to go faster. She felt Samuel wrap his arms tighter around her waist as he tucked his head against her shoulder.
She was too happy to riding again after so many weeks that she didn''t pay much attention to whether or not the other was enjoying the speed they were traveling at. She didn''t think though that he could have been minding it too much since he hadn''t tried to yell at her to slow down or any other simr thing.
? Though even if he did, the princess couldn''t promise that she would''ve stopped for him. She had missed this sense of thrill and the exhration of adrenaline rushing through her body so much that she didn''t think much of anything rational could get her to stop.
If she kept up the current pace she was driving at, it was possible that they might actually be able to reach the book in four hours rather then give the navigation told her it was originally going to take. The only thing that would hold her back was other traffic.. One perk of riding a motorcycle however was that some of the typicalws of traffic were easy to bypass when it came to speeding and even so long as the other traffic around her paid attention.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 235 - Dont Even
They managed to make it to the beach in one piece even though there were a few times that Samuel thought his heart might actually stop with the way Lena was weaving and speeding through the traffic on the interstate. He lost count of how many cars honked their horns at them when the number reached past ten. They weren''t the only ones who had ces that they wanted to go. They just didn''t have someone like their fianc?? driving to help them reach their destination faster.
He hadn''t tried to tell her stop however. He doubted that she would''ve been able to him over the roar of the window and the sound of the cars all around them or the asional shouting of someone cussing them out for cutting to close around them and almost hitting them. Samuel would''ve apologized but he knew that they had been moving so quickly no one would''ve been able to see or hear him do it.
Lena hadn''t missed the way that the other had reacted to her driving, she was just enjoying herself too much to care to slow down or shift her driving behavior. Nothing bad had happened to them so she didn''t think that there was anything toin about. They had even managed to make it to the beach faster than they had expected to.
Unlike her fianc?? who needed a few moments to recover with his feet under him before he would be ready to start walking, the princess was already getting all of their things together. Since she was the one who had been driving, there was no suffering on her end from the effects of the speed she was going at.
There were a lot more people than she had expected to be at the beach for a weekday. This made her scowl inwardly as she tried to find them a spot that wasn''t too close to other groups of people. She didn''t mind people being around, she just didn''t want to have to deal with getting hit by any stray beach balls or sprayed with pellets of water from water guns or any other such things that might have been going on with children around.
Lena understood that kids were also there to enjoy their limited time at the beach, but that didn''t mean that she had to be any part of it or deal with it if she didn''t wish to.
It took her a few minutes of searching before she had finally found a spot she thought would be fitting for them. Perhaps a little further in away from the ocean that Samuel would''ve liked, but it wasn''t like he couldn''t traverse the distance between their setup location and the water if he so desired to.
"Didn''t you bring something to change into?" Her fianc?? asked when noticed that she appeared as though she was ready to getfortable on the nket and umbre she had set up to protect from the sun while still wearing the shorts and tank top she had driven over in. Samuel had put on swimming trunks underneath his own shorts and had somehow anticipated that the princess would''ve done something simr. It seemed though that such was not the case.
"I don''t wear bathing suites." She replied tly as she leaned back, using the palms of her hands as support to hold her weight rather thanying t on her back.
"They attract unnecessary attention. Thus I''ve never seen the point in wearing one since I''m here simply to enjoy the time I have rather than attempting to impress anyone." A small part of Samuel was disappointed when he heard the other''s reply. He had been hoping Lena would have brought such a thing with her so that he might get a chance to see what style of swimwear she preferred.
"You can do as you wish of course, it just isn''t my thing." Considering the fact that she did have Samuel, she also didn''t think that there was any reason to bother with such things.
Based upon the numerous observations that she had made going to the beach growing up, she had figured out the types of people who frequented the beach and their reason for being there based upon the type of outfits that they wore. Based upon her observations, most women only wore revealing swimsuits when they were either trying to attract someone or impress the person that they with. She had no desire to do the first and didn''t think that there was much of a reason to do the second.
If Samuel was ever only interested in something to do with her physical appearance and didn''t care to make any effort in the rest of their rtionship, the princess would drop him at that point as she didn''t believe there was reason to maintain such a rtionship with anyone.
"What about for going into the water though?" Samuel asked as he came over to sit down next to the other. The ocean was calling for him to get into water already, but he knew it was best to wait a few minutes after all the riding he had been doing. He wanted to make sure his legs would be okay to swim with.
"I have no interest in the water. I believe that is more of your thing than mine." she pointed out, shifting her position slightly on the towels so that she was further under the umbre.
"I''m content to stay here and while you enjoy yourself until you want to do other things." She had no desire to go into the water. The clothes that she had brought weren''t suited for it either. They would just weigh her down and make being annoying wet rather than enjoyable.
"Even if it what I wanted to ask you to do out of everything else?" Samuel asked innocently, as he shed her one of his charming smiles. She knew that was another thing that he had picked up from spending too much time around Jovani. His older cousin was a master at that kind of thing.
"You honestly wouldn''t try to use that with me knowing how much I hate water." She gave him a look that dared her to tell him that he wasn''t joking about it.
"Well.. I did think that it might be fun if it is the two of us and you did say that it could be anything that I want it to be." And here came the part where she knew that she was going to regret telling him that before they left.
"Why out of all the things that it could be do you want me to go into the ocean with you?" Samuel bit his bottom lip when she asked his question. He wanted to tell her but he knew she might think that the reason was silly and he honestly also didn''t want anyone else who was around on the beach to hear his reason.
This lead to him scooting further up onto the nket so that he was sitting next to the princess. Leaning over, he whispered the reason that he wanted to do it in her ear.
She listened passively to what he had to say until he was done speaking at which point she narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a disapproving look.
"Don''t even think about trying to get me to do that with you." She warned. The look on his face however of a person trying to give her puppy dog eyes to relent on her unspoken no while trying not to smile was what she was met with by her fianc?? who seemed rather determined to get her to agree to what he wanted.
Chapter 236 - Soaked
Samuel spent the better half of fifteen minutes trying to convince Lena to do what she wanted with him. It was the one request that he had made of her and it was one thing that she didn''t want to do with him. The fact that they were both incredibly stubborn didn''t help with this.
"You did say that you would agree to any one of thing I wanted to do." He reminded her again as he leaned against her. He didn''t use much of his weight but it was a mild invasion of her personal space since they were in a public setting. Even if it was unlikely that there would be much of anyone there who knew who she was, she still didn''t like it all that.
"You''re trying to take advantage of that by asking the one thing you know I wouldn''t willingly do otherwise." She pointed not bothering to look at him. If he was anyone else, she would''ve already pushed him away from her but she was being tolerant for now.
"You didn''t say though that there was anything off the table that I could ask of you. You just said I could ask any one thing from you." Her fianc¨¦ insisted. He knew that he was losing the argument with words which is why he knew that he had to find something else that would convince the princess to do what he asked.
There was really only one thing that he could try that might get her to change her mind. Either out offortability or a desire to get what he was offering.
"What if in exchange for it, I make it worth your time?" He asked close to her ear. His voice had taken on a lower and more seductive tone. He lowered the tone of his voice in hopes that the feeling of the warm air on Lena''s ear would get the reaction that he was hoping.
"Make it worth my time? How so? You''re asking me to get soaked for a little bit of fun on your side while I don''t have anything else to change into after the fact." Surprisingly, she managed to keep herself wellposed despite what his small action was doing to her.
"I could warm you up after the fact. Then you wouldn''t have to worry about that." he dared to nip the top of her ear which did cause an unwanted reaction in her body. How terrible it was that the tiny things were always what got to her. The hand that had found its way to her lower back was also not helping as it seemed to be making a slow descent towards her shorts.
"You do know that you''re really pushing your luck right now with what you''re doing?" she asked, managing to keep her voice steady despite the small fire that was beginning to burn in her stomach.
"I don''t think that I''m doing anything too out of line. It''s not like we''re the only ones here doing this kind of thing either. There are plenty of others as well." Samuel replied as he brushed his nose against the back of her ear.
Was he aware that every little nonverbal action he was doing to her was a unspoken disy of dominance? The princess had seen such things enough and read about how nonverbalnguage intimacy meant enough to know. She wasn''t sure her fianc¨¦ was as well versed in such things as she was.
"It doesn''t matter what other people are doing. It matters whether or not you''re pushing your luck with me." She replied tly. She wanted to move away from the other to create a little bit of distance, but her current position didn''t really allow for that to happen easily.
Samuel wasn''t leaning that hard against her, but the way she was resting back on her hands made it hard for her to move easily. If she tried, it would put her at risk of falling back which would give her fianc¨¦ the advantage. That was something that she wanted to avoid this time around. Their first time together she had given him that control, but that didn''t meant she would be so willing to do so with each interaction that followed.
Lena was also aware that they were rather close to a number of other people who likely could see what was going on between them. This produced a mixed feeling inside of her. The other couples and families on the beach nearby didn''t really seem to be paying them any heed, but that didn''t mean they weren''t aware of what was going.
"Why don''t you make a decision on what you would rather prefer then?" He suggested, kissing the back side of her neck softly. He knew that he had to do it just right as too much would send his princess over the edge. Teasing like this could be fun on asion he was finding out.
"My decision is for you to stop what you''re doing so that we can stay here and enjoy the beach." She replied though slightly clenched teeth. She was beginning to feel that odd hazy feeling at the back of her head. One she knew that indicated her arousal was rising. Her frustration at herself more than at Samuel was growing with each passing second. She should have better control against such things that were going on between them. Right now, she was losing that fight and the other was quiet enjoying it.
"That wasn''t one of the two options that I gave you though." He told her as he kissed a spot further down on her neck. His hand on her lower back was traveling further as well. The way he wasying slightly on his head side meant that people on his left wouldn''t be able to see what he was doing, but the right side was mostly open for anyone to see.
The princess let a growl of frustration under her breath. This certainly wasn''t how she was expecting things to turn out today. A rxing day at the beach was what she had expected while the other maybe messed around in the ocean. They could enjoy being in the space and doing their own thing in a peaceful manner. She should have expected though that the other wouldn''t make it that easy for her.
Trying to figure out what to do, Lena opted for trying to shift her position in order to put a little space between the two of them so that she could think about what would be the better option.
This didn''t work out well for her however as he right hand ended up slipping because the sand was softer and less solid than she had expected. It wasn''t a hard fall at least and she didn''t have to worry about her hair getting in her face since she had tied it back.
The problem however was that Samuel had sifted his position once she had fallen on her back, effectively pinning her under him by being on top of her. It wasn''t a hard pin, and she knew that she could have gotten the other off of her if she wanted to. Except that there was one slight problem. One of his hands had managed to slip under the waistband of her shorts and underwear to brush against her pussy. Her breath caught slightly in her throat when she felt this followed by one finger dipping between the lips of her pussy. It took a lot of control for her to not let any reaction out in response to this.
"Hmm, we''ve hardly even done anything and someone is already so soaked." Samuel whispered in a husky tone of voice against her ear.
That was apletely unfair thing for him to have done.
Chapter 237 - I Will Get You Back Later
Samuel knew that he was likely pushing his luck with how forward he was being with Lena considering therge amount of people around. He was enjoying himself too much however to really care. It wasn''t like they were the first couple to do this kind of thing on the beach after all.
Plus, it wasn''t like there was anyone around that would recognize them. It was quite a few hours away from where either the Red Scorpions or the Vedova Nera were located. To anyone around them, they would look like typical teenagers messing around on the beach. What was so wrong about that.
He was mildly surprised that the princess was so wet already despite the fact that he had hardly been teasing her. Did he have that kind of affect on her or was it because there were so many people around? That''s something that he might have to figure outter on.
Right now.. he had a more important goal to focus.
"Tell me, which do you want?" Samuel asked pulling back enough so that he could kiss the other. This kiss was more sensual and less rough than the usually ones that they shared.
"Should we continue here like this or do you want to join me in the water?" he pressed after the kiss ended. Lena opened her eyes to look at him. Her face was dusted pink but her eyes showed howposed she trying to be despite the way that her body was reacting.
He couldn''t help but wonder what was going through he head as she stared at him so intently.
"I think that I want to pick a third option where you do what I wish and get off me before you regret it." She replied in a level tone of voice. With her fianc¨¦''s finger pressing against the inside of her pussy, it was hard for to focus and make sure that her voice didn''t give away too much of what she was feeling.
"What about the one thing I want though?" Samuel asked as he leaned further against the princess. The shift in weight wasn''t that much, but it was enough to allow him better ess between her legs without having to fully shift his position.
"You can chose something else." the back of her voice was strained as she spoke as the other had pushed his finger further in-between the wet folds at the same time she was speaking. This action caused her eyes to flutter for a brief second as she tried to maintain herposure. She would be damned before she allowed herself to moan in such a situation.
"Really? You seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit. Are you sure that there''s something else that you would prefer to do than this." he teased. Th only problem with teasing was that it was slightly back-firing against him as he felt himself getting hard. It was difficult not to get aroused though when he caught every subtle movement that the princess made that showed how what he was doing affected her.
The choices that Lena had between weren''t particrly favorable at the current moment. She didn''t to through with the ridiculous idea Samuel had of her joining him in the water. There were a number of things she was working topromise with the other on, but why did it have to go as far as the one thing she hated perhaps most after annoying humans and long meetings?
If Samuel had asked her to do something along the lines as ridiculous as having a water gun fight or simr, she would''ve probably agreed because she was unlikely to bepletely soaked and the sun would''ve easily dried out the wet patches.
The other option of continuing in their current position wasn''t the best her either. Did it feel good? Of course. In the current situation under the current circumstances however, she didn''t want to continue things between them.
It would againe down to the fact that she was going her fianc¨¦ too much and he was going to only keep pushing for that much more if she let that happen.
Well.. there was always a third option that the other would probably not be expecting from her. It might appease him, but wasn''t going to exactly be all that fun for her considering how hot it was outside. Why was it so hard to justy on the beach?
"I have another option in mind." The princess told the other who seemed interested in hearing what she hade up with. She didn''t appreciate the smug look on the other''s face when she said.
"What''s that?" Samuel asked intently. He removed the one hand that was near her pussy until after he heard what she decided. He thought it only fair to not distract her as she told him what she thought wanted to suggest.
That stop of movement had been all the princess needed. She leaned up slightly and took her arms and wrapped them around the other. The difference in their size made it a little difficult, but it wasn''t impossible for him to managed to roll them over since Samuel wasn''t expecting it.
He was caught off guard by the suddenly movement and found himselfying under the princess. She was always lighter than he had expected her to be so it never actually hurt when she was on top of him.
When they made eye contact, he anticipated seeing amusement or something else, but instead she looked rather unimpressed. Ah, perhaps his choice hadn''t been the best one to get what he wanted?
He wasn''t quite sure what to expect when she suddenly leaned down towards him. He found himself holding his breath in anticipation of a kiss. Instead though, she bypassed his face and leaned down to his ear.
"Tag, you''re it." she told him before nipping his ear. Samuel found himself rather confused by what she had said. He couldn''t quite wrap his head around what she meant by that, but that dy was all the time that she actually needed to slip off him and get a head start.
"Wait, that isn''t fair!" He shouted after her once he realized exactly what was going on. Of course, that didn''t his little fianc¨¦ as he got up so that he could go after her.
It was honestly such a silly thing, but it had been a while since she had run as much as she currently was. It wasn''t bad however if one ignored the fact that sand was infuriatingly hard to get traction on if one didn''t know how to move their feet right. If she wasn''t as good on her feet as she was, she would''ve likely fallen at least ten times as she tried to weave her way around the other people who were on the beach.
She hated crowds, but this was probably the one time that she was thankfully that they would help her put more distance between herself and Samuel. In her head she knew that if he really wanted to catch up to her, it wouldn''t take him as long as she would''ve liked.
Samuel was of course intent on catching her. It was hard to move around the people and avoid knocking into them while frequently having to apologize, but somehow that made it that much more fun to him. One of the few times that he was actually thankful of the fact that Lena had red hair. It made her stand out more when he was trying to keep with where she was going.
He couldn''t stop the grin that spread across his face when he stopped her and tried to run faster so that he could catch her. He didn''t quite understand how things had taken a turn from being so sexually charged to something more childish. He wasn''t about toin however. It might break whatever spelling was going on between them.
Lena was getting short on breath but she knew better than to look behind as she moved around another family on the beach. The grandmother looked rather indignant over the fact that she had kicked up some sand. That wasn''t her problem though. It was part of being on the beach.
Surprisingly, running for her life in a non-life-threatening situation was more fun than she had expected it to be. The adrenaline rush wasn''t quite the same, but it achieved that same gust of excitement that she enjoyed.
She was so much so into that she didn''t expect the sudden grab from behind as arms wrapped around her waist. She actually let out an audible gasp when she was suddenly spun around.
"I got you!" Samuel said triumphantly as he scooped her up so that he was holding her in a more princess style. A position that Lena had never been in before.
They both out of breath as they stared at each other. The position wasn''t entirelyfortable for Lena, but she couldn''t deny that the whole situation had been fun if not short lived.
"Now, we''re going to do what I want to do." He told her determinedly. Now this wasn''t what she expected.
The princess couldn''t do much however in the current position as it was disadvantageous for her. The way he was holding her made it hard for her to get away from him without potentially hurting either of them.
The fact that Samuel kissed the top of her head as he marched in the direction of the ocean didn''t make anything better for her.
"I swear if you go through with this, I will get you backter for this.." She warned.
Chapter 238 - Youre In Trouble
Lena was forced to ept the fact that she was going to have to go into the water with Samuel. He refused to let her down and was insistent that it was going to be more fun than she thought.
"Right because being bogged down by soaking wet clothes is so much fun." She replied back sarcastically. This happened to be the exact moment that the other decided to drop her into the water. She had to bit her bottom lip to stop the gasp that wanted toe out when she hit the cold sea water. If he had tossed her in there she would''ve probably not been able to hold back the noise that she made.
Of course, he didn''t let her get wet on her own, he was right there in the water with her. The only difference was that he had brought his swimming trunks with him so he didn''t have to get stuck in soaking wet clothes unlike his fianc¨¦.
He couldn''t deny that she looked far more upset about the matter than he had honestly expected her to be. Her expression mimicked the dirty look a cat might give it''s owner after being forced to take a bath against it''s will.
"Are you quite happy with yourself?" The princess asked as she shook her head in order to flip her wet hair out of her face. The water wasn''t as miserable in terms of temperature as she thought it would be. The sun somehow managed to do a decent job warming.
"Hmm. I think that I would have been far happier if you came into the water on your own rather than making me drag you along." He replied sticking his tongue at the other as he leaned back into the water so that he could just float and enjoy the gently feeling of being carried by the ocean''s waves. He never could understand how water could make one feel so light and free as though nothing was weighing them down any longer. Whatever the cause of it, he could never get enough of it.
"Of course. I made you drag me along to do something I never wanted to do the first ce." The only small bit of satisfactory vengeance she was able to get on the other was sshing water in his face when he didn''t expect it.
"Why don''t you like the water? It doesn''t seem like you have a problem swimming or anything of the sort?" Samuel asked as he shifted his position so that he could float over to where the other was. Lena ended up moving away before he could touch her however. She must have really been in a poor mood to be purposely not allowing him to touch her.
"I just don''t like it. in and simply. I don''t really understand what''s enjoyable about floating around like this." She replied honestly as she kicked her feet to float further away from the other. It was hard to get her body to move in the direction that she wanted it to go with how heavy her pants and shirt were from the water. "Certainly I won''t argue that it can feel refreshing on days when it''s hot, but I just don''t think the deficit of getting wet is out weighed by any benefits."
On the third try, Samuel finally managed to catch the princess. He quickly shifted his hands from being wrapped around her chest when he realized that her soaking wet shirt allowed for more easy of ess to her breasts that were hiding underneath.
"Isn''t it at all peaceful to to be able to just float here and forget everything that is going on for a while. To just be able to enjoy the sound of the ocean and the feeling of the warm sun?" He shifted their position so that he could wrap his arms around her waist and pull her against his chest so that he was supporting her.
It wasn''t exactlyfortable for the other to be in this position since it took away a level of the control in her ability to move in the water, but it wasn''t like she could fight it too much consider how hard it already was for her to move around in the water.
"Only when I was younger. Anymore though I just see the ocean as being unpredictable. Though water in general is that way. One moment it can be calm and serene, the next it can turn violent and there''s little those who are in its'' grasp can to do to fight against that sudden shift."
"Does everything with youe down to an issue of control or no control?" Samuel couldn''t help but notice that there seemed to be some kind of pattern with this in the many conversations that the princess and he had over the months that they were together.
"Not everything. Just the things that are important to me." The princess replied as she leaned her head against the other''s chest. She would have to put up with it for now since it was easier than trying to swim on her own.
"From this perspective it seems like control is something that''s really important to you." hisment made her scoff.
"That''s only because in most situations you see me in there is reason for control to be important to me. In this world, control is the difference between sess and failure or life and death." She told him. She tried to lean her head back in order to look at him but was unable to do this.
"One wrong move or loss of control can cause someone to lose their life or cost it the life of another. It can also cause a whole empire to crumble if one doesn''t keep the right control on the things that are important."
Silence followed thisment as Samuel processed what the other was telling her. It was also rather peaceful at the current moment in time that he also didn''t feel like talking too much. He wanted to soak up as much of the current position that they were in as he possibly could.
"You do know that after what happened here, you''re going to end up being in serious troubleter." He didn''t meant tough but couldn''t hold it back when the princess told him in a tone that was too calm for the threat that she was making.
He kissed the top of her head.. He supposed that it was only fair since he physically had dragged her into doing something that she had no interest in and whether it was defeat or another reason, she was currently humoring him rather than swimming back to the shore.
Chapter 239 - I Still Dont Like It
After they got out of the water, Samuel ended up giving Lena his short since it was still dry unlike hers. He had offered her his pants as well, but she rejected those as she already knew that they would be far toorge for her. She was just going to deal with the ones she had one for the time being until they went back. The warm air and sun might be enough to dry them on the way back.
The princess ended typing her hair back with some of the rope that she had used to secure the pic basket on to the motorcycle. It was pink which she wasn''t thrilled about, but it was better than letting her wet hair keep sticking to the sides of her face.
Her fianc¨¦ had enjoyed it too much to offer her an honest apology for what he had done. If he had the opportunity at another point, he would do the same thing all over again. He was certain that his affectionate nature would help the other to not remain upset at him for too long.
Besides, even if she hadn''t enjoyed it all that much, there were a number of people on the beach who had seemed to think that their charades were amusing and fun to watch. Lena had only noticed it after they got out of the water. There were a number of people who were smiling or watching them with amused expressions. Mostly older couples or mothers and a few younger guys who perhaps thought it would be fun to try with their significant other. Whatever the reason, the princess wasn''t exactly thrilled about the attention.
Samuel had insisted on going to get their basket for lunch himself while Lena stayed wrapped up in one of the beach towels that they had brought with them. It wasn''t like she needed to worry about the cold or anything of the sort, she knew it was just him trying to be nice after what happened.
They had decided not to bring a nket since they were already going to be spread out on the beach towels. This left room for them to pack things in a more orderly fashion that reduced the risk of spills or loss.
"What do you want to drink?" He asked the princess as he began to set everything out carefully. He was the one who had made most everything for the two of them and thus knew which items were for whom.
"Juice." The princess replied as she watched him. The only thing that she really recognized as being familiar was the sandwiches and sausage rolls. There was some other things that reminded her of hand pies but she wasn''t certain about and a sd that consisted of pasta and beans that she was fairly certain she hadn''t had before.
"Here." He said as he handed her the juice before pulling another container out.
"There weren''t a lot of sweet things that I could make to take with us, but I thought that you might like this." Samuel told her as he showed her the small two cup container.
"Rice pudding?" she checked after staring at it for a moment trying to determine what it was.
"Yeah, it''s not something that needs to be kept too chilled in order for it to taste good or not set up properly." He exined as he put it down with everything her else. Lena''s eyes stayed glued to the container even as it moved. It had been years since thest time that she had that. In fact, she didn''t think that she had touched it since her mother had passed away.
"hm" was all she said to acknowledge she heard the other before turning her attention back to the other food. No use in being sentimental at the current moment in time. She would eat it because her fianc¨¦ had made it for her.
The rest of the food had toe first though. The sandwiches were what Samuel decided to start with. One being egg sd and the other a tuna melt. He only made one of each and split them in half so each of them could have a half of both.
Neither of them tasted bad though the princess couldn''t remember a time where she had either. Most of the meat the staff cooked with was more expensive and higher ss. Tuna melt would have been considered below her level to eat ording to Ryan. He always kept a particr food standard within the kitchen so that he wouldn''t risk upsetting anyone within the Red Scorpion family by making anything that wasn''t their taste.
The hand pies weren''t bad either. Samuel had filled them with cheese and meat and managed to cook them just right without burning them. The only thing that Lena wasn''t thrilled about was the sd. It wasn''t bad, she just didn''t think that the vors went that well together.
She ate her full serving without say anything about it knowing that it would be rude not to. It wasn''t inedible after all, it was just a vor issue. Finishing it meant that she could get to what she really wanted which was the rice pudding.
Her fianc¨¦ only took a small portion for himself and gave the majority of it to her. The juice was plenty sweet on it''s own that he didn''t need too much of anything else sweet to be satisfied. In hindsight, he had probably ended up packing far more food than they needed. He had just anticipated before the turn of events that they would end up eating twice while they were there instead of just once.
Everything still tasted good either way. He felt like it was made more enjoyable by thefortable weather that was neither too warm or cold for the time of year. He knew though that they would have to be getting back sooner rather thanter in order to avoid driving back in the dark.
The princess wasn''t ready to leave quite yet though. They had just eaten and she wanted to take some time to rest before she had to drive back. Falling into a fooda on the way back would be a very dangerous thing.
She was feeling rather tired anyways after what had happened between her and Samuel in the ocean and before that. Taking a nap before heading back might not have been the worst idea that she had. The other could join her if he wanted or do something else to entertain himself while she slept off everything that she had eaten once things were cleaned up.
One thing that she could take away from the day was that even after going into the ocean with her fianc¨¦, she still didn''t like the water anymore than she had in the past. Nor did she feel the need to think about doing that kind of thing with the other again in the future. She would be very happy to stay on drynd while he went out and enjoyed himself.. The sun and sand were far morefortable than water would ever be to her.
Chapter 240 - Mafia Secret
The princess thought that she would be able to enjoy sleeping for a while. It was warm on the sand and the shade was nice enough under the umbre that she knew she wouldn''t have to worry about getting sunburnt.
She didn''t feel like she had been sleeping for very long before voices caught her attention and cut through her sleep-hazed brain. She knew that she couldn''t have been imaging it because one was very clearly Samuel''s voice. The second sounded oddly familiar to her too, but she couldn''t quite ce it...
She wasn''t ready to wake up though. Her body still felt heavy and exhausted. She knew though that she must''ve stirred or made a noise because she felt as a soft hand brushed through her hair. She was familiar enough with the warm touch by now to know that it belonged to Samuel.
"She really does seem that much different when she sleeps." the other voice said.
"I keep telling you that. She isn''t as bad as you think. You just like to try and annoy her too much." Samuel responded. She figured that the touch was supposed to help rx her. It was failed attempt though as the voices were too close and loud for her to be able to go back to sleep.
As she slowly began to wake up, she also became aware of the fact that it felt like her head was resting on something that wasn''t the sand under the towel. Whatever it was felt too soft.
"Or maybe it''s just you she''s like that with and hates everyone else." The second suggested. The more she listened, the more she realized that the only person that voice could belong to was Jovani.
If that was true though, what did he want and how did he know where to find them? It was their day off, he shouldn''t have been there to bother them.
"Go away." Lena knew her voice likely sounded exhausted and somewhat husky since she had just woken up and her throat was slightly dry. She didn''t care though. She didn''t want the other there.
"Really? You just wake up and that''s the first way you decide to greet me?" Jovani asked in an exaggeratedly offended tone of voice.
"I''m sorry, did we wake up?" Samuel asked brushing his hand through the other''s hair again. The princess couldn''t help but wonder why such a simple action could feel soothing at times like these.
"He did not you." She replied softly. She was still so tired that it took her extra time to think of what she was trying to say. Words weren''ting to her easily and that made her annoyed.
"I don''t even know what he''s doing here in the first ce when it''s our day off." She added, slowly opening her eyes. Though the sun was blocked by the umbre, it didn''tpletely keep the re out of her eyes which caused her to winch as she tried to adjust her eyes to see what was going.
"I can make him go away if you want to sleep more. There''s still time before we have to leave." Her fianc¨¦ told her ncing over at his cousin was watching their interaction intently.
He couldn''t deny that Lena did seemly oddly softer as she woke up. Did sleep do some kind of weird magic to her or was it just because of the way his cousin was interacting with her?
"If I had known that this was the kind of reception I was going to receive, I wouldn''t have even bothereding in the first ce. Jovani scoffed as he kicked the sand. Samuel motioned with his hand for his older cousin to be quiet. It wasn''t the ce for his nonsense right now.
"It''s fine. I can''t sleep any longer now that that annoying person is here." The princess replied as she slowly sat up. She would just have to make up the sleepter.
"How did you even know toe here in the first ce?" When the princess turned her attention to Jovani, they didn''t hold the same softness he had seen in them when she was interacting with his cousin.
"That''s a mafia secret," Jovani replied with a smirk as he pressed his left index finger against his lips.
"Isn''t it just because you track me through my phone?" Samuel asked catching the otherpletely off-guard by his guess.
"That isn''t something you''re supposed to know. How did you even find that out?" His cousin asked inplete shock that the other would know such a thing. He never told him that.
It was Samuel''s turn to smirk in response to this.
"Just a good guess. A guess you could sayes from the idea of being safe at all times." He replied.
"Not to mention the fact that you did have my phone for a while before you gave it back to me. It wasn''t like you wouldn''t have had plenty of chances to bug it before you gave it back." He wasn''t wrong, but he didn''t expect that his younger cousin would be so quick to put those pieces together. He truly was a sharp one when he wanted to be.
"I guess it isn''t such a secret now." The princess said as she moved her position so that she could stand up. Now that she was fully awake she could see that the thing that she had beenying her hand on was the second beach towel. Samuel must have rolled it up for her to be able to rest her head on it. She felt an odd mixture of concern and confusion flutter through her stomach when she realized that him doing that hadn''t woken her up.
"You didn''t say yet what you''re doing here or what you want from us. We are still on our time off so it better be something really important." The princess told Jovani who still seemed upset about the fact that Samuel knew his secret.
"I am actually here for something important or rather to ask about an important thing." He replied.
"I know that you still have one more day off and that''s why I wanted to ask about when you wanted to do the initiation process? We can do it after you''re off your break if you want or we could do it tomorrow evening so there''s a few hours for you two go after things."
Until Jovani had said something, she had almost forgotten about the fact that Samuel still needed to through that.
Chapter 241 - Have You Explained It?
"Is it something that needs to be handled right away?" Samuel asked. If he had a choice in the matter, he would rather it happenter on after he got to enjoy the rest of the time off with Lena. The princess cast Jovani a cold stare in response to her fianc¨¦''s question.
"Have you not taken the time to exin this to him yet?" The princess asked causing the other to shrug his shoulders.
"In brief passing I have. Since it hasn''t been decided how it will happen yet, I didn''t think that there was much of a reason to dwell on it too much." the older cousin replied.
"Such an irresponsible way of handling such an important matter." She rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Samuel who looked rather confused as he nced between the two.
"It is kind of important to handle it right away. Before anything can be done though, you need to understand what exactly will happen." she told the other.
"And this isn''t exactly the kind of ce that we want to be talking about that kind of thing." Jovani remarked as he nced around at all the people who were still on the beach.
Joking about mafia things will on a beach full of normal people was one thing. They were young enough that they could get away with making such jokes and not cast suspicion on themselves. Talking about something as deep as an initiation however, was forbidden in such a crowded space.
"I''m sure that there is somece around here that we could pick up lunch to further discuss this matter and decide how we want to do things." The princess didn''t feel that hungry after the pic she and Samuel had. Jovani was right though that they needed to go somece more private to discuss this matter.
"I think that there is a shaved ice ce further up. Probably wouldn''t be that crowded considering the time of day." Samuel suggested. He remembered seeing it when Lena was parking her motorcycle and thought that it might be worth a visit before they left.
"That could work if there aren''t a lot of people there. Perhaps you might want to swap your clothes around first?" Jovani suggested. It didn''t miss his observant eye that Lena was wearing her cousin''s shirt rather than her own and the other was only in his swim trunks.
"I don''t think that it''s a problem going in like this since it''s connected to the beach. Plus, I don''t think that her shirt is quite dry yet." Samuel replied. He wanted to reach over to take Lena''s hand, but the other wouldn''t let him have it. Was she still upset about the whole water thing?
He had thought she would have been soothed by their lunch and the treat that he had made her. Perhaps he had been wrong about that and would have to try something else to remedy the situation.
"It''s fine like this. The sooner we talk everything over, the sooner we can set up a n for what we want to do." The princess concluded as she walked ahead of the other two. She had an idea of where the shaved ice ce would.
"Did you do something to upset her? She seemed rather pleasant two minutes ago?" Jovani whispered when he was certain that the other was far enough ahead that she wouldn''t hear him.
"Not exactly. She just wasn''t thrilled about going into the water with me, but I don''t think it is anything that can''t be worked out." He replied before going on ahead in order to follow after the other.
Watching how his younger cousin and the princess interacted, he was rather thankful for the fact that his own fianc¨¦ wasn''t thisplicated. If she was, he didn''t think that he would be able to handle things between her and Alonso.
Speaking of thetter, he was probably having a fit at the very moment in time as Jovani hadn''t mentioned anything to him about leaving the estate so suddenly. It was a purposeful action that he hoped would help his right-hand man learn to rx a bit and not worry that he was somehow going to die the moment that he took his eyes off Jovani. He wouldn''t be a good mafia boss if he went and did that.
There was only a handful of peopleing and going from the shaved ice hut which made it a rather convenient ce to talk. Lena and Samuel both got something, but the older cousin refused. He wasn''t that fond of cold things like shaved ice. He never understood their appeal.
"Now that we''re here you should start exining things to him." The princess told the other. Since Samuel was part of the Vedova Nera, it was the older cousin''s job to exin the process since it wasn''t the same one that Lena''s family used.
"The initiation is like an eptance ceremony. Not like some of the fun ones that clubs or sororities/fraternities might do. Well, maybe not all of those are fun." He added after a slight pause.
"This is something far more serious though. Because once you''re in, you don''t get out as long as your breathing." That he knew was the most important part to make clear for his cousin.
"I know about some of that and how serious it is, but what exactly does it entail?" Samuel asked, that was the question that he really wanted the answer to. He knew what it meant to get initiated into the mafia, it wasn''t something that you could just leave whenever you wanted to.
"Usually it is done around a lot of people in the mafia world who hold high positions within the family and sometimes those they have close ties with. Generally, drink some wine, give a little blood, maybe burn something, take an oath, and such. In your case, we need to figure that out still actually because of how special your case is," Jovani admitted causing the princess to re at him again.
"You can give me that look all you want, but it is a ratherplicated matter we''re talking about here. We haven''t ever had to initiate someone who is blood-rted but never involved in the family before." Jovani had already done some digging into how to handle this matter, but there was no information that he could find on how to deal with such a situation.
"My only presumption is that we handle it the same way we would handle any other initiation and just make it clear that he''s blood-rted and doesn''t need to go through all the same processes that outsiders need to go through." It seemed like a careless way to handle in Lena''s opinion, but she wouldn''t be the one to have to answer to the higher family council if the process wasn''t done in an eptable manner.
"Based upon what you''re saying, it sounds like this is something that we need to set a further away date for rather than handling it right away." The princess pointed out. There was not enough of a concrete n in her mind for the other to move forward with.
"We could do that if you prefer, but I think that answer should be left up to Samuel since it''s his initiation. I have enough in ce to move forward with it if that is what we want. I would just need one or two days to gather everyone else together.
Both of them turned at the same time to look at Samuel to see what his answer would be.
Chapter 242 - Not Now
"Well since I''m in charge, I technically can make the choice for it to be whenever I think is fit as long as I don''t put it off for too long, correct?" Samuel mused as he looked at his cousin. An amused smile spread across his lips.
"That would be correct. I''m the face of things for the time being, but ultimately, everything is for you to decide how you want it to go." It was nice to see how quickly his cousin was picking up on how things worked. He still had a long way to go before it would be safe to leave everything in his hands.
"Then I say three days from now. I want to enjoy the rest of this time off as well as have more time to speak to about what will be going on. I assume also that would give enough time for others to gather for this asion as well?" He took another bite of his shaved ice as he waited for the reply.
"Most everyone who would attend is here already though there are a few others that we could invite from my side. I don''t know about for the Vedova Nera." Lena replied. She didn''t believe there was a reason for anyone beyond immediate family to attend the event.
"There are a few people we would need to call back for the asion. I don''t believe though that there''s anyone who''s too far out of the way that they wouldn''t be able toe back on such short notice." Jovani replied as he mentally took a note of everyone that he would need to invite.
"Of course, we would have to inform the mafia council at ater point in time of what''s going on. I don''t think necessarily right away though since my dear cousin is onlying in on the surface as a new member to the family."
"My father can take care of that when the timees. I believe there are more members that he''s on better terms with than your family is likely to be." The princess remarked causing Jovani''s smile to turn bitter.
She wasn''t wrong. That was a part of events he would have rather forgotten. Things that took ce before his time in control but that he still had to suffer the impact of.
"Are you going to be nning on staying the night with us since you''ve alreadye this far?" Samuel then asked when it seemed to him that the basics of the situation had been resolved and there was no need to discuss the matter further at that moment in time.
"I would, but there are othermitments that I need to attend to instead. We do need to take extra time though to discuss matters with that Richard the princess''s father is associated with." The older cousin replied.
"Something else that needs to be dealt with that shouldn''t be put off for too long since there are a number of moving pieces that we don''t have control over." Jovani took a sip of his drink as he thought about this. There were a lot of things piling up again that needed his attention.
"Richard can handle things on his own for the time being. If anything needs to change suddenly, he will be sure to let my father know. Waiting a little extra time might be in our favor if we want the other to slip up and get nervous." Lena pointed out.
She was not fond of talking too much about such matters in unfamiliarpany but knew that things such as this couldn''t be put off too much.
It instead led her to keep a close eye on everyone around them to make sure no one was paying too much attention to them.
Jovani was more clever than he seemed, but she still didn''t think he was cautious enough for her taste.
It was better to trust no one than to regret having taken a risk. Samuel didn''t understand all those pieces yet so she couldn''t exactly be upset with what he asked or did. He still had a lot of training before he would fit perfectly into their world.
"I was curious to know how you seem so well acquainted with him since it doesn''t seem like he''s deeply entrenched into everything." Jovani asked, shifting the conversation and his attention onto the princess.
"I don''t, he''s one of the contacts that my father has known for quite some time. I just happen to get along with him by association. Seems he remembers more about me than I do about him." Lena exined as she finished the rest of her shaved ice off.
"I see, so it''s like that. Regardless, I do intend to do some of my own background research just to make sure that there isn''t anything out of ce with this. Later we can discuss how things will go." Since it seemed as though the other two were done as well, he knew that was likely his cue that it was time to leave them be.
"Let''s n on meeting up again perhaps the day after tomorrow to go over everything somece better. I don''t want to take away anymore of your time off than I already have." The older cousin told the other two as he stood up.
"Make sure to have a lot of fun on my behalf since it seems like I won''t be getting a break any time soon. You know where to find me if you happen to need anything." He waved before he got ready to turn and leave. He paused briefly however before turning his head to look back at the princess.
"Make sure to also bid adieu to your brother for me if we don''t happen to cross paths again before it''s time for him to leave." The princess gave him an odd look in response to this request but still nodded her head to let him know she would.
She didn''t think that the two of them were close enough for something like that, but then again it seemed that there was a lot she didn''t understand about Jovani still.
Once he was gone, however, she felt like she could rx more. Thest thing that she wanted to deal with was a headache while they were trying to enjoy their time off.
"You think it''s about time that we consider heading back now with howte it is getting?" Samuel asked when he noticed that the other looked both tired and annoyed.
"Perhaps before dinneres along. Hopefully, there won''t be anything else work-rted for us when we get back. One day without something like this would be nice." She replied with a sigh.
The princess already knew though from past experience that the day she didn''t have anything important to do on a day off would be the day that hell froze over and time stopped.
The darker side of the world waited for now.. Regardless of what was going on, it would always keep moving and something that needed to be watched would always need her attention even if she or anyone else didn''t have their best attention to give to it.
Chapter 243 - Side Story: A Very Mafia Christmas Pt.1
A/N: Quick apology, I had apparently set the timer wrong for this story. It was supposed toe out on the 25th but mistakes happen a lot of this author it seems. I do hope you''ll still enjoy it.
This will be either a 2-3 part special. If you don''t wish to read it, you don''t have to. It''s just done for some light-hearted fun before the real story gets more intense.
_______________________________________________
It was the time of year when thickyers of snow covered the streets of New Jersey. The wind chill was cold and bitter at night and not much better during the day. People brought out their thickest winter jackets, boots, and hats tobat the bitter cold as they made their way to and from work, shopping, and other activities that ording during the holiday season.
For those who had to work in day-to-day jobs without many benefits, the one goal was to survive until Christmas came along and then to enjoy the hell out of the one day they got off until the following week when the New Year came along. Spending the day with their partners, family, friends, children. Whoever they had in their inner circles. Staying at home or going out for fancy dinners and hitting clubs or parties to waste the day away before regretting it the next day when they had to drag their tried, battered bodies out of bed to clock back into work and count down the days until they could do it all over again when they would be getting ready to greet the new year.
The one benefit that Samuel had learned about being in the mafia was that he nor Lena nor anyone else in the Red Scorpion or Vedova Nera family for that matter had to worry about.
If they didn''t want to work around the holidays- they didn''t have to. They could do whatever they pleased and make all the ns their hearts desired without worrying about an unexpected wrench being thrown into matters that would ruin their ns.
Well, there was one unexpected wrench that Samuel hadn''t been expecting, and that came in the form of his little red-headed fianc?? who didn''t seem to have much of an interest in the holidays.
"What''s the point in such?" She had asked the week before Christmas when Samuel had asked her about what she would like a gift or what kind of traditions her family did to celebrate.
As it would turn out, unlike his family, hers didn''t really do much except for indulging in the traditional foods that were served around the holiday season. Lena especially appreciated the various sweet treats that Ryan would whip up for them. He limited her of course to not eating as much as she pleased much to her disappointment. Christmas only came once a year, why couldn''t she even do as she pleased on that one day and consume all the sweets she wanted without being told no?
"The point is to make it a fun time and create memories." Samuel told her with a small frown as she raised an eyebrow at him from where she was lounging on the sofa in the sunroom.
He went on to tell her all the things that he and his family had done every year and why they were important to him. From the Christmas tree to the gifts, singing Christmas carols, shopping, cooking together among other things.
"Nothing like that has happened here for years." The princess told him before going back to the book that she was reading.
Thinking back on it, some of that stopped after what happened with her mother. Her aunt tried to keep it up but bncing two sets of kids in a mafia setting wasn''t all that easy to do.
"Why don''t we try it this year? There''s a few days before Christmas and I think that it would be a lot of fun if it''s the two of us." Samuel encouraged. The princess put down the book that she was reading to give the other her full attention.
"What exactly do you think that we should do? A few days isn''t a lot of time to n things." She pointed out to the other. The kind of power her family had didn''t extend to forcing normal civilians into shifting things around to amodate them. That was called bribing. Bribing wasn''t something that should extend to personal pleasures and trivial fun that Samuel was talking about.
He gave her one of his sly smiles that told her he already had something up his sleeve.
"Well, not everything requires a lot of time to n. There''s actually quite a bit we can do without having to make requests or book things in advance." He told her.
Coming over to sit by her, he showed her his phone. He had already had some ideas of the things that he wanted to do and even had made a list of them.
How long ago in advance had he done this and did he really think that Lena was going to be so willing to agree to him that he could get away with it? Perhaps she was bing too shift and amodating to the things that her fianc?? wanted from her.
"I thought that it took more than two people to do Christmas carols?" She asked picking one of the things on the list that seemed like it would be an activity for more than just them to do.
"It is. I think though that there are a few people we could ask to join us though. Might take a day to get them together and to decide the songs that we would want to sing. So is this and that." he said as he pointed to two other activities.
The only things that Lena really was familiar with were gingerbread house making and two drinking games. Would you rather and a Christmas alphabet game. She remembered that one the most because her brother had been forced to y it one year with some of the younger mafia members such as Jeff.
"I''ll make you a deal. If you can gather enough people within our families to do these things, I will consider agreeing. It has to be by tomorrow otherwise you''re staying inside where it''s perfectlyfortable with me and we''ll do something else." Lena told the other.
She wasn''t too concerned about agreeing to this however. She didn''t think that it would be possible for the other with his limited authority to gather the numbers they would need to engage in these types of Christmas festivities.
Samuel was bound and determined though to prove her wrong. He knew that her idea of doing something else would include either movies or board games. Neither of which he had a problem with. If it had been any other time of the year, he would have agreed.
Because it was Christmas and their first year together, he wanted to do something special tomemorate the asion and if that meant he had to pull some strings and call in favors to make that happen- he would do it.
Determined not to waste any time, he gave the princess an unexpectedly deep kiss on the lips before promising her she wouldn''t regret agreeing to his n before heading off to do what he needed to make it a reality.
Chapter 244 - A Very Mafia Christmas Pt.2
"So you came in here to steal the sweets and both me while your fianc¨¦ is off doing that?" Ryan asked as Lean sat on one of the far counters. She wasn''t really in his way, she made sure of that but she had requested to be given cookie battery while she kept himpany.
"Is there something wrong with that?" The princess asked with a raised eyebrow. The batter was thick enough that she didn''t even bother with a spoon. It was also easier to eat with her fingers and she didn''t mind if they got a bit sticky. Ryan shook his head.
"Only if you me meter on when there isn''t enough for you to eat." He replied as he worked on putting together another batch of cookies. It was easier if he had everything together ahead of time. Less work when it came to swapping them out in the oven.
"You don''t really think though that he will be able to do it?" Lena shrugged her shoulders.
"If he''s determined enough, he''ll find a way to do it." She replied before putting more of the batter in her mouth.
Samuel was indeed determined and wasn''t about to let getting enough people together stop him from creating some holiday memories. He couldn''t do it with his family this year though the princess said that it would likely be safe to go and visit everyone on new year''s.
Jovani was the first one that he reached out to. He knew that his younger cousin was always up to do something different and fun.
If Lena was involved it somehow made him all the more keen to join in.
Eve was away visiting her own family so it wasn''t like he had a special someone to spend his holiday with. In fact, he decided tomand Alonso toe with him. He thought it might give the other something different to do that would help him rx.
He only agreed as he didn''t want to reject amand from his boss. Otherwise, he''d have stayed locked up in his office working away at paperwork and other things that needed his attention.
It somehow always piled up right before the start of the year. Jovani wasn''t that great at paperwork which was why Alonso ended up going through all of it for him and only leaving the signing part for the older cousin. It worked better in the long run.
A son of one of Jovani''s more distant rtives had alsoe to pay a visit. Jovani decided to let him tag along since he was only twelve and he thought that it might be something he enjoyed.
Once he had gotten them on board, he determined that Jeff and Clive. The younger of the two mafia men was more interested in joining in than the other older one. Caroling wasn''t something that he had ever done before but it sounded rather interesting.
Clive was more reticent but agreed simply because he figured that he''d likely end up getting pulled into being the chauffer for whatever outing Samuel and the princess would be doing anyway.
"Keep in mind though, that I will only agree to do one song and that''s if it is one I am particrly fond of young sir."
"That''s fine, it''s just supposed to be for a bit of fun anyways. Trying it once is the important part. If you don''t like it, you don''t have to keep doing it." Samuel assured the other.
He assumed that the five people he had collected would be enough if he included himself and Lena into those who would be singing. Plus, Jeff said he would see if his younger brother would like toe along as well. He didn''t know if the other would be willing to sing but knew that he would likely enjoy whatever they did.
He would have also asked if Julian or Zane wanted to join them but he already knew that they didn''t have any free time. There were things that they needed to take care of so that they could actually be home Christmas day and through the new year.
Lena would have been doing the same except Zane wasn''t letting her since it was her first Christmas after her engagement. Plus, they had given the employees two weeks off at their business so there wasn''t even any reason for her to go in. Anything that did need her attention she either could take care of without leaving the house or James could handle it in her stead.
That was one of the reasons why she had agreed to do whatever Samuel wanted if he agreed to her terms, there wasn''t much else to take up her time until after the next year started.
"Five people? Is that enough?" The princess asked. She was still upying the kitchen during the few hours that it had taken for Samuel to get everyone to agree to what he was asking for.
"If you include me and you, it makes seven. Jeff said his brother mighte along as well."
"Make it eight then for a good even number." The princessmented.
"Ryan will be joining us as well." The chef turned to look at Lena with a shocked expression on his face. It was obvious his first time hearing anything about this.
"If this is something that I am going to have to go along with, you''ll be joining us as well." She said in a rather resolute tone of voice that caused him to shut his mouth before he could protest.
He knew better than to argue with the princess when she had set her mind on something. It was most likely that she was forcing him toe along with her because of one of thements that he had made earlier.
it wasn''t like the chef could really protest either. They wouldn''t be doing it until the following night which meant that there was plenty of time for him to take care of anything that he might need to before joining everyone else.
He would only need to figure out if he would be serving dinnerte or earlier the next night and how many additional mouths was he going to have to feed.
Lena wasn''t entirely thrilled about it but it wasn''t like it had been the worst thing that she had ever agreed to in the past. It also came back to the fact that Samuel seemed oh so excited for what he had put together.
She wasn''t about to dampen that for him.. Maybe though she could get away with only having to sing one song if she participated in all of the other activities he wanted them to do.
Chapter 245 - A Very Mafia Christmas Pt 3
The end of the night rolled over without anything happening. Samuel had nned 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 ns 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 impable timing when he wanted to.
"Of course, he wouldn''t minding 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 fianc??''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 exining 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 ce is huge! Maybe evenrger 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.
"Simr in size indeed, but definitely notrger 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 ufortable.
"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 fianc?? as well." Samuel replied for the two of them as he took Lena''s hand.
"And because I''m rted to Jovani as well, that makes us cousins."
"The ck sheep cousin." Andrew stated with a nod of his head. Samuel gave Jovani a confused look in response to thisment. The older cousin responded with a wry smile.
"It seems some of the more distant rtives think you''re a ck 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 thesements.
"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 nning 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 toe 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 toe 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 chocte?" 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 onement about her attire that she would likelyy 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 exined 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 ns 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 ying snowball tag.
The poor man wasn''t even that thrilled about being there in the first ce. 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 bnce 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''tpletely 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 bnce. 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 bnce 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 bepletely 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 notugh at her.
The next war started when Jovani couldn''t stop himself fromughing. He was so distracted as he covered his face to muffle hisughter 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 pping 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.
Chapter 246 - Hell Explain It
Lena was still tired which meant the drive back from the beach was not going to be quite as enjoyable as the driver there had been. Despite being tired, she refused to let Samuel drive back. No one was else was allowed to touch her motorcycle.
Before leaving, she went ahead and swapped back into her own shirt. It wasn''t fully dry yet but she figured between the wind and sun that it would dry rtively fast. Her fianc¨¦ took care of packing everything back up into the lunch pack since he was the one who had made all of it fit in the first ce.
"Do I really need to wait until I talk with Jovani to find out more about this whole initiation thing?" he asked as the princess handed him over his helmet.
"Yes, because he''s the one who has decided how everything is going to y out. As mentioned before, each family has a different way of handling it and you''re an odd case since you''re also blood-rted." She exined as she put on her own helmet
"We''re not talking much about that though until after our break is over. That is what you decided after all." She didn''t wait for the other to get his helmet on before she moved the motorcycle and got on it so that she could start it up.
"I did say that, but there are some things I''m still curious about and want to know ahead of time." The princess tsked at him when he said this.
"There will be plenty of time for you to find out about everythingter. Don''t over it so much now." She told him as he got onto the motorcycle behind her.
She waited a moment for him to adjust his position before taking off. She too was curious to know what Jovani was nning but knew that the older cousin wasn''t going to reveal anything until it was time to talk about it. No sense in pondering about something one wouldn''t know about any time soon anyway.
There was no ce for taking on the trip back with how fast the princess was going. Traffic was slightly better than it had been that morning though there were still a few times that Samuel was worried that the other might crash with the way she weaved in out and of traffic.
She knew what she was doing though. Crashing was highly unlikely unless it was due to the carelessness of another driver around them. Some who drove cars didn''t seem to know what they were doing most of the time. They kind that should have been banned from using the road but never would be.
Lena ended up dropping Samuel off at the front of the estate while she drove around to put the motorcycle up. No sense in himing back with her since it would only take two minutes and he had a pic basket to take care of anyways.
The princess would have considered skipping dinner with how tired she was, but the fact that Leo was going to be leaving the next day made her determined to sit through it.
"When did you say that Ryan would being back?" Samuel asked as he came back out of the kitchen. The rest of the staff took the basket from him since they were already working on dinner. He couldn''t ignore the fact that though that it still looked like somewhat of a mess from all the cooking he had done.
He knew that they would handle cleaning up most of it since they were in charge of preparing meals even though the head chef was away. He felt slightly guilty though over the fact that he knew he hadn''t returned everything to it''s rightful ce.
"Probably not for another three days or so. If you''re worried about the kitchen, you''ll have time to clean up anything you might have messed up before he gets back." The princess replied as she pulled the string out the string that she had used to tie her hair back. There was no need to keep it back now that she was back home.
It had been kind of nice to have it out of her way when she driving. It might be something that she would have to consider doing from now any time she wanted to use her motorcycle.
"Rather than worrying about that, you should get to changing your clothes before dinner starts." She told the other as she pointed to shorts which still had a ratherrge amount of sand collected on them.
He was surprised to see that not all of it had gotten off considering the wind from how fast they were driving. The princess needed to do the same. Except unlike the other, she needed to change her whole outfit from all the wet sand that had gotten on it.
"Don''t think that you''re out of trouble for what you did either." She informed Samuel who couldn''t help but smile at what she said.
"You will at least admit though that it was more fun than you had expected it to be though, right?" He asked. Rather than replying to his question, she gave him a look that he couldn''t quite read before she turned away to walk up the stairs.
The other could only hope that the answer to that question turned out to be a yes. Considering she hadn''t reallyid into him about what happened gave Samuel hope that maybe she did somewhat even small amount enjoy being in the water with him.
He followed after her shortly since he needed to go to his room to change before he ended up making a mess with the sand everywhere more than he already had.
He may not have noticed the warning looks that the cleaning staff had given the two of them, but the princess had. They had a right to be somewhat annoyed with the carelessness considering they were the ones who had to clean up anything that got onto the floor.
Lena remembered that they used to be far nicer about such things when she was younger. Children didn''t exactly know better about that kind of thing when they were young. Now that she was older though, the more seasoned cleaning staff would have no problem scolding her or any of the other guests who came in and made a mess.
The only one who would never get yelled at or face their furry was Zane.. After all, who would want to keep yelling at a man who woulde home covered in the blood more times than they could count when he was younger? That isn''t the kind of person that anyone would want to upset.
Chapter 247 - Youll Be Back Soon
Because it was thest dinner that Leo was going to be spending with his family before the holidays came around, everyone had tried to be there. Even Zane who had been away due to other important matters that he needed to attend to.
It was only for a few months that her younger brother was going to be away but he was making a big deal out of it.
"It''s not like you''re going to be away for that long. Likely you''ll find an excuse toe back before the holidays if you can." Lena pointed out. Her brother hadn''t done this before in the past. She believed that was only because he was too young to figure out how to since he would need a guardian with him to fly because he was underage.
"As much as I would love to find the chance toe and visit you all, I also do take my studies over there seriously. Unlike you, I am looking at getting into university." He retorted as he stuck his tongue out at her. The princess simply rolled her eyes in response to his childish behavior.
"Aren''t you around the age when the university would normally be starting in the UK?" Samuel asked. Although he didn''t know much about it, it was something an exchange student who hade to his high school for a year from the UK had talked about. Kids over there started college sooner than kids in America did.
"That''s exactly why I have to head back. I won''t be starting in the fall, but I have to study in order to have good grades for the spring." He replied.
"He''s interested in bing awyer." Zane added before Samuel had a chance to ask this question. He paused for a second after he process what the other said.
He wanted to ask how that worked with him being part of a mafia family but wasn''t sure if it was an appropriate question to ask.
"I findw over there to be a very interesting subject. Something that I think I could put to good use in a number of different ways." Leo added as he continued to eat.
"Are you going to being back here to use it?" He opted to ask the younger brother instead. The other shrugged his shoulder.
"I haven''t made up my mind on that decision yet." He replied honestly.
"Lena here has pretty much everything already covered without my help. If I was the one taking over, I would have toe back no matter what I wanted to do. With her taking over though. Unless there''s a reason that she needs me, I''m technically free to do whatever."
"And it''s exactly because you''re free to do whatever it is that you want that you''ve ended up bing spoiled." Lena remarked causing her younger brother to re at her.
"It''s not being spoiled. I just happen to better understand how to enjoy the finer things in life more than you do." he shot back.
"Your problem is that you just need to learn how to rx more and enjoy things without worrying about everything else that''s going on around you."
As Samuel watched the two siblings exchanging barbs and bantering, he realized that once Leo had left, the house was likely to be rather quiet again.
Though he wasn''t around all the time, when was at home, things would get quite noisy between him and Lena like currently were. He didn''t think that was a bad thing however. They actually seemed like they got along quite well and bickering was just how they showed their affection.
"Rather than worrying about all of those things, let''s just focus on what''s going to be happening through the next few hours until your flight time." Zane suggested. He was used to them arguing like this after having to deal with it for years. Despite that, it could still get a bit noisy for him from time to time.
"I vote for doing something fun since I won''t be having much time for it once I get back. Plus, I wasn''t able to go to the beach today." Lena huffed under her breath when he said this but didn''t respond.
"No drinking before your flight or anything else that might make youte for it." Julian warned.
"If you end up beingte, I don''t want to have to be the one who puts up more money because you were irresponsible." Julian had always been the one to take on a stricter role with the siblings though Zane was there father.
He ended up allowing a lot more things to slide than his brother did. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he ended up with two daughters who he was very protective of and never had to deal with a son. Nor had he ever sent a child away to live on their own.
Lena had been under the belief that he would never do such a thing because he was likely to have a heart attack if either of his daughters were out of his sight for too long. He wouldn''t be able to handle sending them away to live on their own for a few years even if it was for their own protection.
"Whatever you chose to do, n it without me. I am too tired to deal with anything sote tonight." Lena informed everyone else.
"I thought that you would have felt more refreshed after spending the whole day with your fianc¨¦?" Leo teased though he didn''t miss the nce that the princess cast in Samuel''s direction. The other seemed a bit oblivious to what was going on.
"I did at first until some unexpected events and an unexpected visitor." She replied as she pushed her te towards the center of the table. She was already done eating. The only reason she would be staying at the table now was that she wanted dessert. Even without Ryan being there, she knew whatever was going to be served would be good.
"You can borrow him though if you want. I''m sure he wouldn''t mind doing something with you." She motioned in Samuel''s direction when she said this.
Not only did she know the other was likely to have more energy than her, allowing her fianc¨¦ to be caught up with her brother meant that she would be able to go to sleep on her own without the other bugging her again about their sleeping arrangement.
Chapter 248 - Wont It Ever End
As much as Jovani had wanted to go back with his cousin and enjoy a meal with him and the princess, there really were other things that he needed to take care of.
The whole incident with this Ashton had caused some problems among his people. Not to mention there were still those who weren''t thrilled about Samuel having such a high rank within the family.
No one was going to say anything to Jovani himself, but that didn''t mean he didn''t have eyes and ears elsewhere to hear what was being said. If they had been talking about anyone else, he would have let it slide.
Most of his men knew how to speak up for themselves or correct people when there was a problem. His younger cousin however knew nothing about how best to do that yet. In his stead, his older cousin would make sure such problems were dealt with.
He also knew that it would be best to make sure that such things were taken care of before the initiation took ce. It wouldn''t do much good to introduce him officially into the family when there was grumbling going on among his ranks.
The new recruits these days didn''t seem to understand how things worked nor did they know how to keep their poor opinions to themselves.
"Dear Charles, can we make this one quick today? I would like to be able to set up a dinner date with my fianc¨¦." He told his driver with a sigh as he watched the passing traffic out his window.
Dealing with such troublesome things was one part of his job that he didn''t like. He couldn''t ask Alonso to deal with either since they were targeting his cousin with theirments. They needed to make sure that they knew the head was displeased with what they were saying. If not, they weren''t as likely to take it so seriously.
"Of course sir. I have the gloves in thepartment back there already. While you''re busy would you like me to make the reservations at your favorite restaurant?" This question caused a small smile to spread across the other''s face.
"That would be lovely. Have I ever told you how much I appreciate your Charles? You always know me so well." The old driver beamed at hisment.
"You have told me many times over the years, sir." He replied. This reply caused Jovani to click his tongue.
"I suppose then that it''s about time you''re due for another pay raise. Ten sounds about right?" He asked the question even though he had already decided on the number that he was going to give the other.
"Ten is a rather generous number, sir." The driver replied humbly.
"I don''t know that I would know what to do with that much being added to my monthly sry." he admitted, ncing out the rearview mirror to look at his boss who was still fixated on looking out the window.
"You will learn how to spoil yourself with the money Charles. I think that it has been quite some time since you bought yourself a new car." Jovani replied, turning his gaze to look at the back of the driver.
"And don''t argue with me on this one. You know that if you don''t buy one yourself it will just end up being your Christmas gift for this year anyway."
"Indeed sir, you always make everyone gets what they want even if they don''t tell you." The driver replied.
The car began to slow down as they reached their destination. Jovani really hoped that what he needed to take care of wasn''t going to take too long. There were so many other things that he needed to get to. Some of which would be far more enjoyable than what he was currently doing.
Wouldn''t this kind of thing ever end for him? He certainly hoped that it would eventually. Perhaps once Samuel was properly trained and able to take everything over. He could use some experience in the right way to handle difficult people. His younger cousin was yet still too soft for his liking. He needed to teach him to have a rougher edge if he was going to survive in this world.
"You know the drill by now I take it?" He asked the other as he got the studded leather gloves out. He had had them for a few years now and they were beginning to look worn. He was probably going to have to get some new ones rtively soon. Maybe it was the gift that he should ask Eve for this year.
Practical but not too expensive. The exact kind of gifts that he liked getting most.
"Yes sir. I will park a few blocks away and you just call me when you''re done. I will make sure that the reservation has been correctly taken care of by the time you are back as well." Charles confirmed as he stopped the car at the edge of the sidewalk.
It was not too far off from an alleyway which was the destination that Jovani needed to reach.
"Perfect. I think that fifteen minutes should be more than enough time. If not, drive around again if you''re waiting on me and I should certainly be done by then." He told the other before opening the car door so that he could get out.
He zipped his jacket up once he had stepped out and closed the door. He waited for the car to leave before he made his way towards the alley. He had no reason to inform anyone that he was going to be stopping by. The element of surprise always worked better in these kinds of situations.
He wasn''t quite sure how many people he would be dealing with, but he doubted that it wouldn''t be a number that would be too high for him. He had gotten quite good at fighting over the years.
Not only that, most of the younger pups who joined the mafia hadn''t been trained the same way he had.. If anything, the more people who were there, the easier it was going to be for him.
Chapter 249 - Least Favorite Thing
Jovani knew that so long as he was quiet, no one would notice that he was there. That''s why he chose to stick to the shadows that were cast on the alley way walls. He wanted to listen to what was being said before he took any action.
Hurting people was one of his least favorite things to do. Especially if it was unnecessary.
He leaned against the wall, lowering his head as he closed his eyes to listen to the conversation that was going on on the other side of the alley way.
"I know he''s Jovani''s cousin, but don''t you agree that it''s a bit strange for him to be suddenlying back and be in such a good position at that?" One of the guys, he knew his name to be Armand asked
"The kid is a little weasel is what I think. I don''t think it was by chance he happened toe back into the spotlight right now." Another, Darren grumbled.
"Not only is he getting favoritism by his cousin by being put into a good position, he''s also somehow managed to secure himself a good spot by getting engaged to the Red Scorpion Princess. There''s no way this happened by ident. I''m sure that bitch of his mother nned all of this."
"How so? Evelyn has been out of the picture for years. She left to live themon life. There''s no way she would know about everything going on right now." Theo, a third man pointed out as he swung his legs back and forth as he sat on a trash can.
"You''re too young and obviously haven''t learned to use your brain to think yet." Darren scoffed as he kicked a can before turning to face the others.
"She''s the only person who has been out of the picture who''s capable of making all these pieces fall into ce. She probably regretted leaving when she did and decided to groom her son to be a richp pet for the princess." Heined.
"Everyone knows what kind of person she can be. The only way anyone could put up with her was if they were conditioned to be a whipped pup who did whatever she said. Probably thinks if he ys the game for long enough he can rise even further in the ranks without having to put in any actual work."
Jovani smirked slightly as he continued to listen to thements. It seemed that they had a problem with a princess as well. He was fairly certain that wouldn''t go over very well if she heard what they were saying.
"Jovani likely won''t do anything about it either. He''s been too quick to warmly wee that brat into the family. He''s a great leader but he''s too soft."
"Darren, shouldn''t you be watching what you say? There might not be anyone around now, but you never know who might overhear what you''re saying."
Jovani took that as his cue to make his appearance. It seemed like the right time before Darren had a chance to say anything else.
"Indeed, you really don''t know who might hear what you have to say, Darren. But please do continue, I would love to hear whatever else you have to say about me or my little cousin. I always appreciate feedback to know how best I might change things to make my men happy." He had a fake warm smile on his face as he appeared before the three.
Armand was the only one of the three who seemed stunned and rather nervous about the presence of their boss. Darren didn''t seem to think that there was anything to be worried about as he stood tall as Jovani approached him.
"I couldn''t help but overhear some of the things that you happened to say about me. What was this about me being too soft? Perhaps easily taken in as well? My dear little cousin scheming to do something behind my back and me being too na?ve to know of any such thing? You don''t think that I should have given his role either? Perhaps he needs to do something to prove that he deserves his ce?" He continued to approach the other and stopped when he was close enough to ce his hand on Darren''s shoulder. The warm smile was on his face as he gave the other an encouraging look to answer his questions.
"Is that about right? Everything you said I mean?" By this point, both Theo and Armand had moved a good distance back. They didn''t want to be a part of what was about to go down between Jovani.
Darren nodded his head in response to the question. As he was about to open his mouth to speak, the Vedova Nera boss made his move. He roughly jerked the other forward by the neck of his shirt with both his hands on either side. Bringing up his left knee, he mmed it into the other''s abdomen. The air was knocked out of the other with a choked gasp in response to the unexpected action.
Jovani didn''t let go of the other nor did she shift his position as he began to speak as he felt the other tremble in his hands most likely out of a mixture of fear and pain.
"Would a gentle person do this?" Jovani asked close to the other man''s ear as he leaned over him. Darren didn''t verbally respond but he felt the other shake his head slightly. It seemed now he was far too scared to speak or try to move freely.
In the future, I might rmend that you think before speaking and make sure you know exactly what''s going on before you make assumptions. You may also want to remember what your ce is." He told the other as he took a step back. He didn''t let the other go as he forced him to stand up straight. Darren stumbled a step as his body protested the movement after what had just happened.
"Don''t worry though. This time I will give you an example to make sure you don''t forget any of the things that I just told you. Perhaps it will be a useful one for your two friends to think about as well." He nced over at them effectively stopping them in their tracks before they could shrink any further back into the alley. They dared not move when their boss''s eyes were focused on them.
"If you want me to be gentle with you, it might be in your best interest to tell me what else you or anyone else has been spreading about my cousin. I would hate to have to teach this lesson to anyone else after you." Before Darren had a chance to say anything, Jovani punched him on the right side of the face with a well-aimed punch.
It was at times like these that he needed to let his harsh side out to help him address such problems.. It was all part of the job after all.
Chapter 250 - Doesnt Work
Lena thought that she would have been able to get away with spending the night sleeping early on her own. Samuel had different ideas however.
He did entertain Leo for a while. There were some things that the other wanted to do that didn''t include going out and wreaking havoc and imposing on Clive or someone else to apany them. He only agreed to do it for a little while other as he was also rather tired after the day that he had.
He knew though that he wasn''t as tired as the princess was considering every aspect of what they did was enjoyable to him. For her, not so much after she had been dragged into the water by him.
Samuel had wanted to do something to make it up to herter that night, but it seemed that she was intent on sleeping early which dissuaded any ns of this. This just meant that instead of whatever he nned, he would just get away with spending the night with her.
It was an unannounced thing, but since she had left her room door unlocked, her fianc¨¦ didn''t think that it would be too much of a problem if he came in to join her for the night.
"Closed doors are meant to stay closed for a reason." He was rather surprised to hear Lena speak. He had thought that by the time that he hade to join her that she would already be asleep.
"I was until you decided toe in here without checking first." Her voice wasced with tired annoyance as she rolled onto her other side so that she wasn''t facing him.
"I thought that I told you before this anyways that this wasn''t going to be a thing between us until we shifted to fully sharing rooms?"
"I didn''t think that it would be that big of a deal since you seemed to already be asleep." He replied as he shifted position so that he could fully get up onto the bed behind her. Even though he wanted to do nothing more than hug her, he made sure to keep some space between them since the other didn''t seem exactly thrilled with what he was doing.
"Expecting me to be asleep isn''t a good excuse foring in and doing something like this. You''d have been fine spending the night in your own room rather than doing this." She replied with a tired sigh.
"I didn''t want to be stuck in my own room though, I wanted toe here and spend the night with you." He told her as he shifted closer on the bed, carefully closing the space between them.
"Not after today. You spent more than enough time with me. Doings that I wasn''t exactly thrilled with. You handle spending the night away from when since we have one more day to spend together tomorrow. Now shoo." The princess told him without opening her eyes once. She was still somewhat tired and sincerely hoped that she would be able to go back to sleep without much issue if she told Samuel off without putting too much energy into it.
"I know that there were some things we did that you weren''t thrilled about. Others though, I don''t think you minded all that much." He told her as he nted a gentle kiss against her hair. He liked the fact that her hair still smelled like the ocean even though they hade back hours ago.
"Things aren''t to be done on the beach or when people are trying to sleep." The princess warned him when she felt him ce a hand on her sheet-d hip. It would have probably been worse for her if it wasn''t for the fact that she never slept without her clothes.
She preferred her nightclothes. Even more so in a situation like this where the absence of nightwear might give her fianc¨¦ the wrong idea about the situation that they were currently in.
"I think that this debatable. And even I am wrong about that, you should let me make it up to you then." Lena took in a slow deep breath when the other said this. She needed to keep herself from reacting too much even though she felt her heart rate betraying her as it sped up. Samuel didn''t know that she was having this kind of reaction since he wasn''t pressed up against her body.
"Don''t start anything if all you are here to do as you say is spend the night with me. It is one thing if you just want to sleep here. Anything beyond that and I will personally take it upon myself to kick you out of my room." She warned as she swatted his hand off the side of her hip. This was not going at all how she had expected it to.
"Not even if it is something to make up for before?" Samuel asked in a lower tone of voice as he shifted slightly closer to her. It was hard to determine the distance in the dark so he moved carefully as he didn''t want to press himself too hard against Lena.
"If you want to do something to make up what happened earlier to me thank you will do me the biggest favor by allowing me to sleep." She told him as she tried to shift away from him. How troublesome her fianc¨¦ could be at times.
"Isn''t there something else that I could do for you that would be just as much fun?" He asked. She knew what he meant by this and immediately put a stop to it. Especially before the strange sensation pooling in her stomach became stronger than it already was.
"No, It doesn''t work that way. I want to sleep and nothing more than sleep. Whatever is on your mind that you think would work better you can work on sorting out yourself." She huffed as she pulled the sheets tighter around herself.
Samuel was somewhat disappointed by her answer. He was looking forward to something else. Instead, he was just going to have to opt for sleeping with the princess.
He still managed to get his way somewhat much to her dismay when he wrapped his arms firmly around her and decided that that was the way he was going to sleep with her.
Why did he have to be so much more affectionate than she was?
Chapter 251 Not Forever
Lena wasn''t able to sleep as well as she had been hoping to. Samuel did end up going to sleep rather than bothering her despite what she had first expected to happen.
The problem with this however was the fact that she found herself trapped against her taller fianc¨¦ being hugged as though she were his favorite teddy bear or somethingparable.
She tolerated it at first the night before when she was too tired to do much about it and he wasn''t causing her any trouble. Now that she was more awake and it was getting closer to morning and the time that her brother''s flight would be leaving, She found it to be somewhat annoying.
She wanted to be able to get more sleep but knew it would be impossible so long as she was stuck in her current position. Samuel didn''t snore, but his hot breath tickled the back of her neck each time he breathed in and out. It was a rather odd distraction that the princess didn''t quite know how to feel about.
One on the hand, it tickled the back of her neck which was annoying when she was trying to sleep. The princess was very sensitive to even the slightest of things that messed with her senses. On the other hand, there was a little part about her current situation that somehow felt rather endearing.
Even if she wasn''t that thrilled about her current situation, she couldn''t deny that this was yet another change that indicated how far along they hade in their rtionship.
Lena still wasn''t fully convinced that the two of them fit that well together. Somehow though, they were making it work together and for the time being that was enough. They could worry about the more serious things as time went by.
So long as nothing serious happened, they would have plenty of time to discuss such matterster on. Right now, the princess was focused on getting the other to wake up so that they could be there to bid her brother farewell before he left for the next few months.
The princess felt awkward as she tried to figure out the best way to wake the other up. This wasn''t something that she was used to doing. Generally, it was other people who were having to wake her up for one reason or another.
For the princess, thest time she remembered having to wake anyone up was when she was a child and would have bad dreams. That stopped when she got older though. It had been years since thest time she had to do something like this.
The worst part about it was the fact that each time she tried to speak to wake the other, it felt as though her voice had gotten stuck in her throat and the words wouldn''te out. Since when had she be so soft that she would be hesitant to wake Samuel up even though there was something that they needed to do.
The princess red at the wall in annoyance. Perhaps she really was starting to be too soft when it came to these types of things. Not that it mattered when it was just her and her fianc¨¦. She only needed to worry if other people outside of her family started to pick up on what was going on. Then it would be a real problem for her.
In the end, Lena didn''t have to worry about figuring out how to wake the other up. Samuel woke up naturally a few minutes after she started berating herself for not being able to do something as simple as waking the other up. The princess wouldn''t tell him that of course. He would likely just use it as something to tease her about.
She decided to say nothing at all about it as she immediately got up once he was awake enough to let her go begrudgingly. If it wasn''t for the fact that there was something for them to do that morning, she had a feeling that the other would have been content to stay like that for as long as he could into the day before they were interrupted.
Lena was happy though that they had a reason to be getting up. She didn''t think that she could have handled much more of her fianc¨¦ mushing himself against her the way that he was. Eventually, she knew that she was going to have to get used to it.
The only person who was going to the airport to see Leo off was Zane. The rest of the family would only see him off until he left. It was deemed to be safer that way. They didn''t want to attract too much attention by having the whole family there at the airport.
Zane''s presence alone would likely cause enough of a stir among people considering how well-known he was. Clive had chosen to go with him just to ensure that nothing happened while they were there.
Even though it was only going to be a few months, Leo was still displeased that he was having to leave his family again so soon. There were still so many things that he hadn''t gotten the chance to do with them. He would have to add them to his list to take care of when he got toe back over the holidays. It would give him something to look forward to as he worked on getting through his studies.
"You don''t need to look so much like you''re going away forever or as if someone died. It''ll only be a short time you''re away and with your studies, it will likelye faster than you expect."
"I''m not even allowed to be disappointed over the fact that I am going to have to be away from my one and only favorite sister after only getting such a short period of time to spend with her?" Leo asked as he hugged the other. She hadn''t been intending to give him a hug but epted it since he would be away for a while.
"You know that you''re going to have to take good care of her while I''m away and make sure that she behaves. I think that you''re the only one that I can entrust this duty to." He told Samuel as he hugged the other.
"Also don''t forget, my invitation to have youe and stay with me is still open should anything change between you and my sister and you need somewhere to stay for a while." He teased before pulling back from the hug with a yful smirk on his lips.
Samuel had slowly used to his antics so they didn''t fluster him as much as they had in the past.
"I will keep that in mind should anything happen. I will also do my best to keep her in line while you''re away." He told the other causing the princess to roll her eyes.
"Stop harassing my fianc¨¦ and get out of here before you end up missing your flight." She told the other as she shooed him away.
He really did need to get going, but he refused to do so without getting another hug from his older sister as well as his uncle.
He knew that it was only going to be for a short amount of time but that that short amount of time was going to feel like forever for him.
Chapter 252 A Very Mafia Christmas Pt 4
Lena wasn''t sure how long they stayed outside ying snowball tag. All she knew was that by the time everyone was ready to go back inside for a brief break and some hot chocte, her hands werepletely numb despite the gloves that she was wearing.
They could only hold out so long against the cold before the wet started seeping through them. She would need to let them dry for a while before she was going to be able to put them back on if she didn''t want her fingers to freeze and fall off.
Alonso had disappeared to go and change his coat. It had gotten rather wet from the numerous times that he had ended up falling on ornding in the snow. It wasn''t made for this kind of messing around.
The only one who had protested abouting back inside was Jovani''s little cousin. The kid seemed to enjoy being out in the cold and acted as though it hasn''t phased him at all. Must be nice to have that kind of endurance.
He only stoppedining when he saw the hot chocte that was delivered to them. Since it was a special asion, Ryan had added marshmallows and a generous amount of whip cream to the top of each of the cups.
Lena chose to stay quiet as she consumed her hot chocte and instead listened to whatever else was talking about it. It was nice when there were enough people that everyone else could do the talking while she just sat there and listened to what was going on.
"Are you getting tired already?" Samuel asked, wrapping an arm around her when he noticed that the princess had her eyes closed before she took another drink of her hot chocte.
"Not in the slightest." She replied as she looked over at him. Months had passed but he was still a very touchy affection person. Seemed that part of him was never going to change even if other things did.
"When are we going to do the next activity?" She asked noticing that almost everyone else had already finished their hot chocte and were sitting around waiting to finish warming up.
"We could do caroling next if you want. I don''t think that we should do the others untilter since they include alcohol." Samuel replied as he mentally went over the list that he had made.
"Is everyone going to be ready for that?" She asked. Ryan and Clive weren''t there but it would be easy to go and fetch them if everyone else was all ready to head off.
"He seems to think that he would rather stay here to y around in the snow thane with us." Jovani replied as he pointed at his younger cousin who nodded his head in agreement.
"He can stay here if he wants. Zoe and Lisa would probably go out and y with him if he asked. They''ll be done with their work soon. I don''t think that Julius would say no and there are more than enough people around to watch out for them."
How easy it was to please children the princess couldn''t help but think when she saw how excited he got at this news.
She figured that it would also be better to not have him tag along with them. He seemed to have a short attention span which would make it hard to keep an eye on them once they started.
"Why don''t I stay behind and keep an eye on him as well. I wouldn''t mind doing that." Alonso piped up. Jovani chuckled when the other said this.
"Don''t be silly. You came along to take so much-needed time off. There''s no reason for you to stay behind and keep an eye on him while we''re all off having fun. The princess seems to already have it covered as it is." He assured the other who looked rather deted to hear this.
He probably felt consoled to know that he wasn''t the only one who wasn''t thrilled about going along with this. Clive was doing it as part of his duties so he didn''tin even though he looked rather somber.
Ryan had no problem speaking his mind about the matter, however. He would have rather been in his kitchen working away on dinner than being pulled along with everyone else.
Lena refused to let him do that though as she med him for their current predicament. He should have put less faith in her fianc¨¦ if he didn''t want to get stuck tagging along with them.
Clive only drove them until they reached the city. Once they had found a block with a lot of houses around, he parked the car so that they could get out and start. Jeff was nning on meeting them there which gave them time to get ready.
Since not everyone knew all the songs, he had made sure to print out the lyrics for the few that they would be going over. It seemed that he was confident that they would be doing more than just one or two by the stack of papers that he had handed everyone.
Jeff and his brother ended up showing up not long after. The younger stuck close to his brother and was rather quiet as he looked around the area they would be covering. The houses looked nice enough, they could only hope that the people who lived inside were equally as nice.
Lena knew that she was going to regret thister on, but went ahead with it for Samuel who was eager to get started. It was something that he had always done with his family. How could she stop him from keeping the tradition if it meant so much to him?
The first house went by smoothly. The couple inside was very nice and gracious about them singing there. They only did two songs- jingle bells and we wish you a merry Christmas. The princess had assumed that it was one song per house. She had obviously been wrong about this assumption.
practically everyone else except for her had been singing. She decided to keep her mouth shut until she better understood exactly how it worked. Listening and watching allowed her a chance to also learn the lyrics.
The only thing she could at least say that was positive was that Samuel didn''t have a bad choice when it came to singing. He did a fairly good job of staying in tune through both songs while Alonso and Ryan struggled a certain amount. They knew the songs but this wasn''t something they had done before. Jovani and Jeff didn''t seem to care. They were just there to enjoy the whole thing.
The princess decided to stay quiet through the next house as well. She couldn''t bring herself to get the words out. The fact that it wasplete strangers who were watching them made it worse. She instead focused on all the extravagant Christmas decorations that were hanging up. They certainly did seem to love to go over the top when it came to Christmas.
Samuel had noticed that Lena wasn''t joining in on the singing. He didn''t say anything though as everyone else seemed to be having a good time and she was there going along with them.
The third and fourth houses, she managed to participate halfway. She didn''t sing any song fully but she joined the parts that she knew. She didn''t sing as loudly as everyone else, but she didn''t miss how Samuel would nce over at her and his eyes would sparkle whenever she would join with everyone else.
It made her heart do that strange fluttering thing she didn''t like as she felt the heat rise to her face. She chose to ignore it though as she focused on what they were doing. It was better that way.
After the fifth house, they decided to call it quits. Clive and Ryan were ready to be done and the snow wasing down harder than it had been before. The wind had picked up as well causing the air to feel rather bitter.
Jovani had offered to go and fetch everyone some hot chocte from a shop that was located on the other side of the street. Ryan went with him so that he could warm himself up and help carry everything out.
Looking around, Samuel could tell that everyone seemed to be having a good time despite the bitter cold. The princess was still being quiet. It seemed to him that it perhaps had more to do with the fact that she was cold than that she wasn''t having a good time. She had her hands in her pockets and her shoulders were hunched as she stood near the bench where everyone else was sitting.
Though her clothes were wellyered, it did little against the bitter cold. Even her hat couldn''t do much to protect her from the nipping wind. Next time Samuel wanted to do something of the sort, she was going to make sure that it was done on a day where it wasn''t so cold.
The hot chocte that Jovani and Ryan went to fetch was more appreciated when they finally came back with it. They would have gotten extra if it weren''t for the fact that it would have cooled off too quickly before anyone would have had a chance to get to it.
It had helped to raise some of their spirits so much that Jeff and Samuel were talking about getting back to it for a while longer before calling it quits for the night.
That had been the n until Jovani interrupted things. He had waited until everyone finished their drinks as to not allow them to get cold while he was making his announcement.
"While I think that this day overall has been rather fabulous so far with a great deal of fun, I don''t think it will beplete until one more thing happens for the very important couple that is here with us today. " He emphasized what he was saying by snapping his fingers and indicating behind him. Much to everyone else''s delight and surprise, a horse-drawn carriage came over.
It wasn''t odd to see them at this time of year. They often were brought out for the fun and romantic ride through the decorations and lights that had been strung up all over the city. It was the first time though that they had seen one that night. Jovani had managed to set it up though through one of his contacts who owed him a favor.
"Now you two can be as romantic as you wish to be." He informed them as he went over to talk with the driver. This was something that Lena could get behind doing despite how cold it was.
Samuel was quick to take her hand as they walked over. The carriage was a bit high up making it so that Samuel had to help support the princess to get inside due to how short she was. He didn''t have much of a problem getting in but his older cousin still helped him anyways.
"And don''t worry about us. Enjoy yourselves. We''ll either find our own way back or be waiting here for you when you get back." He assured them before waving them off so that the ride could get started.
Lena hadn''t done anything like this in years which made it rather nostalgic for her. It wasn''t the kind of thing she would have normally agreed to, but for sentimental reasons, she did even though the romanticment that Jovani made had annoyed her.
Samuel didn''t say anything for the first few minutes of the ride. There was a lot on his mind that he wanted to say to the other but opted for wrapping his arm around her as he pulled her closer to him. He could get away with it right now since it was supposed to be a romantic setting and they were technically alone inside the carriage.
"Do you like it?" He finally asked when he noticed that Lena was keeping her gaze fixed on the decoration they were going past. The part of the city that they were going through now had more extravagant decorations than the one that they had juste from.
"It isn''t really my thing, but I can''t deny that it is rather beautiful." She replied as she turned to look at the other.
"Was this another one of those surprised you nned?" the usual annoyance in the tone of her voice had been reced with something softer.
"This wasn''t something that I had nned. I think Jovani did it on his own." He replied as he rested his head against the others leaning over slightly so as to make it work better.
Where the princess usually would have said that the other was being troublesome in meddling with their rtionship, she couldn''t find any issue with what he did this time. It was a rather harmless kind gesture. It would have been nicer if it was done on a warmer day, but there wasn''t much the older cousin could have done about this.
"You think that you''ll be up for the rest of what we nned for tonight?" Samuel asked as he dropped his left hand to gently cup the other''s stomach. Lena had to stop herself from involuntarily stiffening at this action. There were still some small touches and intimate things that she hadn''t quite gotten fullyfortable with yet.
"I''ll be fine. It''s not like I will likely be the one who has to drink all that much in the first ce." The princess replied as she softly ced her hand over her fianc¨¦''s.
"I think that the bigger issue will be who is going to get everyone settled if they end up having too much to drink?" Samuel chuckled at this question.
"I think that there will be enough people back at the estate to help with that. Plus, I doubt that Jovani will drink too much since his younger cousin is with him." The princess hummed in agreement.
"Then I suppose that there shouldn''t be much of a problem with it." She concluded as she turned her attention back to the lights and other Christmas decorations that they were passing.
She didn''t know how long the trip wouldst, but this was one of the few times that the princess wasn''t bothered by that. She didn''t mind however it took for the carriage to pull them through the town and back to everyone else.
Even though it was freezing cold outside, the bitterness of it didn''t reach her inside the rather cozy carriage box with Samuel being pressed so tightly against it.
If nothing else stuck about this event tonight, she was certain that this would be one of the few memories she would be able to keep with her.
The other decided to make it even more memorable when she shifted his position so that he could kiss her passionately on the lips. At least the cold had already made her cheeks red which helped to hide how the princess blushed at this unexpected action.
A memorable asion indeed.
Chapter 253 Not Peaceful
Once Zane left with Leo to take him to the airport, things almost immediately felt different. The quiet was more noticeable in a sense even though the younger mafia son hadn''t been around as much over the past week with all of the work he had to finish up.
"What should we do now?" Samuel asked Lena as everyone else had already started dispersing following the mafia boss leaving.
They had already been gone for about fifteen minutes, but the two of them were one of thest ones to stick around. It seemed as though there was something on the princess'' mind that had stopped her from leaving the front door entrance.
"It can be whatever we want it to be." She replied as she stared at the door for a moment longer. She didn''t have a problem with Leo leaving, but there was something at the back of her mind that was bothering her.
"Is everything okay?" Samuel asked when he noticed that the other hadn''t paid attention to what he said.
"I don''t know." The princess admitted as she narrowed her eyes at the door. She didn''t always trust her gut feeling. Whenever something didn''t feel right to though, she was hardly ever wrong.
"Romeo, get Clive on the phone." Lena requested as she turned away from the door. The guard had stayed behind as there wasn''t much of a reason for him to go off with Zane or Leo with Clive being there to escort them.
He thought he would be better off staying back to watch out for the couple in case there was somewhere that they needed to go.
"Is it urgent?" he asked as he pulled out his phone and dialed Clive.
"It might be." The princess replied before she left the room. Her fianc¨¦ looked between the two of them before he decided to follow after the princess.
"What''s going on?" He asked Lena who was heading back up to the second floor.
"Your guess is as good as mine, but something just doesn''t feel right." She told him as she headed back to her room.
She knew that by the time she came back down Romeo would have an update for her if Clive answered the phone or not. If something was wrong, she needed to get dressed appropriately. Standing around and waiting wasn''t going to do her any good.
"Are you concerned that something happened to them even though they just left? Shouldn''t Zane and Leo be able to handle themselves?" Samuel asked as he watched the princess put on her jacket without bothering to change the shirt she had on underneath it.
She didn''t bother replying as she was too focused on what she was doing. She didn''t even care that Samuel was standing there as she changed out of her sweatpants into more formal wear that would go with her boots.
"I don''t have time to answer your question. Your best off getting changed into something else as well." She told him before walking out of her room with Samuel in tow.
"Your room is the other way not down the stairs where I am going." The princess reminded him as she began to quickly descend the stairs. He really wanted to go with the other to find out what was happening but stopped himself so that he could go and get changed into the suit that he was getting used to wearing.
It was more stuffy than he would have liked but it came with the position of being engaged and entangled with not just one but two mafia families. Even Jovani would yell at him if he saw the other in public and he wasn''t dressed right.
"To what do I owe this call so early in the morning?" Jovani asked picking up his younger cousin''s call after only two rings.
"Do you know if there is anything going on at any of the airports this morning?" Samuel asked, cing the phone on speaker and setting it down so that he could finish getting dressed.
"Not that I am aware of. I can ask Alonso to look into it though. Is there something that I should know about?" Samuel heard the sound of a door closing on the other end of the phone followed by footsteps.
"I''m not sure. Lena thinks that there might be something going on. Her father and brother just left because Leo has a flight that he needs to catch today." the younger cousin could hear the sound of muted voices on the other end of the phone.
"If you could tell me which airport, it might be quicker for me to find out if anything is going on in the area." Jovani told the other. He had no problem helping his younger cousin out, but he was going to need specifics if the other wanted information quickly.
"I think that it is supposed to be the Newark Liberty airport." Samuel replied as he tried to think back to what Lena had said.
"Alonso will see what he can find out. In the meantime, try not to do anything reckless until either of you know that there is a problem." the older cousin cautioned.
"I''m not the one who really needs to be hearing that right now." Samuel informed the other as he picked his phone back up so that he could start heading down to the main floor to see if Lena had found anything out from Romeo yet.
"I need to end the call now but text or call me back if you need anything out." Samuel told the other who cautioned him once again before the call was ended.
He became slightly concerned as he began to descend the stairs but didn''t hear the sound of voices the closer he got to the first floor. Did something happen and had Lena and Romeo already left without waiting for him.
He became slightly relieved when he reached the first floor and made it to the entrance and saw that the other two were there. The princess looked rather serious however and Romeo was talking in a hushed but fast tone of voice.
"They don''t seem to think that there is anything going on, but I''m not convinced." Lena informed Samuel once she realized that he was done there with them.
"They''re okay though?" He asked feeling an instant surge of relief over this news. Lena gave a curt nod of he head.
"Clive seems to think so, he''s going to pull off though, and double-check everything first just to be safe."
"I asked Jovani to check and make sure that there wasn''t anything going on at the airport." he informed the princess who acknowledged that she heard what he said but didn''t verbally respond as she was too focused on what was going on with Romeo.
"Clive seems to think everything is fine. Would it be better to wait until Jovani has confirmed things on his end?" the guard rified.
"I think that it would be." Samuel answered without waiting to see what the princess had to say.
"Considering the importance of the circumstance, I think that it is better to have all bases checked rather than risking having something happen."
He wasn''t sure what Lena had to say about the matter, but her fianc¨¦ believed it was better to respect whatever bad feeling she was having just on the chance that there was something to worry about.
The worst that would have to happen if they waited was that Leo would have to wait for a second flight before he could head back to the UK. That wasn''t anything that couldn''t be remedied.
Chapter 254 Not Quite As Planned
Jovani had been looking forward to a rxing morning after the night before. He had been hoping to spend it lounging around with his own fianc¨¦ since they didn''t often get enough time together between their different jobs.
After he had taken care of the little problem the afternoon before, the dinner had gone exactly as he hoped it would. He made sure of course not to do too much damage to the young man. His goal was never to make anyone fear him, he just wanted to make sure that they remembered their ce and understood how to speak to those above them.
"Am I going crazy or does it seem that with each generation they continue to lose the understanding and importance of respect and loyalty within the mafia?" Jovani asked Eva over dinner. He had decided to splurge that evening and get one of the more expensive bottles of red wine hoping that it would help to put him in a better mood.
"I think that is taken ce everywhere, isn''t it? Not just contained to within the mafia." She pointed out as she carefully cut the steak she had gotten. It was one of the more expensive cuts of meat but she didn''t see a problem ordering it since Jovani seemed eager to spend more than a little money on their date.
"I suppose you''re right. I just get tired of feeling like I have to say the same five things to each one of these brats any time a problem pops up." He sighed as he swirled the wine in his ss watching the red color whirlpool intently.
One thing that he felt was in his favor was the fact that he never suffered from any kind of blood lust. He only drew blood when it was necessary or if he was having a less than medium-rare cut of meat. He didn''t even like his men taking another life unless it was thest option.
"If you keep training your younger cousin, it will be something that you won''t need to be worried about for much longer." Eva assured the other who nodded his head slightly before taking a sip of the wine.
"Had you found out anything else interesting while you''ve been working there?" his fianc¨¦ shrugged her shoulders at this question.
"Not of high interest since that man was murdered. Lena hasn''t beening to work recently so there isn''t anything to learn from her or about what she''s nning since she''s not there. Everyone who is loyal keeps their mouths their mouth shut as tight as tombs." She replied.
"I don''t know about the security level so I don''t try to hack into anything that I haven''t had permission to not touch." She continued.
"I don''t think that she suspects me since we''re connected and she knows that. I don''t know though that I wouldn''t lose my job if anyone found out about me doing such a thing."
"There''s no rush to find anything out. I was just asking since I know that it will be a while before we will be able to have this conversation again." Jovani assured her as he began to cut up his own steak.
"Her family seems rather sold and I think that Sammy might be a good choice for her. Maybe what she needs to help her learn how to rx more." He remarked as he took the first bite.
"It''s certainly interesting to see how much she changes when he''s around."
"Couldn''t the same be said about you though? You don''t tend to be rough and harsh unless I am around or someone else that you want to protect is." Eva pointed out causing the other to flinch.
"I wish you wouldn''t use that as means topare the two of us. I am at least far more pleasant on a daily basis than she is." Rather than verbally responding, she gave the other a look that clearly said that was something that could be debated upon.
"Don''t I always spoil you whenever I have a chance and make sure that you''re always taken care of?" Jovani asked as he reached across the table to try and grab her hand.
"While you''re working your men to the bone and not allowing them to take enough time off." She reminded, moving her hand away before he could grasp it making the other pout.
"I don''t do that on purpose. Some of them really just don''t know how to rx and take some time off." He huffed before going back to eating his food.
"I thought that we would be able to have a more rxing evening with this. Especially since I paid so much for the one." Hemented causing his fianc¨¦ to roll his eyes at her.
"Perhaps we would have been able to if it wasn''t for the fact that you were the one who decided to bring work into this." She retorted before turning his full attention back to her food.
"I would also say that it seems like you don''t know how to shut off either." She remarked before taking her next bite.
Jovani knew that there was some truth to this and that was what caused him to keep his mouth shut rather than replying. He did need to learn how to shut off when they were having nice nights like they were tonight.
That was something that he had been hoping to work on through the rest of the evening and the following morning. He didn''t get the chance to do so though because of the call that he had gotten from Samuel.
He only managed to get through the rest of the night and barely into the morning before something happened that forced him to get back into action whether he wanted to or not.
Eva knew that he couldn''t ignore a request if it came from his younger cousin. It still didn''t stop the other from being annoyed over the fact that his chance to show howid back he could be when he wanted to be had been ruined.
He would just have to find another time to prove to her that he could get away without bringing up work during the time that they spent together on another asion.
He wasn''t sure when that would be, but he would make sure that Charles helped to clear his schedule so that he didn''t put it off for too long.
If he really was intending on marrying Eva, he needed to make sure that he cleared his schedule as often as possible in order to be able to spend time with her.
Chapter 255 Our Problem
Once Jovani had gotten off the phone with this cousin, he decided to call Lena next as he was getting himself ready. He texted Alonso to make sure that the other was already up and aware of what was going on. He would need him to better ascertain what exactly if anything was going on.
"What are you calling me for?" The princess didn''t sound all that thrilled when she answered the call.
"And a good morning to you as well." He teased as he exited the bedroom to make his way towards his office while doing thest few buttons up on his shirt.
"I was calling in response to my delightful younger cousin reaching out to me to alert me that there is a potential problem that may need to be taken care of?" He informed her as he unlocked his office door. There was a pause on the other end of the phone before Lena replied.
"There''s no actual confirmation that anything is wrong. There''s just something that I am concerned about." The princess corrected. Something must have really been bothering her. She seemed more irate than normal Jovani noted.
"Either way doesn''t matter to me, I just wanted to see if I might be able to offer my services since it sounds like from what I have heard they are heading towards the airport that intersects with my part of the territory more so than it does yours." He pointed out, taking his attention away from the conversation for a brief moment to let Alonso know that it was safe for him to enter the office.
"Yes, but they aren''t anywhere near the airport right now." Lena replied with a sigh.
"They have stopped for the time being until we have a better idea of what is going on." Jovani could hear voices in the background that sounded like they wereing from Samuel and someone else.
"Would you still like for me to check anything on my end even if they haven''t reached their destination yet?" He rified as Alonso stood to the side waiting to hear what the answer would to know what kind of action he should take.
"If you have the time and men to spare. If not, it isn''t anything that we can''t figure out ourselves." The princess replied. He waited to see if she was going to say anything but decided to interject into the conversation when it seemed as though the other had no intention of saying anything else to him.
"I can have Alonso get on it no problem. One small thing that I would like to correct real quick before the call ends is your use ofnguage." Jovani informed her as he took a seat in his chair.
"I am well aware of the fact that you and your family are used to dealing with a number of problems such as these on your own and prefer to do so for a number of very good reasons." He continued as he brought up hisputer.
"Right now though, I think is a good time for you to start changing your perspective on that since we''re going to be family soon enough. None of these problems anymore are ''your problems'' instead, they are ''our problems to work at solving. I don''t think that it should be too hard to reframe anything to start thinking that way."
Lena didn''t say anything right away after the other had finished speaking, Jovani honestly didn''t expect her to have a reply either. She wasn''t the kind of person who dealt with these types of things very well. In fact, most everyone else that he knew did a better job of responding to such things than the princess did and he knew quite a few rough people.
"I don''t think that my perspective on these types of things will be changing any time soon, but I appreciate you saying that. I don''t have time to talk anymore though somunicate with Samuel if you find anything else out." She didn''t even wait for Jovani to respond to her before she ended the call.
He didn''t know if he should take this as a sign that there really was something serious going on or if it was just her way of ending the conversation because she didn''t know how to respond to him.
"What would you like me to do now?" Alonso asked once the other was off the phone and his attention was brought back to the present.
"I want you to check the hotel and see if there is anything suspicious going on around there. I expect that you know who to contact for that kind of information." Jovani ordered as he unlocked hisputer. There were a few people he was going to need to get in touch with as well.
"Also, double-check any more of the major roads leading to the airports. It might be that whatever is going on has nothing to do with Lena''s family but something that they might get caught up in."
"I should be able to have all of that taken care of promptly. Do you want me to request that some men head that way to act as backup in the event that anything does go on?" Jovani shook his head at this question.
"There''s no need to have that happen. I intend to head over that way myself in order to find out what is going on." He informed the other.
"There are a few things that I need to take care of first, but I think that it would be best if I was there myself. I will of course take who I need to with me in order to make sure that nothing happens." He assured his right-hand man whom he was certain was going to be quick to shut down his ns.
"What I need you to just focus on right now is what I requested. If you can make sure that all of that is taken care of, I will be able to worry less while I focus on other matters." Alonso didn''t look thrilled about this, but immediately got on what the other requested of him without further argument.
He assumed that the sooner he got it down, the higher the chance would be that he could go out with Jovani if they were both finished at the same time. He didn''t think that anything was likely to happen to the other man but didn''t want to take any risks with everything else that had been going on recently.
He didn''t need one more thing to worry about on top of everything else.
Chapter 256 Well See
Zane didn''t think that there was any reason for them to stop the car. Everything had been checked before they left and he hadn''t seen anyone following them or anything of the sort that seemed suspicious. He only agreed to have Clive stop for the time being because Lena was the one who made the request.
She hardly ever did anything like that and whenever she had in the past, there was good reason to listen to what she said or requested. The worst inconvenience would be that he would have to purchase another ne ticket at thest minute.
"Clive have you found anything that could there to be a cause for concern?" the mafia boss asked as he lit up a cigarette. It was one of the few things that he could do while waiting. Leo had already gotten his phone out to send a few texts and check through a number of other things.
Like his father, he didn''t think that there was any reason for them to stop but who was he to deny the request his older sister made out of concern for their safety.
"No sir. I have yet to find anything out. It seems though that the Vedova Nera are involved and are ensuring that everything is equally safe on their end." The driver replied as he went through his phone. Romeo was giving him updates as the other man could.
"Does the airport happen to fall into their territory? I thought that it still existed on neutral ground." Zane mused as he let out a puff of cigarette smoke as he looked out the window to see the other traffic racing past.
"No, that is actually something that has changed more recently. It seems as though they have been working for some time now to expand their territory even further than before." Leo was the one who answered this question.
"It is nothing that will affect our territory not that it matters much anyway since our families are entwined, but it seems that it has been a n to increase their strength and deal with some of the smaller groups that have been causing some problems in recent times." He continued as he put his phone down.
"Us being in an agreement like the current one with them certainly can''t hurt us considering they''re rising to be the second most powerful family." The mafia boss hummed in response to what his son said.
"You have a good point there though I''m not sure that I would call them the second most powerful family. There''s still one more lurking around. You wouldn''t hear about them all that often but that has nothing to do with their power waning." Leo gave the other a confused look when he said this.
"The next time that you get a chance toe back home, I will better exin it to you since it is something that both you and your sister are going to have to deal with." He assured the other.
"Sir, it would seem as though there has been somemotion at one of the checkpoints to the airport." Clive informed them cutting off the conversation that they were having.
"Jovani is taking care of it right now." He updated as he looked at his phone again.
"Is this something that is going to take a while to fix before we can leave?" Zane asked. It seemed that his daughter hadn''t been wrong to request that they stop for the time being. He always wondered where she got that sixth sense from since he knew it wasn''t his.
"There is not ETA on how long it will take. With there being a number of civilians and other people around, it might take them quite some time." He replied. Clive figured that the best way to get the questions answered was to call the other man himself and allow Zane to speak with him.
"No point in calling him right now, just let him take care of what he needs to and we can make our way over there to see what is going on for ourselves." Zane saw no reason to continue sticking around where they were at. He hated out-of-the-way areas like the one that Clive had stopped them at. He understood the point of them but they were far too secluded for his taste.
"If you wish sir." The drive gave a nod of his head before he started the car up again. It would troublesome to get back onto the main road with all of the traffic passing by but it was certainly something that he was capable of.
"Are you sure that it is a good idea for us to be heading over there already? It doesn''t sound like it has been that long since they started to deal with whatever this problem is?" Leo pointed out. Despite his role, he preferred if at all possible to stay out of trouble and any area where there was a risk for violence.
"I am certain that it isn''t anything that we cannot handle should the situatione down to it. If Jovani''s men are already there, it also isn''t like we won''t have any kind of protection." Zane pointed out.
"It''s better than just sitting here anyways. Besides that, it will still take us longer to reach the airport and by the time we get there, most everything will likely have been taken care of." He didn''t think that there was any reason to doubt the efficiency of the men that Jovani had working for him. People like him didn''t get as far as they did working with unreliable people.
"If you''re sure about that. I don''t think that Lena will be pleased to hear that we''re already back on the road before everything is resolved." Leo remarked as he decided to text his sister to let her know what was going.
In the span of a few seconds though, the unexpected happened not long after Clive had managed to get them back on the main road towards the interstate.
A shot rang out and the car swerved harshly to the right as the driver suddenly lost control of it.
Chapter 257 Unexpected
Note: Dear readers, please reply to this promptly. I would like to know if you would prefer 2chs/day or a mass release on one day. I have chapters written for either, but would prefer to know preferences.
Jovani didn''t bother waiting for Alonso to be done when he left. He wanted to find out for himself what exactly was going on. Waiting too long could mean that the whole issue would be sorted out before he got there.
Since he believed that everything was under control, he didn''t bother worrying about texting Lena or his cousin. They could directly hear from the others that there was nothing to worry about.
Jovani had decided against taking a driver as well. He used a different car from the normal one he took but saw it pointless to take a driver with him when there were far more important things for the others to do. Not only that, he didn''t want to put Charles at risk should something unexpected ur.
He knew that it wouldn''t take him that long to get to the airport from the estate. An hour at most which wasn''t too long to request that certain things be put on hold so he could be there to oversee them himself.
Traffic was heavier than what he had anticipated but hoped that it would die off the closer that he got to the airport. He nced away from the front of the car when he heard his phone start ringing.
"Franco, I hope you bring me some good news for this call." Jovani told the other as he picked up the call.
"I am in the middle of heading somewhere to deal with something rather important right now." He informed the other before they even had a chance to speak.
"d to hear from you as well." The other man greeted with a warm chuckle causing a twitch of a smile to form on the corner of Jovani''s lips as he swapped into a fasterne on the interstate. Taking a smaller car meant that he had to be more careful of therger ones that dominated traffic. He was at higher risk of injury should get into a crash.
"As much as I would love to use this time to catch up and have a great conversation with you, I actually called up due to something important that I thought would be of interest to you." Franco''s voice floated through the phone. The Mafia boss turned up his phone louder to make sure that he could hear the other clearly.
"Do go on." Jovani urged as he kept his eyes focused on the cars around him.
"I just got a report recently that there seems to have been some sort of ident on the way to the Newark Liberty airport. Coming from the south from what I have heard. That is the one you''re heading to, right?"
"Indeed, an inw was getting ready to send their son off. Why?" Jovani got a bad feeling the moment that he was asked this question. It increased when Franco was silent on the other end of the phone for a moment too long. He was about to say something when the other finally spoke again.
"I don''t have any of my men on-site so there is no way for me to verify anything for a fact but from what I am hearing it sounds possible that the people you''re talking about might have been involved in that crash." He paused after saying this to allow the other a chance.
"How did you hear about this?" Jovani asked as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel and gritted his teeth. This wasn''t the kind of news that he needed to be hearing right now. He was heading in the exact opposite direction of where that was!
"You know me, I am well connected in a number of different areas. Getting a hold of that kind of information isn''t that hard for me. I hear almost everything thates through the grapevine." Franco remarked. Based upon how often he paused when speaking and the noises he heard in the background, it sounded like the other wasn''t alone.
"How long ago did it happen?" Jovani asked as he nced to his right so that he could swapnes. He needed to get off as soon as possible so that he could swapnes and start heading in the opposite direction.
"Sounds like maybe only ten or fifteen minutes ago. Some shots were fired and a vehicle lost control. It could all just be misinformation of course. Because I am not there to directly see it for myself, I cannot promise that a mistake has been made."
"Better to be safe than sorry." Jovani told the other. If there weren''t so many other people on the road, he would have just cut around into the other line and driven back that way until he came across the right exit. Trying to do that right now though would just be asking for a crash to happen.
"Are you actually thinking about heading that way yourself? I don''t think that it would be wisest of moves for you." Franco cautioned.
"If something is going on, whoever is responsible might still be there and you may find yourself stuck in the middle of something that you aren''t prepared to deal with." Jovani couldn''t stop theugh that escaped in response to what his friend had said.
"Franco, when have I ever been ready for anything that I have gotten myself into? This is just one more interesting turn of events for me to deal with among many others that have been happening recently." He told the other.
"You know that I at least don''t go anywhere without making sure that I have my gun my. If anything does happen, I am at least capable of protecting myself if nothing else. Plus if you''re that worried and know the exact location of where the event took ce, you can send a few men to help me out and have my back."
"Don''t you have anyone with you right now? You couldn''t have seriously been heading off somewhere on your own? I thought that we had this talk before about you doing reckless. I am sure Alonso would be about ready to rip his hair out at this moment if he heard what was going on." Franco sighed though there was a hint of amusement to the edge of his voice.
"Don''t worry, he doesn''t need to hear about any of this if you don''t tell him because I certainly won''t. Besides, he likely won''t be ripping out any of his hair. I think he likes it too much to do that." Jovani joked.
"I won''t tell him if you don''t want me to, but don''t me me if he founds out at some other point in time and you end up in hot water." Francoughed.
"I will just make sure that if that happens I go on an extended vacation so that I don''t have to deal with him for a worry." this remark caused the other to tsk at him. He could imagine Franco shaking his head at his ridiculous remarks.
"As much as I would love to keep talking, I do need to end the call for the time being so that I can focus on driving." Jovani told the other. They exchanged parting words before he cut the call.
As much as he enjoyed the unexpected call, he really did need to focus on his driving. If he wanted to get to the location that the other was talking about sooner rather thanter, then he was going to have to rely on a bit of speed.
Chapter 258 Sometimes I Know Better
Note: Dear readers, please reply to this promptly. I would like to know if you would prefer 2chs/day or a mass release on one day. I have chapters written for either but would prefer to know preferences.
And please don''t forget to check out the prequel to this one- Dear Dove.
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Lena still felt that something was off even after she had been informed that there was an issue taken care of at the airport and her father and brother were both fine.
She still couldn''t pinpoint what exactly it was except for the voice at the back of her that told her not to be so quick to believe everything had been cleared up yet.
The only problem with this was the fact that Romeo and Samuel were not thrilled about the idea of her going to go out and meet up with the other part of her family when everything hadn''t been fully taken care of yet.
"I understand how you''re feeling Princess, but I think that for the time being it would be better if you stayed here until we got further updates." Romeo tried to reason with the other who was impatiently sitting in the front guestroom. She would have left if it wasn''t for the fact that her fianc¨¦ was fairly determined over the fact that he didn''t think it was safe for.
"I know that you''re worried about them, but it won''t do you any good to go out there if something happens to you as well. Everything is fine right now so I think that the best course of action is to wait." He tried to soother her over the matter but she wasn''t exactly thrilled to be touched by him while she was still feeling so agitated.
Seeing the state that she was in, Samuel opted to sit in a chair across from her in order to assure that she had enough space between them so as to know to make matters worse for the princess.
"I understand what both of you are saying, I just don''t like to have to wait for so long to get updates. I thought that Jovani was the one who was helping to oversee the matter. He should be better equipped to give updates sooner since he knows how important the matter is." The princess argued as she tapped her fingers impatiently on the armrest of the chair that she was sitting in.
"Ipletely agree with you. However, it would seem that my cousin left with Alonso and was driving himself to the location to deal with matters. Because of that, I doubt he''s in much of a position to give updates while he''s driving." Samuel pointed out. He only knew because Alonso had outed his older cousin to him out of frustration and concern for the other man who was off doing his own thing again.
"If there is something serious going on, he shouldn''t be out on his own either until we know what is going on." The princess huffed as she leaned further back in the chair. She was only going to wait things out for five more minutes before doing her own thing as she had originally wanted to do.
"It seems as though he wanted to get there to be a part of handling the matter before everything was taken care of. He thinks what''s going on might be connected to something else that he has been having to deal with." Romeo was the one who had answered this question. A few of their men who were on-scene had informed him of this.
"Probably one of the issues that Jovani should have informed us about before know as it would help in being more cautious before such situations happened." Lena tsked as she watched the clock.
It had been quite a while since she had been in such a bad mood. No one could me her for it though seeing as it was her family who was almost directly involved in something serious. Had it been anyone else, she would have handled the situation in quite a different matter.
No text messages or calls from her brother or father didn''t bode well with her. It wouldn''t have been unusual had they been working. Her father could go hours or near a whole day without keeping her in the loop. The same applied to her brother.
This situation though was a family matter. There was no reason for them to go so long without updating especially knowing that she was worried there was something serious going on.
Lena hadn''t tried calling either of them herself partly because she didn''t want to create too much chaos right now if nothing serious was going on and partly because she wanted to avoid the chance that no one would pick up if she did.
She bit her thumbnail as continued to get absorbed into her thoughts. She was unaware of the scowl that was on her face, but it ensured that no one was going to bother her or try to talk her out of anything so long as she was deep in thought.
She hade to learn from an early age that there was a certain level of magic when it came to specific areas of life. Magic that no one had control over but could be influenced based upon what a person did. Whether it was saying certain words to speak something into existence, dwelling on something until it came to pass, or doing a certain action that caused a reaction elsewhere.
The princess didn''t have to understand exactly why the magic worked the way it did to learn how to prevent it from going in a direction that she didn''t want it to head in. Anything that she didn''t want to deal with or cause toe to pass, she would avoid doing anything that would cause it to happen. Not as simple as it sounded, but she made it work in a number of situations.
Even if none of it was real though, just simply going through it in such a specific way was enough to help settle her anxiety in certain situations and to get her thoughts to behave.
No matter how many times everyone else tried to assure her that everything was fine and there was no reason to worry, Lena didn''t care because her mind had something else to say about the matter. Something that she felt mighte true if she tried to call her father and he didn''t pick up the phone like he always did.
Even though her fingers were itching to dial his number just to try and prove that she was overreacting, she couldn''t bring her hands to even grab her phone out of her pocket. One stayed glued to the armrest tapping her fingers away against it as she chewed on her nail with the other.
Even when she wanted to be against herself and find out she was wrong, it didn''t always work that way. There were just times that no matter what it was she wanted, Lena just couldn''t prove herself wrong because she somehow always knew better.
This was going to turn out to be one of those situations where she knew better about a matter even if she didn''t want to know better about it.
Chapter 259 Bad Place
Zane''s head was throbbing and he was hardly able to see right. It hurt to open his eyes but he knew that he needed to in order to determine where he was at.
He was fairly certain by the bump and tumble that the car had gone off the road and over the ledge. He was lucky that Clive despite losing control managed to move it in such a way that prevented it frompletely flipping over.
The situation was still not a good one however.
Zane was pinned by his seatbelt which made it hard for him to determine if the driver was still alive. He only knew that he was unconscious like Leo.
Even though the mafia boss had tried to shield him, thetter had still suffered a rather bad knock to the head when the car turned on it''s side. He likely would have gone through the window if he didn''t have his seatbelt on.
Zane closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He didn''t know who had hit the car but he had a feeling that they would potentiallye back if they didn''t think they''d done their.
Being the only one conscious meant that he had to make sure the three of them were safe. The first step of that would be assessing his own injuries and seeing if he could get free of his seatbelt.
He knew that his phone was a no go. It flew out of his hands and broke through the window when he had grabbed Leo. The other two phones he was unsure of where they were.
Except for a cut on his head, he didn''t seem to be bleeding anywhere else. On the other hand, his left shoulder had been banged up pretty and he was certain at least two ribs were broken.
He likely had a mild concussion as well judging from how badly his vision kept swimming and the annoying headache plus ringing in his ears.
"Just one step at a time." He murmured under his breath as he felt around for the lock of his seatbelt.
He could just by feel that it was jammed pretty bad. It had been crushed by weight and jerking of the vehicle. He could potentially get it open if he fiddled with it long enough, but he needed a quicker solution.
Leaning forward as much as he could, he fumbled around under the seat until he found what he was looking for. He was d that he listened to Clive when the other insisted he equips each vehicle with a hiddenpartment to keep small weapons in.
Zane was very grateful for the small knife that he pulled out before closing thepartment again. He winced as he leaned back, his ribs didn''t like him topress his body the way he just had. He would have to be careful as possible in order to not make his injuries worse than they already were.
Now that he had the knife, he was going to be able to cut himself free. First, though, he had to brace his body so that he didn''t fall atop Leo who was positioned on the side of the vehicle that was touching the ground.
It was a bit of a challenge in the current position, but he could make it work. The mafia boss was too stubborn to allow for it to not work.
Once the seatbelt was off, he could move more easily the way that he needed to. The first two things that he needed to take of were making sure that both Leo and Clive were as okay as they could be in the current situation and figuring out how to get everyone out of the car.
Being unconscious was not a good sign in and of itself, but the mafia boss had to double-check in order to make sure that neither of them had any serious injuries. He wouldn''t be able to move them anywhere if they did.
Clive seemed to have taken the worst amount of damage as the driver. The airbag had helped cushion his face but not the back of his head or chest which likely had hit the steering wheel pretty hard before the airbag had been deployed. It was hard to tell about much else with the other still being unconscious.
For Leo, it seemed that he was in a rather simr position with a potential concussion and damage to his left shoulder and left side of his face at least.
Zane ran a hand through his hair as he looked at both sides of the car. He was going to need to get out on the side that was to his right. There was no other option as far as he could tell since the other was against the ground.
The ss part of the window had been broken from the impact which made his job slightly easier. It would still be a trial though for him to manage to get out of it without hurting himself.
He could do it though. He had managed to fit himself through tighter spaces in the past, it just required a little bit of time and patience to do it sessfully. He was going to need far more of both this time around with the amount of pain that he was in.
Zane already knew that he didn''t have a lot of energy to move with his injuries which left little room for mistakes or failure. He was going to have to make everything he did count and do it the first time around.
Everyone else in the car was relying on him to be the one to make sure that they got saved. ying sitting duck wasn''t an option when it came to that. Lena would likely know what was going on, but she was thest person that he would want toe and rescue here.
He didn''t know until he got out of the car if there was any worry about anyone having stayed behind ore back after shooting the car off the road. At least Zane had brought his gun with him so he wouldn''t bepletely defenseless should there be people still waiting for anyone to get out of the car.
The mafia boss could only hope that the fact that no one hade to poke around the car yet meant that he didn''t need to worry about anything of the sort. He needed to be able to move quickly. With none around however, he would be able to do it at a pace that worked best for him and would allow him to do everything right.
He would need to trust in the luck that had allowed him to get to where he had gotten thus far. He just needed that luck to work for him one more time in this situation.
Chapter 260 Carefully
Zane used his suit jacket wrapped around his hand to punch out the rest of the ss that was remaining around the window in order to decrease the risk of cutting himself.
He was also going to need it to be as clean as possible if he tried to get anyone else out as well.
Lifting himself carefully, he gripped the ledge of the car door window where it looked like the least amount of ss was left. He could handle a few cuts on his hands so long as they weren''t too deep.
Everything that the mafia boss did was with careful precision. He had to move quickly but he needed to watch out for his injuries as well as make sure that there was no one outside the car. Based upon the time that his watch broke at it, he had only been out for a total of fifteen minutes.
If whoever was responsible for what happened was going to spend someone to check and make sure that the job had been ''done'', it would likely be within the next fifteen to thirty minutes.
Being part of the mafia world himself, he knew what kind of timetables these people worked on. It was risky to send someone back around right after an ident had happened. Too great of a risk of being caught. always better to wait and thene back when it could be faked as someone checking to see if everything was okay.
Zane sucked in his breath sharply as he pulled himself halfway out the window. His ribs protested everything he was doing but thus far everything looked clear. From what he could see around them, it looked like the car had taken quite a tumble from the main road.
That would exin why no one else had spotted the flipped car yet. Not only was the road they were on not heavily traveled during this time of the day but the car would not have easily been spotted unless someone was looking for it.
Once the mafia boss had gotten out of the car, he took a moment to catch his breath as he tried to figure out what the next best course of action was. Being the only one who was conscious but not in the best shape really limited his options.
There was no way that he would be able to flip the car off its side and back to the proper position it was supposed to be in. He tested this by swinging his legs back and forth while resting atop the car window in an attempt to gain so type of momentum. The car however refused to budge from it''s position.
He was going to have to find a different way to extract the other. Clive was going to be easier than Leo if Zane was able to punch the window in on the driver''s side. Leo''s door on the other hand was the one that was crushed against the grass. There was going to be no way for him to open it up. He was just going to have to try and pull the other out of the window that he had just gotten out.
He needed to take a moment though to figure out exactly how all of that was supposed to work on with him doing it on his own. He could figure out how to do it, he just didn''t know if he would have enough time before anyone came back to snoop around.
Licking his bottom lip to remove the caked-on blood, Zane shifted his position so that he could get back into the car. He needed to see if he could reach forward and get the car keys. If he could, he might be able to open the hatch of the SUV if hadn''t been totally busted.
Getting half of the back seats down might be his best bet to get at least Leo out with as little movement as possible. He had to be careful if either of them had a concussion.
The mafia boss let out a strainedugh as he got back into the car. He was quick to realize that it was far easier on his injured body to get out of the car than it was to get back inside. Not to mention he also had to be careful not to hit his son when he came down.
"Just a little bit and I promise that I am going to have all of us out of here." Zane assured them as he leaned between the middle seats to see if he could reach the keys. Between the limited space between the seats and the way that Clive was resting across the steering wheel, it wasn''t all that easy for Zane to reach for the keys. Not to mention that each time he pressed his body against the seat to try and extend his reach, his broken ribs were crushed against the cushion.
Thest thing that he needed was to be reckless and end up puncturing his lung. It was a real possibility that he had to worry about, but not something of enough concern to stop him from trying to do what he could.
Closing his keys, he took in a deep breath as he reached once again for the keys. His fingers bumped against them causing them to swing just out of his grip. He swore softly under his breath as he tried to wiggle his hand enough to catch it as it came back towards him. Now was not the time to be dealing with such annoying problems!
After struggling with the keys ten times over, Zane finally managed to get his hands on them. He didn''t need to pull them out, he just needed to be able to press the button to open up the back hatch.
He was almost drawn to believe that his concern that it had been damaged in the crash had been correct until he heard a chunk sound followed by a soft, mechanical noise.
He let out a soft sigh of relief. It didn''t open up all the way, but it would be enough for now. He could figure out how to force it open the rest of the way on his own.
Now he just needed to work on safely pulling the other two out. Clive seemed like he had taken the most damage but was at least still breathing which meant that there wasn''t anything serious to worry about yet.
Zane''s victory was cut short, however. He got out of the car and shifted to the back to try and get the hatch open the rest of the way. He just needed enough space to get the seats down and pull Leo out in a prostrate position.
Halfway through trying to get the door hatch opened up the rest of the day, he froze when he heard the sound of a car approaching on the road.
He didn''t need to see it or his gut instinct to tell him that it likely didn''t belong to anyone who was there to help him out.
Chapter 261 Ambush
"Are you sure that the car was over here? I thought they said it was further down than this?" The man asked as he leaned his head out the passenger window, lifting his sunsses so he could have a better look around the edge of the road.
"I am pretty sure it was right around here. There''s no telling where the car might havended. Just keep looking." The driver replied. He was doing his best to look around as well but had to keep his eyes focused on the road since there were cars passing them in the otherne.
"I am looking, but I''m not seeing anything yet. Maybe you need to go further up so we can turn around and try on the other side." The first man suggested as tried to lean further out the window. With the way that the road winded, it was hard to see over the ledge.
"Do you want to take over driving then and I can look? You can''t even find a needle in a haystack, how am I supposed to trust that you won''t miss something?" The driver grumbled. He had originally been the one who wanted to do the sweeping, but his friend insisted he does it because he had ''better eyes for it''.
"Trust me, I don''t think that it would be all that hard to miss a ck SUV in broad daylight. I''m pretty sure that you just need to keep driving further down and we will find it." The other insisted as he pped on the side of the car to encourage his friend to keep driving.
"I swear Ken if you dent this car or miss what we are looking for and get us our asses handed to us on a silver tter, I will hurt you." The driver growled as he speed up so he could reach the U-turn in order to get back onto the other side of the road.
"Slow down a moment!" Ken suddenly shouted causing the other to m on his brakes rather harshly.
"What in the hell?" The driver snapped. He was about ready to smack the back of the other''s head until he saw what he was pointing at.
"Isn''t the car we''re looking for?" Ken asked. It was a little ways off the side of the road and down the hill but it certainly looked like a ck SUV. |
"Possibly. We need to find a ce to park before we can get out and take a look though. Put your head back in and roll your window up. You shout one more time and everyone for the next three miles is going to know what we are doing." The driver warned causing the other to pout.
"I was only doing what you asked of me." Ken grumbled as he rolled up the window before getting his pack of smokes out.
"Share one with me why don''t you? I need it after all the stress this is putting us through." The other obliged his friend, going so far as to light it up after he had put it in the other''s mouth.
"Do you think now that we''ve found them that the next part will be easy?" Ken mused as he took a drag of the cigarette, releasing it as he watched them drive off to a small side road. It meant that they were going to have a little way to walk back to where they had seen the car, but it was better than getting spotted stopping closer by.
"That depends on whether or not they''re still alive or awake. Zane is known for being a devil. If he has somehow managed to survive, what we have to do next will be the hardest part of all of this." The driver replied as he stopped the car.
"Just make sure you put your silencer on before you get out and the safety is off." The driver told the other as he opened the glovebox where their guns were kept.
"Shouldn''t we have brought something to protect ourselves with Lewis if this is how it is going to go?" Ken asked as he handed the other his gun.
"If we had been given the option, I have said yes without a second thought. We weren''t though so we''re just going to have to make do with what we have and hope things are working in our favor."
They spent two more minutes smoking their cigarettes before putting them out. They needed to be able to focus best as possible on what they would be doing next.
By the time that they walked back to where the SUV was, Lewis felt somewhat better when he didn''t see any signs of movementing from it. He made sure that they kept their guns hidden so as to not alert suspicions if anyone was around.
Two mening around with guns always gave off the wrong impression. They needed the element of surprise in this case if they wanted to maintain the upper hand.
Lewis motioned for the other to go ahead of him as he stayed back slightly. Because of how tinted the windows were, it was hard to see if there was anyone else still inside of the car. Some of the windows had been obviously broken but they were on the side that was furthest away from them.
Hopefully, things were actually working out in their favor and there was nothing there for them to do except confirm that the targets had been killed.
"I think that we are in the clear, I''m not-" Ken''s voice was suddenly cut off as he walked around the other side of the car. What couldn''t be hidden was the sound of the scuffle that was taking ce on the other side of the car.
No gun was fired, but there was definitelymotion that indicated that someone was very much awake and alive.
"Shit." Lewis cursed under his breath as he drew his gun. There was no way that he could shoot through the other side of the car without risking injury to hispanion. Not knowing who the other person who had grabbed him was meant that he needed to be very careful.
Lewis crept around the side of the car. He knew that whoever it was had the same disadvantages that he did. He was just going to have to be the quicker one if he wanted toe out on top once he spotted whoever it was.
Luck sounded like it was on his side as he came around the front of the vehicle. The sound of scuffling was still going on which meant that Ken was likely not dead yet.
What a treat it was for him when came around the side and saw that it was Zane who had been struggling with his just deceased friend.
"Well, well. Maybe today is the day that you finally get to be sent to hell." Lewis smirked as he raised his gun, cocking the trigger back caught the mafia boss''s attention. Based upon the surprised look on his face, it seemed as though he hadn''t heard the other before he approached.
Maybe luck was on his side that day was all he could think as he fired off the silent round.
Chapter 262 Unexpected
Jovani did all the pieces that he could do while driving. He had contacted Alonso to get a trace of the vehicle that Zane had been in. If one of their phones was up, he would be able to find out where exactly they were at.
He also contacted a few of his other men to put handle the issue on hold until he got back. If the two were connected, he knew that he wasn''t going to be the only one who wanted to get a piece of those men. Lena would want to have a say in what happened to them as well.
Jovani also made sure to contact his younger cousin and Romeo to make sure that they didn''t allow the princess to leave the house. He didn''t know if she was aware of exactly what was going on but knew for a fact that she wouldn''t want to sit still if she did.
Leaving thest house was thest thing though that she should have been considering doing at the current moment in time. It would have been extremely reckless. Not like Jovani was one to talk about doing reckless things. He knew that Alonso was already high displeased with what he was doing.
He couldn''t sit idly, however. He was the only one on the road at the current moment in time who would be able to reach their location quickly. He needed to get there before anyone else did and assess what was going on.
His driving was half distracted however when Samuel called him to say that there was a problem with getting Lena to stay put. She didn''t know what was going on, but her gut feeling was telling her that she needed to find out.
"Figure something out then. I can''t have her out here where something might have already happened to her father and brother." Jovani told the other. He knew that his cousin still needed a lot of help when it came to certain things. That wasn''t something that he could provide him much of right now though.
"I don''t care what measure it is, I just don''t want her leaving until I can see for myself what is going on. One wrong move could make things worse than they already are. We both know that Zane wouldn''t want her out here either."
"You can try and tell her that for yourself then. I think that she''s about ready to shoot someone if they try to stop her from going through the door one more time." Samuel told the other. He did sound more stressed than he usually did when talking about Lena.
"Why don''t you go back out there then and hand the phone over to her. I will talk to her as much as I can but, the rest is up to you because I really need to be able to focus right now." Jovani was thankful that at the current moment in time that there were no police on the road around him and that the traffic was fairly sparse. He would have certainly been pulled over for going twenty miles over the designated speed limit.
Samuel didn''t reply to him, but he could tell that by the voices in the background that he was trying to talk with someone. Most likely the princess by the stressed tone of voiceing from the second and third person in the background.
"You better only be calling me if there''s something important that you need to talk over. I''m not in the mood to deal with you otherwise right now." Jovani didn''t need to be the in the same room with the other to feel the iceing off her from the other end of the phone.
"I do have something important to talk with you about right and that''s that I need you to stay put where you''re at. I know you''re not going to like what I have to say, but it''s important that you do just that for the time being." Jovani replied. He didn''t give the other a chance to reply as she continued speaking.
"I know that you''re worried about everything that''s going on right now but the worst possible thing that you can do right now is react based off your emotions. Even though we just had this conversation not that long ago. I think that it is important to remind you once again that you''re not dealing with this alone." He continued as he swappednes to pass a car driving in front of him.
"We don''t know exactly what is going on right now and thest thing we need is to worry about someone else getting hurt. I will make sure I can take care of what I can and update you when I know what is going on. Your job right now is to listen to those around you. I don''t have any more time to talk with you than this, but I don''t want to find out that you''ve left that ce by the time I call back."
Jovani didn''t get the other a chance to reply before he needed the call. He really didn''t have the time to talk with anyone else before he reached the scene. By the ping that Alonso had sent him, it seemed that he had almost reached the location where the car had been.
He had to slow down as he got closer knowing that he wasn''t going to find it on the road. It likely would have gone over the edge. Clive was a good driver, but there was no railing on these roads to stop a car from going over the edge once control was lost no matter how good the driver was.
He could only hope that whatever happened, he didn''t have to report back that it was a fatal ident. That was the kind of news that he hated having to give back the most. It was difficult for everyone involved to hear it.
Stopping the car when he was almost on top of where the phone marker was, he pulled slightly off the road so that he wouldn''t be in the way of any oing traffic. Thankfully he had had the forethought to take his gun with him. He didn''t see anyone else around, but that wasn''t a clear indicator that there wasn''t anyone to worry about.
He had to slide down the hill carefully to make sure he didn''t lose his bnce. Thest thing he needed right now was to injure himself doing something stupid before he even found out what was going on.
He didn''t bring his own protective vest with him, but he made sure to turn the tracker on his phone should anything happen while he was there. He was not one who was easily taken by surprise but it was always possible especially when his emotions were running high.
The fact that there was absolutely no movement when he found the car didn''t bode well with him. The tinted windows made it hard for him to look and see if anyone was still inside and if they were okay. Good for protection, bad at times like these when he wanted a good sign sooner rather thanter.
Jovani took a deep breath though to help remind himself to keep his cool and to not lose his focus on what was he was doing. He would be able to handle whatever was in front of him better than the people who were waiting elsewhere would be able to.
Looking around the side closest to him gave him no indication or ability to see inside the car. One of the windows had been partially broken but not enough to give him a clear view. His best bet was going to be checking the back of the vehicle where the hatch was open.
Before he went to look through, he was determined to go around the front to the other side in order to make sure that everything looked clear before he put himself in a bad situation.
His heart pounding in his ears was making it hard for him to focus as he moved carefully around the front of the car. He didn''t see anything right away as he reached the hood. It was only when he started to go around the side that something caught his attention.
He hardly had time to focus on it however before he felt something cold pressed against the back of his head and lower back which caused him topletely freeze. This was exactly the kind of position that he had been hoping to avoid finding himself in.
He didn''t have to turn around to know that the feeling of cold metal touching the back of his head was from a gun. He knew that feeling too well to not immediately not know what it was.
The question however was who was on the other end of the gun?
Chapter 263 You Cant
ied Talking with Jovani did little to help Lena feel better.
She red at the phone before she handed it back to Samuel. She knew that he had a point in what he said but it wasn''t what she wanted to be hearing at the current moment.
Even if no one said anything specific to her, she knew that something was wrong. She could feel it.
"I know what you''re thinking but you also know that he''s right. You need to stay here right now regardless of what is going on." Samuel told his fianc¨¦ as he put his phone back in his pocket.
He didn''t know exactly how he was supposed to get her to stay there with him, he just knew that it had to happen.
"Why don''t we wait to see what Hesteres up with first and to hear back from Jovani before we decide what to do next? He''s going to be there before we are after all." He pointed. He would have normally tried to hug Lena to reassure her but in her current mood, he knew that would be the wrong choice.
Physical contact would be reserved for if he needed to it to stop the princess from doing what she wanted should she refuse to stay the estate with them.
"I would rather not wait and be there myself to see what is going on. Absolutely nothing good is going toe from me staying here waiting around." The princess argued.
"I know that you think that, but what it''s important is also your protection. If everything is fine with your father and brother but something happens to you because you react rather than respond, that''s going toplicate things even more." Samuel argued.
"Plus, it isn''t just that we would be worrying about if you left right now. Romeo would have to go with you and whoever else to make sure that everything is okay. If there''s another trap nned, you wouldn''t be the only one who''s in danger."
"Do you think that I''m not already aware of that? Do you think that I don''t care about the lives of those around me and am only seeking to ensure the life of my family even at the cost of others without understanding the weight of that consequence?" As Lena spoke, her voice took a far harsher tone than Samuel had heard from her in quite a while.
"I am well aware of all of these things, that is why I haven''t done anything yet. Unlike you, I have grown up in this lifestyle where I understand the consequences that each little action has even if one thinks it does not." Her hands dug into the arms of the chair where she was sitting. A fire was burning in her eyes as she barely held back her anger as she continued speaking.
"There''s not just one side to this however. These people here who work with us are an extended part of our family as well. They''ve sworn their lives to protect us and keep us safe in return for us taking care of them. My father right now is the leader of this family, the one that is keeping them together, taking care of and protecting them. Do you even know what would happen to everyone if something happened to my father?"
Samuel didn''t quite know how to respond to this as the other stared at him intently, waiting to see what his reply would be. He didn''t say anything and Romeo didn''t reply in his defense either. The princess''s moods and words seemed to weigh heavily on his as well based upon the expression that was on his face.
The princess scoffed at hisck of response.
"Sammy-boy, there''s still a lot of things in this lifestyle that you can''t possibly grasp yet as you haven''t been around long enough. My protection is important but only at a small scalepared to ensuring that my father is okay the current moment in time." She stood up as she continued to speak.
"I will not do anything that will purposely risk my life or the lives of those around me, but the most important thing right now is ensuring my father and brother''s safety and preventing things from falling into chaos before word gets around that anything has happened."
"I understand where you''reing from princess, but I can''t allow you to do that." Romeo spoke up this time as he stepped in front of the door again. His expression was a rather grim one he spoke.
"I know that I am in the service of both you as well as your father. However, his authority at this point in time trumps your own." He told the other who shot him a hard look.
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Out of everyone in the room, she thought that he would be the one who would be most willing to let her leave the estate to go find out what happened to the rest of her family. It seemed that she had been wrong about this.
"I mean princess that your father has left me very strict instructions as to what should go on in the case that anything were to ever happen to him. My instructions have and still are to ensure the safety of you and your brother." The bodyguard exined.
"While I cannot protect your brother as he is with the boss. I can make sure that you stay safe at this point and don''t do anything reckless that would put you in harm''s way."
"Romeo, you more than anyone else should understand how important this is right now. You can''t be serious in saying that you expect me to stay here and do nothing." The princess was starting to get exasperated at this point.
"Unless I get new orders from your father, you can''t be allowed to leave here until everything is secured including his safety and there is no longer any risk for you to leave." The other replied causing the princess to sigh.
It was one thing when it was Samuel who was arguing with her about this, but another thing for Romeo to be so set on this matter. The orders came directly from her father who she knew held a high level of priority to the bodyguard.
After all, Romeo and Clive were two of the men that had been working with her father the longest. In terms of care, respect, and adoration for Zane, they had perhaps the most of all of those and more than that for their bosspared to anyone else.
Chapter 264 Loyalty Runs Deep
Read A/N at bottom
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If Lena had known that Romeo was going to be so stubborn about her not going anywhere, she would have approached the situation quite differently. For one, she would have assigned something to do elsewhere.
She knew how he felt, but it wasn''t to make the princess want to stay where she @was and do nothing.
"I understand exactly how you feel, but you should know that isn''t enough for me to not do what I need to do." The princess told the other.
She wasn''t one to pick a fight with any of the men who worked for her family, but this was the situation she would do it in if she needed to.
? "I understand thatpletely, Princess and I hope you know equally that that''s exactly why I can''t allow for you to leave here."
Lena let out a mixture of a huff and sigh in response to what the other said. There was no way that he would listen to her so long as he had Zane''s orders to follow.
"I think it would be best if you both just took a step back for the time being and didn''t try to do anything until we know exactly what is going on?" Samuel suggested again.
It was about the best that he could do in the current situation without fully knowing what was going on.
"Princess, you know that I''m not going to move from this door any time soon so long as we don''t know what''s going on. I think it would be best if you waited elsewhere for an update." Romeo told the princess firmly who scoffed at him.
"I know that you think that and you''re going to try and keep telling me that so long as things remain the way they are. That isn''t likely to stop me much however from what I want to do. If anything, I think it would be better if you moved away from the door." Lena cautioned despite knowing that the other was highly unlikely to take her suggestion and move from his current position.
Samuel could sense the change in energy from the standoff that was going on between the other two. He could by the direction that things were going that there would be a fight soon if he didn''t figure out what to do.
Jovani had told him that it would be to him to figure out exactly how to deal with the situation. What exactly was he supposed to do though? That was something he was going to have to figure.
"I know how hard it is for you right now, hut that''s exactly why you need to stay here. If there''s any reason that we might need another leader, you would be the person to fill that role." That was thest thing that the princess was ready to do however.
She would be taking over for her father, just not for another few years until she got more aplished sms pieces she wanted taken care if.
"Romeo, I''m not going to reason with you over this matter again. I need you to move before matters be even more serious than they already are." She warned as she took a step towards the door even though the guard didn''t budge an inch.
"If you''re going to insist upon this princess, wouldn''t it be better to deal with this situation somece away from here so as to avoid ruining anything." Romeo suggested.
He knew mentally exactly where the princess was. He had grown up with her which made it all the easier for him to read her when she was in this kind of mood.
"Where would you suggest then?" She knew exactly what the other was trying to do but for the time belong, she was fine with doing what he thought would be best. It was something that she could work with.
"The room opposite to the sun room. I believe that it is still fairly empty at this point in time. it might work best since going outside isn''t much of an option."
The princess was about to agree to this until Samuel stepped into the situation and handled things in a different manner.
He could only imagine how upset the princess was going to be with him, but it was all he could think to do at the current moment in time.
Before they could finalize the situation, Samuel grabbed Lena''s arm and spun her around to face him. She unexpected action caught her off guard to the point that she almostshed out at the other until she realized who it was.
The didn''t get a chance to say anything before the other leaned forward and kissed her rather roughly. Lena again wasn''t expecting this.
This made it all the easier for Samuel to take over the kiss and begin to explore the other''s mouth as he pulled her closer against himself
He hoped that it would be enough to distract the other from what she had been wanting to do.
Lena didn''t respond to his kiss like she normally would have, but she didn''t pull away from him either. She was rather stunned on what to do since other people were watching what was taking ce.
She did end up breaking the kiss when she needed air. Samuel didn''t let her go however as he kept his arms wrapped tightly around her.
He even kissed her a second time to stop her before she had a chance to get upset at him over what he did.
The second time they kissed, Lena did respond to it but it was rougher than what her fiance was expecting from her.
Even if he wasn''t thrilled about doing it around so many people, it seemed that it was his best bet to distract the other from what she wanted to do.
Samuel could tell how deep loyalty ran in Lena''s family which was exactly why he wanted to do what he could to break things up before a fight ended up happening before the princess and Romeo.
He didn''t want something to happen that they would regretter.
Chapter 265 Unexpected
Read A/N at bottom
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No one but Samuel was expecting what happened next after he kissed Lena.
"What did you do?" The princess asked. She suddenly felt far more tired and heavy than she knew that she should have. The re she tried to level her fianc¨¦ with fell t as well. It felt hard to make her facial expression the way that she wanted it to.
"Don''t worry, you will feel much better." Samuel replied as he kissed the other on the head without letting her go. Romeo seemed confused and surprised by what was going on based upon the expression but chose to remain silent as he watched the situation.
"Don''t get too upset with me the next time we talk." He joked with the princess who huffed at him. It was bing far too hard for her to keep her eyes open.
"You know that you''re going to be in serious trouble with me the next time I wake up." She warned. Her voice was hardly a whisper at this point, but she didn''t miss the smirk that passed across Samuel''s face when she said.
She almost thought before she passed out that he said something along the lines of her remembering it. Did he forget how good her memory was?
Romeo maintained his silence for a moment longer until he was certain that the princess was no longer conscious before he spoke.
"What in the world do you think that you''re doing?" He asked as he watched Samuel carefully lift Lena up so that he could move her somewhere else.
"Do you want to help me so that we can talk while I am doing this?" The other asked the body guard. He wanted to at least move the princess to her bedroom where he knew that she would be far morefortable. Romeo didn''t say anything as he followed after the other.
"It''s nothing that you need to worry about. It is just a little sleeping pill that I managed to get from Ryan. I didn''t know what else to do to stop her from doing what she wanted but thought that this might be the best option." Samuel exined as he carefully carried her up the stairs with the other close behind him.
"How did you manage to get him to give you something like that." The otherughed in response to his question.
"I assured him that it would be far better than letting things go further than they already were. And I might have threatened that if he didn''t, the kitchen wouldn''t remain in the clean state that he wanted it to."
Samuel knew that the chef valued his rather clean kitchen more than he did a lot of other things. It wasn''t like Lena would find out or know for a fact that he was the one who gave the other the sleeping medicine in the first ce. He could have just found it on his own.
"I can''t argue that this makes things much easier to deal with. I''m not sure this is the right approach to handle things however. I think that the princess will be very displeased when she wakes up."
"Isn''t that something we both know? Maybe we can be gone by the time she wakes up so there isn''t anything to worry about." Samuel joked as the other opened the princess''s bedroom door for him.
"Don''t worry though. I think that everything will be fine so long as everything is dealt with by the time that she wakes up next. If everything can be back to normal after that." He reasoned as he carefully set Lena down on the bed. It was a bit of a trial to make sure that she could be cedfortably in the bed, but he managed to do it.
He couldn''t get over the fact that she really was as light as he looked. Samuel wasn''t even sure if she weighed more than a feather with how easy it was for him to carry her and not even feel it. He would need to make sure moving forward that she took better care of herself and ate more.
"Now we just need to find out what''s going on without having to worry about this piece. She should be asleep for a few hours." Samuel announced as he turned to leave the room as Romeo watched him silently.
"I think that I will be better off touching base with Alonso in order to find out what he knows. If Jovani hasn''t said anything that likely has to do with the fact that he''s busy with something. I need to see if Hester can pinpoint where he is if Alonso doesn''t know."
"What do you expect me to do then?" Romeo asked as they ascended the stairs, the other nced back at him.
"I want you to find out who else is in the area and might be able to provide support if something major is still going on." He told the other. He paused briefly when he reached the bottom of the stairs.
"And you don''t have to worry. I am not nning on walking out of this ce now that Lena is taken care of. I know that the same applies to me as it does for her." He assured the other guard.
"I appreciate knowing that. Though I have no direct orders to watch out for you, I would imagine that neither side would be too pleased if anything happened to you either." Even if he felt no obligation to watch out for the other, he would make sure to do it if only to avoid any kind of war from breaking out between the two families.
"I appreciate that. You can go about what you need to without worry. I have my phone on should you need anything." Samuel told the other with a smile.
If no one else could, Samuel at least was able to rx more now that Lena was not a concern. He could focus on what he needed to without other things hanging over his head.
He didn''t know if Jovani would approve of what he did, but it was the best he could manage in the current position.
The one unexpected thing he could do that he knew the princess wouldn''t have ever have expected from him.
Now, he would just have to hope that she couldn''t fully remember what happened when she woke up or that she wouldn''t try to kill him if he did.
Chapter 266 Safe
Jovani swallowed thickly as he waited for the person behind him to make the first move. It had been quite a while since thest time he had felt a gun pressed against his head.
He had honestly hoped that he would have been able to get away with going a few more years before he would have to deal with it again. Life didn''t always work out the way people hoped it would. He had been taking note of a lot of that with the way everything had been ying out in the past few months.
Small beads of sweat were starting to roll down his forehead due to a mixture of the heat and stress over the current situation he was in. He could tell by the way that the other was breathing that he was somewhat out of breath and potentially having a hard time catching it as well which meant he wasn''tpletely unaffected by the current situation either.
"You do realize that I don''t have anything else on me except for what is in my hand." He told the other person behind him as he felt them begin to rummage through his pockets and pat him down after the second gun at his lower back had retreated.
He made sure to keep his voice calm and level as he spoke in order to not trigger the other.
"Oh? Considering your personality, I would imagine that you would be one to keep something hidden on you that you wouldn''t want to give away until thest minute." The other remarked as he continued to check Jovani''s jacket and pants pocket.
The way that Jovani was standing was rather ufortable but he chose not to move in order to maintain his safety as he waited somewhat impatiently for the other to be finished with what he was doing.
"Is there anywhere else that you might be hiding something?" He was then asked after the other had finished searching all his pockets and not finding anything.
"I have a secret hidden pocket in a ce that you would never suspect." He deadpanned.
Sarcasm turned out to be the wrong choice as the other smacked him the back of the head with the butt of the gun in not so gentle manner. He took in a sharp breath as his head throbbed in response to the action.
"d to see that even after all this time you don''t pull your punches. Though I imagine if you had by now that you would have already been dead." He remarked.
"Are you going to answer my question seriously this time or am I going to have to use other means to get you to speak clearly?" The person behind him demanded. Jovani sighed in response to this question.
"I did answer you honestly once already but it seems that you chose not to believe me. The only thing that I have on me is what I have here in my hand." He repeated.
"Would it make you feel better if I dropped so I don''t even have something in my hand even though you can see it clearly?" He then rified.
He wouldn''t mind doing it if it would get the other to remove the gun from the back of his head. The feeling of metal was really starting to get on his nerve. It was cold and felt weird against the back of his head.
"Drop it and then maybe I will consider allowing you to move freely." The other replied in a cold tone of voice.
Jovani rolled his eyes slightly before he dropped the gun on the ground. It made a muted ''thud'' sound as it hit the grass. The person behind him didn''t hesitate to kick it away in order to make sure that Jovani wasn''t going to be able to get his hands on it again.
"Happy now? Can I finally turn around and move freely or is there anything else that you might need to check?" The Vedova Nera boss asked as he waited to hear what the other''s reply was going to be.
He didn''t even understand why he was in the current position in the first ce since the whole reason he hade there was to help out and make sure that everyone was okay.
He had thought that everything would go smoothly but instead found him in the current unexpected position. He really needed to stop underestimating people so much.
"I suppose that if you do it slowly, I won''t mind you turning around." The other conceded as he moved the gun away from Jovani''s head.
He didn''t say anything as he turned around to face the other man who was standing behind. The mo0ment that he set his eyes on him, a deep frown settled on Jovani''s face.
"Well, I can''t deny that you look far more shitty than I had expected you to. Do I even try to take a guess at what happened?"
"I believe the state of the car and the bodiesying here should give you more than enough of an idea of what exactly happened." The other replied as he holstered the gun.
"Zane. Really. Aftering this far to help you, you decide that you''re just going to take my gun like that and not give it back to me?" Jovani asked in a rather wounded tone of voice.
The cold look that he received from the other man told him that right now wasn''t the time for him to be doing all of his joking.
"Is there something more serious going on than what I am seeing in front of me?" Jovani asked.
Zane certainly didn''t look to be in good shape from what he could see. The bleeding from his head had stopped by this point but the injury still looked rather nasty. His one was swollen partly shut as well from other injuries he had received fighting off the two men who hade looking for him.
"I''m not the one who needs to being worried about right now. The other two are still stuck in the car and we need to be able to get them out. I highly doubt that either one of them has woken up yet and I''m not sure the state of Clive." Zane replied as he turned back to face the car.
"Allow me to do it then. Why don''t you take my phone here and call Samuel or Lena to let them know everything is okay." Jovani offered the other man his phone.
He however didn''t get as far as handing the phone off to the other when he noticed the other mafia boss had started to lose consciousness.
Jovani barely managed to catch the other but not without wincing under his unexpected weight.
Not the one who he needed to be worried about? Considering the current circumstance, it seemed like Zane was in the same boat as everyone else.
Chapter 267 Dont Try That
"Not the one you need to be worrying about my ass." Jovani grumbled as he became aware of the dampness that was spreading on his hands from where he''d caught the other.
The idiot had been shot and he hadn''t bothered to be say anything. Exactly the kind of thing that he didn''t want to be dealing with at the current moment in time.
Though, he probably should have been more fair to Zane seeing as they didn''t have the change to exchange too many words before the other passed out.
Jovani had to figure out rather quickly if it was loss consciousness due to blood loss or if something else was going.
Licking his bottom lip, he managed to carefully move Zane into a prone position on the grass. He needed him to beying t before he could start looking him over.
He grimaced at the scent of blood that assaulted his nose as soon as he opened the other''s suit jacket. He would likely never get used to the metallic rusty smell.
Jovani worked quickly as he opened up the dress shirt the other had on underneath. He needed to ascertain where the bullet had hit in order to no how serious it was and there was too much blood on the dark blue dress shirt for him to be able to tell.
He jolted slightly just after he managed to find the bullet spot below the other''s ribcage on the right side when his phone started vibrating in his pocket.
"This better be something good." He answered without looking to see who was calling.
Zane was bleeding fairly badly but it didn''t look to be fatal despite the other''s paleplexion and the sweat that was forming on his forehead.
"Is everything okay, sir?" It was Alonso calling. For once he wasn''t upset at his right-hand man for over worrying.
"Do you need me to answer that question or do you have some good news as to how far anyone is from the location I sent you?" Jovani asked as he stood up so he could start taking off his own suit jacket. He needed something to temporarily staunch the blood and he didn''t bring a first aid kit with him.
"There should be someone enroot to you within the next few minutes. What are you looking at?" Alonso replied.
"One minute. Bloody Christ, I need to put you on speaker phone." Jovani replied as shifted the phone to speaker so that he could ce it down next to him. He needed the use of both his hands for what he was dealing with.
"The Red Scorpion Boss is down. Shot not in a fatal location but he''s lost a fair amount of blood that I am trying to deal with right now. Don''t know about the status of the driver of Leo. Seems that both of them are unconscious as of right now." He exined best he could as worked out folding and bunching the shirt in a way that would help slow the flow of blood and allow him to put the right amount of pressure on it.
"There are also two other guys here. The ones I am assuming were supposed to being back to finish the job. Seems though that the job ended up finishing them." He was too focused on what was going on in front of him to really pay attention to the two unfamiliar deceased men that Zane had obviously killed.
It didn''t take much to figure out which one of the two was responsible for killing the mafia. He got a bullet in the head in return for shooting the other.
"Can you put me on a calling with Romeo as well? I want you to make sure first though that Lena isn''t around. Thest thing we need right now is to worry about her on top of everything." Jovani requested of Alonso.
He did the best he could for the time being to make sure that the other wouldn''t potentially bleed out before someone got there to help him. Knowing Alonso, he was fairly certain that the other would have already made the call to have a private ambnce arrive at their location.
"He says that it is safe to call." The other informed Jovani after he was standing back up again. He leaned down to pick up the phone to take it with him. Now that Zane was taken care of, he needed to shift his attention to the other two and how best to get them out of the car.
"Romeo. I know that we haven''t had a chance to work that closely together yet, but I am going to be needing to ask a lot from you right now. Preferable things that will be kept from Lena for the time being. Hopefully, Samuel is there as well and will be able to help out with that?"
"He''s already done quite a bit to make sure that nothing happens with the princess until we fully understand what is going on. I assume that your call means that you have some type of update?" Romeo asked.
Jovani was quiet for a moment as he nced between the car and the man who was lying on the ground.
"An update indeed. Probably not the kind of one that you were hoping for. Honestly going to be needing a bit of help in dealing with it. Backend security if you could."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Samuel was the one who asked this question over the phone instead of Romeo.
"Something that I would rather you not worry about right now. I don''t have the time to exin. The only thing that you both need to know at the current moment is that everyone is still alive. I need extra hands though if we want to keep it that way." Jovani replied.
He knew that he couldn''t spare his cousin from the basics though he didn''t want to go into too much detail as this wasn''t something that he knew the other was yet used to dealing with.
"I don''t have a lot of time to talk and my phone is almost dead as well. I just need to make sure that someone is going to being here rather quickly and everything that I am requesting is going to be covered." Jovani could tell without even doing anything that it was going to be a major pain to extract the other two from the tipped-over car.
Comining about it wasn''t going to do him any good though. He knew that Alonso would likely yell at him over it and tell him it was something he should be doing. Even if the other had been right, it wasn''t like Jovani had a choice about the matter. Someone had to do it before things got worse and he just happened to be the one to draw the shortest straw at the current moment.
A straw that was going to be responsible for the safety or loss of life around him depending on how he approached the situation.
Which was the only real reason that he ended the call after making sure that Alonso and Romeo both knew what was expected of them. He needed to focus all of his attention on the task that was in front of him.
Chapter 268 Running Out Of Time
Alonso hadn''t lied when he told Jovani that there were men heading in his direction. He just didn''t know how quickly they would get there. He just that he personally wouldn''t be there in enough time.
He called in a favor of a hospital that was close to the area. He would have to pay a pretty penny to get them to not say anything about the scene that they would be stepping into, but it was the best that he could do to get them on to the scene as quickly as possible.
Bribes existed exactly for this kind of problem. They were also one of the few situations in which Alonso would approve of them on his own outside of what Jovani directed.
Right now though, he needed to be the person who was in charge since the other man was busy with other important matters and couldn''t be there to make the calls.
"Romeo, can you tell me how things are on that end? I take it that that wasn''t the first time that you have been talking with Jovani?" The man asked as he left his office so that he could go find someone else to do him a favor while he was waiting.
"No, he called us earlier to exin what was going on and to warn us about how to deal with the princess. Samuel is here still taking care of her as we wait to find out what exactly is going on.
"Good. It is probably best for the current moment in time if you ensure that neither of them leaves there until we have everyone at the hospital and properly taken care of."
"I need you to send more men to this location. Don''t ask any questions, just do what I am telling you." He thrust his paper at the group of men who had been upying the main living space while waiting to hear what their next orders were going to be.
"Make it quick as well. We don''t have the time to be messing about." He told them firmly before turning to walk away. Alonso might not have had the same amount of authority that Jovani had but he knew that the men would listen to him what he was asking involved their boss.
"I don''t think that the princess will be one that we have to worry about. She''s sleeping right now. I can''t say about Samuel though." Romeo exined.
"Just do what you can for the time being. I don''t think that Jovani would want him to be leaving there right now either with everything going on. We have to make sure that everything else is secure and there were no other nned attacks for today."
"I understand. I can''t make any promises though as he''s not quite as easy to deal with as Zane''s daughter is." Romeo warned.
His point was proven when he heard the other suddenly talking behind him.
"You know Romeo that I am not going to simply be able to sit here waiting to know what''s going on whenck of information is exactly what''s going to make Lena worry when she makes up.
The guard hadn''t realized that the other had entered the room again when he had his back turned towards the door. The younger man was getting better at moving in a more stealthy manner.
"Speaking of the devil. I need to end the call to deal with this." Romeo told the other before dropping the call after Alonso replied.
"I know that both you and the princess feel the same way about this, but we still don''t know everything yet. You''re better off staying here and making sure you don''t get into trouble''s way." Romeo argued as the other crossed his arms.
"You''re not going to give me the same option that you gave to Lena and be willing to fight me to decide this matter?" The guard sighed in response to the other''s question.
"No offense but you don''t quite have the same level of skills that the princess had to keep up with me. I wouldn''t want to hurt you."
"I don''t think that it something you can dismiss quickly without being able to tell for yourself." The other challenged causing Romeo to sigh. Putting his phone away, he walked over to the other and ced a hand on his shoulder.
"Trust me. I don''t want to get in trouble with the princess for hurting the other stable person that she had to rely on for the time being. It''s better for both of us if you wait for things to work themselves out and stay with the princess for the time being." He told Samuel who didn''t seem thrilled to hear this.
"If you want to try and fight with me some other time, that''s fine but right now I need you to do this while I focus on a few other things." He firmly pushed the other back in the direction of the stairs.
"Just go stay with her for the time being otherwise I will be forced to lock both of you in that room for your safety." It was done in a gentle manner but with a rather sharp edge to it.
He didn''t really want to push the other out, but it wasn''t like there was much Samuel could do with hisck of training. Jovani was already on location and others would be joining him shortly.
Even if he did let Samuel go, he would be better heading to the hospital as that was where everyone else would be by the time he made it to the original location.
"You can direct everything here as much as you want until we know what''s going on and then we can head to the hospital. Other than that though, you''re not going anywhere." Romeo told the other.
"We don''t have a lot of time right now to deal with all of this so I just need you to listen to me."
Samuel wanted to argue with the other again but knew that it would be practically pointless based upon the expression on his face.
He didn''t like the idea of not doing anything to help Lena feel better when she woke up, but he partly understand the fact that it was because the deficit of what he might try to do would outweigh the benefits of doing what he wanted to.
He would wait then if that was all he could do. He didn''t mind staying with the princess while she slept, but he also thought that there might be something else he could do to help her feel better whenever she woke up next. Hopefully to better news than what they were currently dealing with.
Chapter 269 Sirens
Zane was only vaguely aware of all the noises that he was hearing. His consciousness was fading in and out but the one sound he was certain that was sticking out in his mind was that of a siren. Was it nearby or far away? He couldn''t tell that much around the throbbing headache that was he was aware of.
It was probably the headache that was drowning out everything that was going on around him. The mafia boss couldn''t find anything to hold onto around the head pain and the ring siren to ground himself to consciousness. Despite how much he wanted to do it, the thick coat of exhaustion and something else was pushing away his ability to regain consciousness and open his eyes.
Zane was fairly certain that he heard something that sounded like voices around him as well. Whether it was one or more was hard to tell as well. He just knew that they were annoying and muted because they obviously must have been talking but he had no idea what was being said.
The second thing that that mafia boss was fairly well aware of was the fact that his body felt strangely cold and light. In a way that he knew that it shouldn''t have. A feeling that he couldn''t remember feeling in years.
It wasn''t the kind of cold one felt when a refreshing breeze washed over their body or when they got a chance to soak in a pool or the ocean on a warm summer day that allowed them to cool off.
This was more of an icy cold feeling. One that struck a person to the core and that they knew they wouldn''t be able to easily shake no matter what they did. The kind that one knew meant something was wrong, they just didn''t know what it was.
Zane would have probably been able to figure it out if everything wasn''t so hard for him to focus on. If he could get around the strange fog holding him back and the noises going on around him, he''d probably be able to remember what was going on that caused him to feel the way he currently did.
It was annoying for him though as he wasn''t even able to move his hands freely to see what was wrong with this body. Even if he couldn''t see it, he was certain that touching it would be a different way to find out what exactly was going on.
His body refused toply with what he wanted it to and with each passing second? Minute? he wasn''t sure which but either way it was getting harder for him to hold on to his consciousness.
The dark felt far more inviting to him which lead him to decide that at least for the next few minutes, he was going to let it engulf him until he could figure out what exactly was wrong and how to fix it. There was no sense in fighting the darkness when his body already felt so heavy.
"You know that it took you guys damn fucking long enough. We don''t have all day to wait here with the state that these guys are in." Jovani swore at the ambnce driver and the men who came out to assist in picking up those who were injured.
The Vedova Nera boss was just about out of energy by the time that they had arrived as he barely managed to get the other two out of the car and check me over to make sure that there wasn''t anything fatally wrong with them.
There wasn''t much he could do to tell for certain, but they were both breathing still which he took to be a good sign.
"I apologize for the dy. We would have been here sooner if it wasn''t for the traffic blocking the road. We presumed that it had something to with the reason we were called here but it made it hard to get around the road nheless. Jovani rolled his eyes in response to this.
"Obviously not. They aren''t part of my men or thoseying here. If they are blocking the road, it is likely not for any good reason and we need to get them taken care of sooner rather thanter." The only problem with this was the fact that he didn''t really have enough people to spare to help take care of that.
"Stop worrying about those things for the time being and just get to taking care of these guys. Start with him first as he''s the one who needs the most care." He indicated to Zane as he said this.
Jovani had done the best that he could to take care of the other but it was obvious even to him that the mafia boss wasn''t in the best shape. Thest thing that he needed at the current moment in time was for the other man to end up dying on him after he had assured Samuel and Lena he would make sure that he was safely taken care of.
Not that it was his fault for the way that everything had turned out, it still wasn''t something that he wanted to have hanging over his head.
"He''s likely going to need a blood transfusion considering the state that he''s currently in. Are you aware of his blood type?" Jovani felt his eye twitch in response to this question.
"That isn''t something I am aware of. His family would be able to tell you. He gave the medical tech the phone number to call Romeo as he didn''t want to have to get distracted by such things as he was watching over everything else.
"Do you know what is wrong with the other two? Are they in any state to be moving on their own?" One of the medics asked as they went over to examine Leo and Clive.
"I highly doubt it with how long they have been passed out for now. They didn''t wake up when I went to move them." Jovani replied as he watched over what the men were doing carefully.
Even though they seemed like perfectly legitimate medical workers, with everything that had been going on he wasn''t so quick to let his guard down.
The question honestly sounded odd to him as to why they would be asking him if they could move since it should have been obvious that with them still being unconscious they weren''t going to be able to go anywhere any time soon.
Jovani knew though that he would be feeling better soon since Alonso was on his way to his location. Some of his other men had already shown up but having his right-hand man there meant that he would be able to rx to a certain degree as the other would be able to better instruct everyone in what they needed to be doing.
Right now Jovani was just there to do damage control and ensure that nothing else negative happened.
Once everyone was at the hospital, everything would be in a much better light than it currently was.
Or at least that was what Jovani was hoping. He was ready to get out of the area and go some ce that was safer. Not only because hated these types of situations but also due to the fact that the sound of the sirens were getting on his nerve.
Chapter 270 Ambulance
Jovani had originally thought about going to the hospital in his car, following behind the ambnces. Something told him though that there might be a better reason to ride in the ambnce instead.
"Gregory, I need you to take my car back for me. Roger, want you and Will to ride in that ambnce. I am going to take this." He ordered as he watched the EMTs continue working on the three patients.
Zane was certainly in the worst shape of the three. It probably would have been Clive if it wasn''t for the fact that the mafia boss had been shot.
Leo didn''t seem to be that bad. Jovani wasn''t quite sure why the younger man wasn''t waking up since he didn''t seem to be banged up. That was something for the doctors to figure out though.
The medical staff shot him some odd looks after he dered he and some of his men would be riding with them. They didn''t make any objections, however. Most likely due to the frown that was stered on Jovani''s face. He wasn''t in the kind of mood to deal with anyone who wanted to argue against what he wanted to do.
He was stressed out, hot, covered in blood, and sore among other things from what had happened in the past few hours.
His ns for the day had taken an unexpected turn in the kind of way he hated and there was little he could do on his own to help correct it.
He had to update Alonso, Romeo, and likely Samuel as well.
His cousin had been a little too quiet for his liking which made him worry that the younger man was up to something that he wasn''t going to approve of.
Romeo was likely capable of handling him since he dealt with Lena so well. It still didn''t help his stress level at all to think about that. He didn''t want his cousin to get wrapped up in anything until they were safely at the hospital where they could safely talk about everything that was going on.
"Are you sure you''re going to be okay riding with us? It is going to be a little cramped." One of the older staff was the one who came over and ask Jovani the question.
The irate look on his face must have said a lot to the other before he opened his mouth to reply as he took a step back when Jovani turned to look at him.
"I am aware of that and don''t care. I still intend to ride with you regardless of that." He replied coldly.
"If there is some reason why you think that I or my men shouldn''t, I believe now would be the time to speak." He ordered the man in the white outfit who took another step back.
"No sir. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of how crowded it would be in case you wished to change ns." Jovani just tsked at the other.
"I don''t care aboutck of space. I just want to ensure that everyone makes it safely to the hospital and that there is no other issues that I need to worry about on the way." He replied.
"Now stop wasting time. We need to get going now." he ordered. He knew that it took a while to get everyone situated but with how serious the situation was, it felt like it was taking far too long for Jovani''s liking.
Everyone had been given initial IVs and medicine where needed. It hardly helped him to feel any better though. Something was still wrong and missing, he just couldn''t put his finger on what it was yet.
He hoped that maybe getting in touch with Alonso on the ride would help him figure out what the missing piece was.
He had thought the bodies of the two deceased men would give him some kind of clue as well. He didn''t recognize either one of them though he knew the tattoo that they wore on their wrist.
Different from the one that they had seen on Ashton but along the same lines as what he wore. Perhaps a mock one that was supposed to throw them off as to why there.
That was something though that they would have to look into at ater point in time. Right now, he just needed to make sure that everyone in front of him was okay.
Once they had gotten everything together in the ambnce and three patients packed up, they let Jovani and his men get inside.
? Though it wasn''t normal protocol, they even let them keep their phones on so that they could stay in contact on the ride to the hospital. It wasn''t like any of them would have listened if they were told it was disallowed anyways. This wasn''t the typical kind of emergency that they were used to dealing with.
They had hardly taken off before Alonso was calling Jovani just as he was texting Romeo to let him know that they were on the way to the hospital, he even gave the other directions.
"What is it?" He made sure to lower the volume so as to not bother the others too much and also to decrease the chance that they would hear what was being said. He didn''t need too much information about what was going on getting out until he had the full picture.
"Are you already on the way to the hospital?" Alonso asked, his tone sounded a little strained and differentpared to before.
"Yes." Jovani replied simply, ncing behind him at Zane to make sure that everything looked okay still.
"Well, I think we may have made a little miscalction about the way things are going. You might need to make a u-turn." the other exined causing Jovani to furrow his brows. He didn''t quite understand what his man was saying.
"I don''t think that there is anywhere here to do that." He replied. The road only went one way, what was Alonso talking about.
"Remember, you always told me that there is a way to take a u-turn even the road only goes one way. You just gotta make it yourself when the situation calls for it." Jovani sighed as he listened to his friend. He kind of understood what the other was saying, but it wasn''t the kind of thing that he wanted to hear right now.
"Really, aren''t you going to be here soon enough to do something about this? Do you know what kind of state I am in right now?"
The moment he finished speaking though, he realized exactly what he had said wrong to the other before Alonso even replied to him.
Chapter 271 Time Of My Life Or.... NOT
Jovani sighed after the phone call had ended. He had hoped that he had been speaking low enough that no one else in the ambnce would have been able to hear what he said. If they did, that would just make things even moreplicated for him.
He understood what Alonso was saying to him and he knew what he had to do since he was the person who was there. That didn''t exactly mean that he wanted to do it thought.
He ran a hand through his hair with a light sigh which caught the attention of one of the men in the ambnce with him. Was it abnormal for him to be stressed out considering the current circumstances? He stared back at the other who eventually averted his gaze back to the patient.
At least Zane was still alive at the current moment in time. He needed it to stay that way for a while longer until they got to the hospital where he could be properly taken care of.
"Do you have any water that I can borrow?" He asked without moving from his current position. The man gave him an odd look before pointing to a cooler.
"There should still be some drinks in there." The medic replied.
Jovani just stared at him again when he said this.
"I was hoping that maybe you would be willing to get it for me so that I don''t identally mess anything up?" He suggested. It was located rather close to where everything was hooked up and he didn''t want to be the reason why anything bad happened.
"Can you do it for him since you''re closer?" The medic asked the other man who was standing almost next to the cooler.
"No, I am asking you to be the one who does it." Jovani repeated firmly. The other looked annoyed by what he was asking.
"Why? I thought that you didn''t want anything to be messed up. Having him get it makes the most sense to avoid that happening."
"Yes it does. Except for in the case when I''m making the wrong bet and he''s the wrong to ask." The Vedova Nera boss replied.
He shifted his shirt so that he could brush his hand over the gun that was holstered in his pants.
"Now, are you going to do what I ask or are we going to have a problem here." A tense silence fell over them as the medic struggled with the request that he had been given.
He didn''t understand why the other couldn''t be the person to do it since he was sitting there next to the cooler. Why did he have to go to the extra trouble?
"Fine." He sighed as he stood up carefully from the seat and began to move over to the cooler.
"Is there something particr you would like?" He asked shortly. Jovani took a second before he replied.
"Water is fine if it is the only thing avable, but I will take anything that''s red as well." He replied as he kept his eyes on the other man who was sitting in front of the cooler.
He seemed like a rather calm andposed person despite looking young. Perhaps a little too calm for someone in his position.
"Is this good?" He asked as he pulled out a red Gatorade from the cooler. Jovani nodded his head in approval.
"That will do for now. Thanks." He replied as he reached his hand out so that he could take it from the other once he was close enough.
He made sure to not remove his hand from the gun even after he had taken the drink.
He was very thankful to finally have something to aid his parched throat. He had gone too long without being able to drink anything and he could really feel it after all the stress he had been under.
"Now do me a favor and get down." He ordered as he capped the now empty bottle.
"What?" The medic asked confused just as he was getting ready to sit back down.
He didn''t have a chance to repeat himself as a shot echoed out in the ambnce.
This was exactly the kind of thing that Jovani had been trying to avoid.
Alonso wasn''t sure if his boss had meant to put the phone away without ending the call or if it was an ident. Whatever the case, it allowed him to be able to hear everything that was going on.
Without seeing, it didn''t exactly sound like things were going well. He swore under his breath as he checked the nav. He was still a few minutes out from being able to reach where the ambnce was.
He didn''t have that kind of time to be taking however which meant that he was going to have to find his own shortcut to get there quicker.
Why did he have to get paired with such a stubborn human who had a bad habit of just doing off the cuff and doing things on his own rather than waiting for other people to get there for him?
He was going to be certain to give Jovani a severe scolding once everything was said and done. That was so long as the other managed to survive whatever was going on.
The gunshot he heard told him that there was something a little more serious going on than what he had been expecting.
Firing a gun in such a tightly enclosed space was not something that Jovani would choose to do on ident or purpose. There were too many risks involved with that that the other man didn''t like taking.
Not wanting to end the call, he pulled out his second work phone so that he could call for some back up. This all was going to take a lot more people involved than he had expected it to.
He had originally thought that they would have all been able to meet up at the hospital. It seemed though that unexpected things kept happening that were causing a change of ns that he needed to adapt to.
"Romeo, sorry to bother you again, but it seems like once again things are changing. We''re all good right now, but we need a few extra hands here to help out." He had expected the other to reply right away, but there was silence on the other end of the phone that was unusual for the other.
"Where exactly is here?" Alonso''s brow furrowed at the unexpected voice on the other end of the phone.
"Samuel, what are you doing with this phone?" He asked.
"I didn''t think that you were supposed to be part of these things." He heard a soft chuckle on the other end of the phone in response to this question.
"Technically I am not, but Romeo left a little while ago to go take care of some things and left this phone behind." The other exined.
"What other things?" Alonso demanded. He knew that he hadn''t given the other man any orders about what he needed to do or what to expect next. That was the whole reason that he was currently calling.
"Something to do with the hospital and making sure that everything was properly secured there. He didn''t tell me exactly what was going on. I just heard bits and pieces." Samuel replied.
How much more inconvenient could things get?
"I see. Well, do you know if there is anything way to get in touch with him directly?" Alonso asked. He really didn''t have the extra time to be wasting on such things.
"If you know anyone else there around the hospital or inside, they can probably connect you with him." He suggested.
Samuel probably wouldn''t have known this, but there had to be an extra phone involved somewhere. There almost always was.
"Thank you. What are you doing though? I hope you''re not trying to get yourself involved in anything you shouldn''t be. You know that Jovani wouldn''t be thrilled about that." There was another pause on the other end of the phone after he had said this.
"That isn''t something you need to worry about right now. I am not currently going anywhere or do anything. Just keeping an eye on the princess until she wakes up." he replied.
Ah, that would exin why the other was talking a lower tone of voice than normal.
"Good, I don''t want you to move from doing that until everything as been taken care of. I need to go now though as there are still other things to take care of." He didn''t want to be rude and hang up on the other so quickly but there really were other calls that he needed to make.
So much for this being the time of his life even though Jovani had promised him that things would be starting to get easier now. Life never seemed to want to get easier for him no matter how much time passed.
Chapter 272 She Can Be Peaceful
If Samuel had known where Romeo had gone off to, he would honestly have told his cousin. However, the man had not informed him of where he was going. He just vanished after making sure that Samuel was going to be staying with Lena in case she woke up soon.
He didn''t think though that princess would be waking up any time soon yet. The sleeping medicine that he had given her was rather strong. Perhaps even more so for the princess since it was something that she wasn''t used to taking on a regr basis.
Samuel couldn''t deny that his fianc¨¦ looked rather peaceful with the way that she wasying in her bed sleeping.
It was one of the few times that he got to enjoy the peaceful look that was on the other''s face. The only other time that he got the chance to see it was the few times that he had managed to catch her off guard when she didn''t think that he was paying attention to her.
The princess could really be such aplicated person when she wanted to be. Samuel knew that it wasn''t on purpose but that didn''t mean it wasn''t easier to deal with at times.
He sighed as hey down on the bed next to her. He really didn''t want to be stuck there doing anything with everything that was going on. At least though if he had to be stuck somewhere, it was with the princess.
Samuel had considered telling Julian about what was going on. Romeo had beenpletely against the idea however. Considering the other was off doing work elsewhere, he thought it would be a bad move since it wasn''t like Julian could do anything anyways with where he was.
"Every time it seems like things are going to be able to start calming down for us, something else just has to go on and happen doesn''t it?" Samuel murmured as he brushed a strand of hair out of the princess''s face.
He would have been able to enjoy their current position so much more if it wasn''t for everything else going.
Samuel gently twirled a strand of her hair between his fingers as he watched her chest rise and drop slowly.
There had still been so many things that he had been hoping to do with her on their time off that now they were going to have put off once again.
It wasn''t really either of their faults though. It rested on the heads of the assholes who were trying to do whatever the goal of the current situation was.
Samuel continued to y with the other''s hair as he thought everything over.
It seemed that a lot of strange things had been taking ce since he was taken in by Jovani. Not that they had had a great rtionship from the start, but finding out he was part of the mafia when it wasn''t anything he expected or even wanted to be part of his life yet he got it anyways.
It seemed that the shift in that bit of information was what caused problems to start happening. Someone was obviously bothered by the fact that someone new had joined the Vedova Nera family.
He had wanted to ask Jovani if it could have had something to do with the fact that whoever it was knew Samuel was going to be taking over eventually as the rightful heir.
The chance for him to ask that question hadn''te up yet either. Too many things had been going on that didn''t make space for that to be talked about.
He would have to make some special time with his cousin so that they could go over all of the other little things that his older cousin hadn''t told him about yet.
Samuel needed the whole picture so that he would know for certain everything that he should have been expecting.
He had been so distracted by his thoughts that he didn''t even hear Ryan knock on the door right away until after the other had already started to open it.
The chef was trying to do it as quietly as possible. It proved to be somewhat of a challenge though with the way that the door hinges creaked when they were opened too far.
"d to see that the two of you are still here where you should be. I might have actually gotten in trouble if you somehow managed to disappear when I wasn''t looking." Ryan teased as he left the door open as he came into the room with the food.
He knew that the princess wouldn''t likely be awake to enjoy the food but that didn''t stop him from making her something to eat as well.
"I don''t intend to be going anywhere yet. I need to stay here and keep an eye on her until we know what''s going on." Samuel replied as he watched the other set the food down on the nightstand.
"I''m d that for at least this little bit I was able to be of some service." Ryan replied as he handed Samuel a cup of coffee.
"It''s hard to tell when exactly she might wake up from that. It''s a bit stronger of a dose than I would normally give someone. But since it''s Lena we are talking about here, I knew that she would need it in order to rest properly."
Even though he really couldn''t show it all that well, the chef himself was rather worried about what was going on.
A concern that went beyond his fear for job security should anything happen to the red Scorpion family.
"I don''t think that it is that much of a problem. Knowing her, she probably needed it in order to be able to get some proper sleep for the first time in a while." Samuel remarked as he took a sip of his coffee.
It was just the right level of warmth to help him feel refreshed after everything that has been going on.
"Well don''t hesitate to ask me if there is anything else that you might need. I don''t have a lot to do right now until we know what exactly is going on." Ryan told Samuel as he watched Lena for a moment longer before turning his attention to the other.
"There''s no telling how things might go over the next few hours so I think it''s best if you stay like this with her just in case things don''t turn out the way that we hope for them to."
Hearing the way that Ryan was talking about the situation made Samuel worry for exactly how things might end up turning out.
He wanted to think that everything would turn out on a positive note, but even he couldn''t be certain of any of that.
Chapter 273 Not What One Would Expect
The slow and steady beeping sounded as though it was getting closer with each passing second. It was a noise that should not have been there yet sounded so real that it couldn''t have been a mistake at the same time.
The heavy fog of sleep was making it hard to determine where the noise wasing from. Regardless, the noise continued as though there was nothing that was going to be able to stop.
The beeping also came with the sound of voices in the background, muffled but rather urgent? Distressed sounding? It was hard to make up. They weren''t familiar voices though, that much was certain.
Trying to move proved to be useless as an attempt to open eyes was made. They felt like they had been taped shut with the heaviest of sticky tape that refused to budge. This only increased the level of annoyance that was felt.
Somehow, it felt like all day had been filled with things not going right and the inability to do was one pleased. Things weren''t working out in the way that they were supposed to at all.
"You know that for the current moment in time I have given you the best information that I have avable. You can keep asking me for updates as much as you like, but there''s going to be nothing new that I can tell." The nurse was beginning to get annoyed by the barrage of questions.
The men standing in front of her were rather insistent about getting more out of her than she honestly knew.
"Isn''t there any way that we could get a chance to speak with the doctor about this? We need a suitable update beyond words like stable for now and it will take time to tell." The nurse had to refrain from biting her bottom lip out of frustration.
The two women were blocking the door which meant that it was impossible for her to walk away from them unless they moved out of her way.
"I told you that the doctor is dealing with the other patients right now. I do understand how stressed out you are by all of this, but there isn''t much else to be doing except for waiting." She repeated.
"Now, if you could please let me get past, there are other patients that I need to be attending to right now. I will make sure that when the doctor finishes, hees in to talk with you again." The nurse assured the two women who didn''t quite seem satisfied with her answer but allowed for her to pass anyways.
"Well, it doesn''t seem like we are going to have any good answers by the time that she wakes up now does it?" Romeo sighed He had thought for certain that the doctor would have been able to provide them information beyond the fact that for now his boss was stable.
There was no way that Lena was going to take that answer well. Well... She probably wasn''t going to take the fact that her father was in the hospital well period. Perhaps not even the fact that they had moved her there while she was still asleep.
"There is still some time before she''s likely to wake up, we might know by then if the doctores back." Samuel replied trying to keep things optimistic. Romeo only nodded his head.
"What about everyone else, should we take the chance to go and see them?" Samuel suggested.
Clive''s wife hade to visit him and see how he was doing and Samuel knew that his cousin and Leo were in one of the other rooms. Not much in the way of updates had been given in regards to how they were doing.
"You can if you want, I think that it would be better if I stayed here for a while longer." Romeo replied as he nced over at the bed.
It wasn''t a position that he enjoyed seeing his boss in with so many different tubes and wires hooked up to him and no promise of when exactly the mafia boss might wake up.
They had done the best that they could considering the situation. It hadn''t been determined yet though if that best they could was good enough.
Zane usually had a rather paleplex. At the current moment though, his skin was almost as white as now due to the amount of blood that he had lost. They had been informed that if the ambnce had been muchter than it was that the mafia boss might have suffered serious consequences in regards to the amount of blood that he lost.
Romeo wasn''t much of the emotional or sentimental type, it was one of the reasons why he had never bothered finding himself someone to be with up until now. He was married to the work that he did for Zane and the rest of the Red Scorpion group.
Still, the tall, burly man had a soft spot for Zane after working for her for so many years. There was little that he wouldn''t have done for the other man if he asked much like Clive.
Seeing the mafia boss in his current position was not something that someone like Romeo would have expected to have seen during his lifetime. Zane was far too stubborn and strong to allow for anything to keep him down for an extended period of time.
He was also always far too cautious to get in the reach of danger unless it was to protect his family. He had other people to do that for him now that there was more than just himself that he needed to be thinking about.
Taking his eyes off the mafia boss who wasn''t stirring even an inch despite the consistent dull, t beeping sounded, he turned his attention back over to Lena who wasying on the other bed still asleep.
He still wasn''t sure that they had made the right choice by bringing her there while she was still asleep. Samuel seemed to think that it would have been better since she would at least be able to see her father when she woke up.
Was it though? Romeo wasn''t so sure. He was perhaps one of the few people aside from her own family, Clive, and Hester who knew about the way that she reacted to hospitals after what had happened when she was younger.
Unexpectedly waking up there and then seeing her father in the current position that he was might have been exactly what she didn''t need at the current moment in time.
Chapter 274 Leave It Alone, It Isnt Mine
"Look, I already told you once to stop fvcking touching that didn''t?" Samuel heard the raised voice clearly from down the hall before he even reached the room where he knew Jovani and Leo were.
"How many times do I have to exin to you that it isn''t mine? So what if I''m in a hospital covered in blood?" It was unusual for the younger cousin to hear the other sounding so upset.
? "Look, there''s blood here already. Isn''t that blood right there? A hospital is expected to be filled with blood. I will get it taken care ofter."
Samuel decided to wait until the conversation was over before he knocked on the hospital room door.
The room becamepletely quiet before the door was cracked open. Alonso was the one who checked it.
Once he saw who it was, he had no problem opening the door further so that the younger cousin coulde inside.
He was rather quiet despite being in the same room as Jovani. By his face, it seemed clear that he wasn''t thrilled about the way that everything had gone down.
"Is it a bad time?" Samuel asked. The hospital room looked rather packed between the patients, Alonso and the two nurses who were inside.
"Let him in, there''s no reason to leave him standing out there." Jovani was the one who said this, his voice curter than normal.
"In fact, why don''t you two leave for now so I can exchange this conversation for something more decent. There''s no reason for you to be here any longer after everything that you have already done." Despite the displeased looks the older cousin was shot, the nurses left as he requested.
Not though before making one morement about him needing to clean himself up.
"They aren''t wrong though, you do look rather a bit of a mess." Samuel remarked when he got to see his cousin.
The other looked rather worse for wear and it was hard by all the blood that covered his shirt to determine who the blood belonged to.
His hair and face were also a mess between the sweet and blood-sttered that covered his cheeks. The heat had made his skin flush a rather bright shade of red as well some of which was likely to have been sunburn.
"I have been in worse condition than this before, it isn''t anything that I won''t be able to survive from." Jovani replied with a huff before flopping down in one of the hospital chairs.
Now that the nurses were gone, he knew that he would be able to get away with it without getting yelled at for getting blood all over things.
"What took you so long in getting here?" The older cousin then asked as he changed the conversation.
"I didn''t know when Lena might wake up." He admitted as he looked over at the hospital bed where Leo wasying. He didn''t look to be in quite as bad shape as his father but he had yet to wake up.
He had been given an IV and a blood transfusion due to the blood loss he had suffered from hitting his head. His concussion was only mild, but they had no idea what impact if anyone it would have on him until he woke up.
"You decided to bring her here with you?" Jovani''s tone let the other know that he wasn''t pleased about the decision that Samuel made.
"I didn''t think that it would be a great idea to leave her back at the house on her alone while she was still asleep. I knew that she would want to know what was going on when she woke up so I thought that this would be the best." The younger cousin replied.
"What about you? What exactly happened?" Samuel then asked as he turned his attention to the other who still looked rather peevish.
"He was being stupid is what happened to him." Alonso was the one who said this. He didn''t try to hide his displeasure from the young mafia boss who simply rolled his eyes at the other.
"We both know that things would have ended up going much worse than they did if I didn''t do what I did on my own." Jovani retorted.
"And I would do it again without a second thought if I found myself in that kind of situation again." He went to run his hand through his hair but grimaced when felt the stick sensation of the blood and sweat that was caked in it. He was going to have to have a proper bath when he got back home.
"What were you really think if at all when you asked him for the red drink?" Alonso sighed. Hisment caused Samuel to look between them with a rather confused expression.
"I asked for something red because it happens to be my favorite color of drink and I didn''t want water." Jovani replied in a rather deadpan tone of voice as he fixed the other with a straight expression.
Alonso gave the other an incredulous look and was about to reply when the older cousin raised his hand to cut the other off. He was in no mood to be lectured by the other man.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Samuel asked not understanding the whole situation.
"Your cousin is an idiot is what''s going on." The right-hand man replied as he rubbed his hand over his face. This was exactly what he didn''t need to be dealing with after everything else that had been going on in the day.
"I''m not an idiot, I knew exactly what I was doing." Jovani replied as he crossed his legs in an attempt to get into a morefortable position.
"I had seen that the Gatorade also had happened to be further down in the cooler. I thought that by asking for it, it would be a good opportunity to see what I was dealing with." He exined.
"Perhaps a risk, but one that turned out to be worth it in the end." Alonso didn''t look like he was convinced by what the other was saying.
"You can hear the storyter Sam, there''s still one more person that you need to check up on and it would probably be a good idea for me to see how Zane is doing." His body wanted him to rest a while longer, but he knew that there was no chance of that happening before everything else had been settled.
"You might want to get yourself cleaned up before you end up heading out there again. If you don''t, you probably risk getting yelled at again." Samuel teased causing the other''s face to drop.
"I swear, if they bother me one more time about it, I will have some rather unkind words for them." The older cousin grumbled as he stood up.
"They can handle some blood for a little while longer until everything here has been properly taken care of." He had no patience for any morements in his current mood.
Chapter 275 Trivial And Dismissible
Jovani clicked his tongue as he stood in one of the hospital bathrooms observing himself in the mirror.
He had slipped his shirt off his left shoulder so that he could get a better look at it.
The blood was still fresh in the area but it didn''t look as bad as he had expected it to. Not like he could really tell though between his own blood being mixed with that of Zane''s.
He could still move his shoulder however which he presumed meant that it wasn''t as bad as anyone else might try to tell him it was.
He could wait to do anything about it until he got back home. Eva was talented enough that she would likely be able to dress it for him anyways. No need to waste time at the hospital or have others fussing about him when there were more important things going on at the current moment in time.
Jovani pulled his shirt back over his shoulder wincing slightly as it brushed over the fresh wound. Just because it was small didn''t make it hurt any less for him.
He would have taken the time to clean it off except for the fact that he didn''t want anyone to spot any kind of bloodied paper. He didn''t have a bag or briefcase that he could hide it in.
He knew his luck well enough that if he did try to do anything and hide the paper in the bathroom trash Alonso would somehow end up finding it and then he would never hear the end of it from the other man.
That was thest thing he needed after everything else that had been going. Right now, he just wanted to check and see how Zane was doing and if the princess had woken up yet.
He didn''t think that there was anyone who would do well with waking up in a hospital to what she was going to have to deal with.
The only positive that he could say about the matter was at the current point in time there were no bodies that they were having to deal with. Except for those who had started this whole mess.
Jovani ignored the looks that the nurses gave him as he walked down the hall. They could deal with him being bloody for a little while longer before he would be leaving. Nothing that they said was going to make him change his clothes.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn''t risk his injury being spotted.
Before he opened the hospital room door, he stopped to listen outside for a second to see if he could hear anything going on. The only noise that greeted him however was the steady and low beeping that indicated Zane was still hooked up to the heart monitor and still alive.
Jovani had spent far too many times in the hospital when he was younger that it was something he hoped he would be able to avoid in his older years.
He knocked on the door lightly before opening it carefully.
He couldn''t see much until he had the door opened all the way as Romeo was blocking the door. Acting body guard to make sure that no one who shouldn''t have been there would be able to get to his boss.
Jovani had somehow hoped by one chance or another that the other mafia boss would have magically woken up now that they were at the hospital. Of course, he knew that reality didn''t work that way. Especially with the condition that the other man was in.
Zane still looked awfully pale and fragile. A look that wasn''t really all that fitting for a mafia boss as powerful as him.
"What are you doing here looking like that." Romeo asked in a low gruff tone of voice.
"d to know that you''re as happy to see as I am about seeing you." Jovani remarked as he stepped into the room without answering the other''s question. He made sure to close the door softly behind himself.
"I am here to see how everyone on this side of things is doing." He told the bodyguard.
He was about to look over at the other bed to see if Lena was awake. He hardly started turning his head however before his question was answered.
"Romeo''s right. You really shouldn''t be here with that injury. I''m surprised you haven''t been stopped by anyone to get it taken care of."
Jovani had to purse his lips to hide his annoyance. It would be the one person that he didn''t expect who would out him.
The ever overly observant and difficult princess would be the first one to notice something like that.
"I didn''t think that you would be awake already." Jovanimented.
Lena was sitting on the bed. By the expression on her face, she had just woken up mere moments ago and still seemed to be taken in everything that was going on.
Her expression was hard to read as always but there was something different about the look in her eyes.
"I would have still been awake if it wasn''t for that little trick done to me. Can''t say that I was expecting that in any kind of way." She replied. She took her eyes off her father lying in the bed to turn them back to Jovani.
"You can''t distract from the question though." The princess told Jovani. He wanted to scowl at the other but knew that it would hardly do any good when it came to the princess.
"It''s something trivial that doesn''t need to be dealt with right now. I will have it taken care of when I get back." he replied dismissively.
"Right now, the only thing that I am really concerned about is how everything is going on here." The princess stared at him a moment longer before she turned her attention back to her father.
"I think that you can see for yourself exactly how it is going." She replied.
Looking at Samuel''s fianc¨¦, Jovani had to wonder if it was something to do with the fact that she seemed so much less engaged in other thingspared to usual that was bothering him.
It was only to be expected with everything that was going on but there was a big difference between expecting something to happen and then experiencing it happening.
Even though there was nothing that he could do about the situation except for what he had already done, it still didn''t bode well with him.
At this point though, the only thing that he could hope for was that someone in her family would end up waking sooner rather thanter.
Chapter 276 Processing
Thest thing that Lena had expected when she woke up was to be in the hospital. Especially when she remembered right before this that everyone was waiting for updates as to what exactly was going on and where everyone was.
It would have been a lie for her to say that she had expected something like this from Samuel. It seemed though that he had really been spending too much time with his older cousin and picking up some tricks from him.
Staring at her father in the hospital bed, she didn''t know if it was better for her to have awoken to this or have known what was going on from moment to moment.
Based on what she could put together from the short time she had been awake for, it seemed that things hadn''t exactly turned out great, but the person responsible for saving her father was one of thest people she would have relied on for such a thing.
Not only that, but he had also been injured in the process yet was treating the whole thing like it wasn''t that big of a deal.
The princess sighed as she closed her eyes. There was too much going on right at the current time for her to be able to easily process it all. Not to mention it was giving her a throbbing headache.
"Do you need something to drink? You look like you''re in worse shape than me." Jovani asked when he noticed the expression on the other''s face.
"You''re thest person who should be asking me that. You need to go and get yourself treated rather than standing there and letting that wound bleed out." The princess replied without opening her eyes.
Her tone sounded more tired and less assertive than she had wanted for it toe across.
It wasn''t entirely unexpected with everything that had happened today. No one in that room probably had the energy for much of everything but they were doing their best to pull it together.
"I already told you that it isn''t that bad. I will get it taken care ofter when I get back home. Alonso doesn''t need to know about this anyways." Jovani replied.
"I already cleaned it up myself anyways. You on the other hand should get something to drink. You have been sleeping for quite a while now and after this, some water would probably help you."
He nced back at Romeo hoping the other would understand that he wanted him to be the one to go and request water so that the Vedova Nera man and the princess could be left alone for a few moments.
The guard didn''t seem all that thrilled toply but didn''t refuse the silent request when Jovani kept staring at him.
"What else do you have to tell me that could be worse than this?" Lena asked once Romeo had left the room. Of course, she would be quick to still pick on things even in her current state of mind.
If anything, she could probably actually do it better since she was already on high alert.
"Nothing worse to do with your family. Clive and Leo are alright as of right now. Nothing serious seems to be wrong with them. We are just waiting for them to wake up in order to be sure." Jovani replied. Wincing slightly as he allowed his arm to drop to a morefortable position.
The injured skin protested this, but he knew that it was going to hurt even more if he kept holding it in the same position for too long.
"Everyone who is responsible for what you see right here has been dealt with. There are still a few people left that we are going to question." Jovani continued to exin as he walked over to take a seat in the empty chair. Samuel had been using it before but he figured that the other could handle standing for a while if he came back before they were finished speaking.
"I don''t want to say that this is part of something bigger that we need to be worried about. I don''t think that it has anything to do with my cousin, but I do think that there is something strange going on here."
"Strange how? Do you know which group they belong to?" Lena opened her eyes to look at him when she asked this question.
The steady beeping in the background was making it hard to focus on what the other was saying, but she needed to know what his thoughts were.
"My men who didn''te here with us should be looking for clues right now. I don''t know that they will turn up anything. But if there is something there to be found, they will find it." Jovani assured her.
"They are certainly part of the mafia based upon the tattoos that they have. They don''t match with the dead man that we are still looking into. They also don''t seem to match with the one that the Vedova Nera us for close outside family members." He rified with a sigh.
"It might take a little while to find out depending on cooperative or not the other men we took captive are. We haven''t done anything with them yet because I thought that with the way everything has turned out that you might want to be involved?"
It was a mixture between a statement and a question. He wasn''t wrong for thinking that way.
"I would be rather annoyed if you hadn''t thought to ask me and did what you please considering this involves my family." The princess replied as she nced back over at her father. He still hadn''t even moved an inch since she had woken up.
"Our family I think that you mean. You two might only be engaged right now, but that makes you close enough to be blood as far as I''m concerned." Jovani corrected her.
"Not to mention that with the current state of things, it seems like you''re going to have to be the one to take the ce of your father and be there for the induction ceremony. As much as I would like to be able to put it off until everything has sorted itself out, I don''t think that would be wise."
"You think that it is possible that he might be the next target?" The princess could see the logic behind this process. Her uncle and Samuel were the only two people near her that hadn''t been targeted yet.
Julius though was the one that she knew that she didn''t need to worry about. Her uncle could easily handle himself.
Jovani didn''t get a chance to answer the question before there was a knock on the door and someone unexpected that caused him to scowl decided to invite themselves into the room without waiting for permission.
Chapter 277 Family Friend
Note: Dear readers, please reply to this promptly. I would like to know if you would prefer 2chs/day or a mass release on one day. I have chapters written for either but would prefer to know preferences.
And please don''t forget to check out the prequel to this one- Dear Dove.
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"What in the hell are you doing here?" Jovani demanded defensively of the man as he entered the room.
The other seemed unfazed by the response and simply held up his hand as though to say he came in peace.
"Is there a problem with a family friending to visit when I get word that there has been some trouble?" He didn''t even bother looking at the Vedova Nera man as his attention turned to the bed that Zane was lying in.
"Richard, I didn''t expect that the news would have reached you so quickly." Lenamented.
"You know that I have eyes and ears everywhere. It doesn''t take long for this kind of news to travel much of anywhere." He pointed out as he stepped further in the room, ignoring the death re that Jovani was sending his way.
"I take it that the one in the corner over there is the older cousin of your fianc¨¦?" He asked ncing over at the other for a brief second before turning his attention back to the princess.
"You know very well who I am. No reason to ask such questions." Jovani retorted.
"Just because I know who you are doesn''t mean that I''m aware of your ce within this setting. If you weren''t family, then yourment to me would hold no weight considering you''re here." Richard pointed out.
"I didn''te here to argue with you though. I wanted to know what happened and if there is anything that I can do to be of assistance at the current point in time."
"Jovani, let it be for now. I don''t what there is between the two of you, but right now is neither the time nor ce for it." The cold tone that the older cousin was used to returned to Lena''s voice as she told him this.
If it was anyone else, he wouldn''t have cared to respect her wishes. But considering the current circumstances, he shut his mouth though the re didn''t leave his face as he continued to watch the other.
Richard''s indifferent expression didn''t shift, however. Even if after Lena had told the other off.
His expression was just as nk and hard to read as it had been from the moment that he had entered the room. Why didn''t Jovani piece together the fact that the Richard Samuel would have been working with was going to be the same man who was currently standing in front of him.
Speaking of his younger cousin, the other decided to make his appearance then and seemed just as taken aback by seeing Richard in the room as his cousin had been.
"Oh. I didn''t know that anyone else would be stopping by." Hemented as Richard simply nodded his head at the other while standing near Zane''s bed.
He was fixed on watching the other man in order to assess what had happened. He was no doctor but it didn''t take a genius to see how bad exactly Zane had been injured.
Once he had shifted his gaze away from Richard, he realized that Lena was awake and staring at him rather intently.
"I know that you''re probably going to have a lot to say to me after what happened. I just thought for the time being it would have been the best option."
Lena was quiet as he spoke and continued to fix him with a hard-to-read expression.
"And I think that it seems like you''re spending too much time with your cousin and learning things from him that I wouldn''t expect." She remarked after another moment of silence.
"You''re right that there is going to be a lot to talk about regarding this matter, but not right now. I still want to know about everything else that''s going on."
Being able to see that Samuel was okay and speaking to him somehow helped her to settle a little.
Even if the other half of her family wasn''t in the best shape, there was at least one less person that she needed to worry about at the current moment in time.
"Everyone else is pretty much in the same situation as what you see here. I think that out of everyone, Leo is probably the one in the best shape though they don''t quite know when he''s going to wake up." Samuel exined.
"What about the men who were responsible for this?" Richard was the one who asked his question.
"Taken care of. Zane took care of most of them hence his injury. I took care of thest on the way here." Jovani was the one who answered this question.
"I know because I was the one who was there. There are a few others though that still need to be talked with. I figure though that would be something best left to the princess." Jovani added on when he saw the look that Richard gave him.
"I see. Best not to waste time on that then. Once things are settled here, they probably should be dealt with sooner rather thanter." He remarked as he turned his attention to Lena to see what she would say.
? "I will take care of them in due time. Right now, I''m not concerned about that since there isn''t anywhere for them to go while waiting." Lena replied as she stood up from the bed.
She was still a little unsteady on her feet from the sleeping pill but she didn''t want to be stuck sitting around when she hadn''t had the chance to see how everyone else was doing.
"I want to see how everyone else is doing. I want both of you to stay here and Jovani you''re toe with me." She ordered as Romeo moved away from the door so that she could walk out past him.
The Vedova Nera boss had a confused look on his face but didn''t question the princess as he followed after her.
She waited to speak to him until after the hospital room door had been closed and they were walking down the hall towards the rooms that Leo and Clive were upying.
"What exactly going on between you and Richard? Is there something that I should know?" She asked as he turned around to face the other.
Chapter 278 Not On The Best Terms
Note: Dear readers, please reply to this promptly. I would like to know if you would prefer 2chs/day or a mass release on one day. I have chapters written for either but would prefer to know preferences.
And please don''t forget to check out the prequel to this one- Dear Dove.
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Jovani was silent for a moment as he regarded the princess in front of him. There was a lot he could have said about the man in the other room that they had left behind.
Where to start was the question.. The only thing he could reply at the current moment in time was knowing that Lena would likely not be biased towards him no matter what he said about Richard.
"We met on rough terms a few years back. He was working between me and my cousin but didn''t bother telling me until after the fact." Jovani exined.
"He denies but I think that he was the one who got him into that side of things. The more illegal side we will say because I didn''t introduce him to it and I don''t know anyone else my cousin hung around with at the time who was so ingrained enough to get him in that deep." He continued as he turned away from the other to look back in the direction that they hade from.
"I confronted him about it. But you know that talking between two people like us doesn''t always turn out the way we might want it to."
"You mean things became physical between the two of you." Lena concluded. The other simply nodded his head in response.
"In a quite messy way. Nothing was resolved from it either but I''m still fairly certain that he''s the one who was behind my cousin getting to the point that he is today. Not the main reason, but helped to push him down that path."
"It''s hard to tell with Richard. He doesn''t generally mess with things he knows he ought not to, but he''s around a lot of people who he works with which canplicate situations and request." The princess exined.
"I don''t always know how to feel about him either but he''s one of my father''s good friends over many years."
"Don''t worry about it. I might not like him that much but it isn''t like I''m going to go back in that room and pick a fight with him."
"I don''t think that you''re in any shape to be doing that even if you wanted to." The princess nodded her head in the direction of his injured arm causing the other to roll his eyes.
"I already told you that this is hardly anything to worry about. Don''t you dare say anything around Alonso though otherwise, we will have a serious problem." He warned. Lena simply rolled her eyes at him.
"I think you''re being a fool over such a small injury that would be easy to get taken care of while you''re here." She informed him as she began to walk again in the direction of her brother''s room.
"Easy to take care of, everything else that woulde from it wouldn''t be all that easy to take care of though." He murmured back.
He wasn''t going to talk anymore on the matter though now that they were approaching the room. He didn''t know where Alonso was but he didn''t want the other man to hear any part of their conversation.
"Be civil if you step back into the room that Zane is upying. There is an unexpected guest." Jovani told Alonso who gave him a confused look when he entered the room.
"Unexpected guest?" He repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"I thought that no one else but Family was allowed to visit during this time." Hemented.
"Family friends are apparently included in that or at least people who know how to get around those rules. Either way, you need to mind yourself." Jovani replied. He and Princess stayed to the back of the room when the say that the doctor was already in there looking Leo over again.
"Give him about another two or three days and he should wake up. I don''t think that there is much reason to worry about after-effects except maybe a headache for a few days." The doctor told them as he finished shining his light into Leo''s eyes.
"Nothing to worry about with the concussion?" Lena rified. The doctor shook his head.
"Not for this one at least. I think that there is very little that you will need to worry about. Just make sure that he gets some rest once he''s back home. Did I hear right that he was getting ready to leave the country?" He looked over his shoulder at Lena as he used the hand sanitizer machine. The princess confirmed with this with a short nod of her head.
"I would rmend that he doesn''t think about doing any kind of traveling for at least another two or three weeks. If he was going to school there and is on a tight turnaround, let me know and I can put something together for him that can be sent over." He doctor offered.
"Thank you. I don''t know anything about that, but I will look into and let you know." The princess replied.
Leo had told her before when his sses were going to start. With everything that had been going on however, she couldn''t recall the exact date to mind. She asked Romeo to look it up if necessary.
"What about this other young man here, was he part of the group that I needed to check up on while I was here? He still looks like he is quite a mess." Jovani red at the doctor as he turned around to face.
"I am the person who is responsible for making sure that they all get here safely, not someone that you need to be worried about checking over however." He replied curtly.
He got the feeling though that the doctor didn''t quite believing him when the older man''s eyes lingered on his torso for a second longer than he would have liked.
"I see, my mistake then. I would rmend though that you think about going and getting cleaned up soon otherwise you might find the nurses here taking care of you themselves." He joked.
"I will manage once everything here is finished for the day." Jovani replied, not missing the look that Alonso gave him. He wasn''t going to look at his right-hand man though because there was nothing for him to be saying to the other.
"There is one more that I heard I needed to have a look at. Perhaps the one whose doing the worst out of these group from what I have heard."
Lena knew who the doctor was talking about and didn''t like the way he chose to phrase their condition.
Chapter 279 Taking The Brunt Of It
Being the driver, Clive had been the one to take the worst of the hit when the car had gone out of control. He had done what he could to ensure that everyone else was going to be which required him to sacrifice his own safety in the process.
Not only had he hit his head rather had when the car tumbled and broken his nose in the process when it hit the steering wheel, he had also fractured some ribs and broke his right arm among other things.
The hit was the most concerning part to the doctor as it was ssified as a rather bad concussion. Not to mention that his level of consciousness and oxygen were lower than he would have liked.
"I would love to say that this one here would be ready to go back home by next week, but it is rather hard to get a good reading on how he''ll be doing." The doctor scratched his head he looked at Clive and all the machines he was hooked up to.
He was almost on par if not in slightly worse shape than Zane.
His wife hadn''t even been able toe and see him yet because she needed someone to watch their daughter. With everything that had been going on, no one was avable to do that yet.
"How long do you think that it will be before he wakes up?" Lena asked as she looked at the driver lying motionless in the bed. Though it didn''t impact her quite as badly as it did when she firstid eyes on her father, she had known Clive for all of her life which made it almost as bad for her."
"Your guess on that is as good as mine. Nothing on the charts or anything that we have looked at has been able to give an urate indication." The doctor replied as he went over to make sure that the IV bags hooked up to Clive had all the correct medication and fluids in them.
"Could be a week or more. It will also depend on how well he does also. It can be a bit hard for people in this kind of shape to snap out of it." He continued before turning around to face them.
His face softened when he saw the look that was on Lena''s face.
"I really wish that there was a better answer than that I could give you, but it''s what we are dealing with right now." Of course it wasn''t the kind of information that anyone wanted to hear, that went without saying.
The question now came down to the fact of what was Lena going to do? Her head was still fuzzy from the sleeping medication and hurt from trying to wrap it around everything that had been going on. She needed to formte a n.
Just because everyone was in the hospital injured didn''t mean that the world was going to stop. Everything was still going to keep moving the same way it always had and it would be put to her to make sure it kept spinning upright.
Her uncle as well would end up being a part of that. Speaking which¡
"Has anyone gotten into contact with Julian about this?" Lena hadn''t had her phone on her as far as she was aware so there was no way for to know if her uncle had even tried to contact her.
"I haven''t had a chance with everything that has been going on." Jovani replied as he looked over at Alonso.
"Have you had his number to do so?" The other man shook his head. Lena sighed at this. One more thing that was going to need to be handled. Knowing her uncle, he was going to be even less thrilled than she was when he found out what had happened.
"That needs to get taken care of sooner rather thanter." She said aloud.
"More family that will being by?" The doctor asked.
"Yes, is there a problem with that?" The princess fixed him with a look that dared him to tell her that no more guests coulde by.
Instead of that, he just simply shrugged his shoulders.
"I don''t think that there should be a problem. Visitor hours are still going for a little while longer. If he ends uping byter than that, he can juste again tomorrow."
"That isn''t any kind of eptable option." The princess argued the moment that the doctor was finished speaking.
"This is my father''s brother that I''m speaking about and I highly doubt that you are unaware of who we are." The princess replied coldly causing the doctor to shrink back slightly in reaction to the unexpected response.
"Whether he stops by now or midnight, I expect that he will be allowed toe in and see everyone without a question, is that clear?" The doctor fumbled for a second as he tried to figure out what the best answer would be.
"You can say that to me if you want, but the right people to talk to about this would be security. They are going to be the ones who stop anyone trying toe into the hospital after hours." Lena nced over at Alonso after the doctor finished saying this.
Was she expecting him to be the person who would go and take care of it?
"I think that it would be best if you did that." Jovani told the other in a low tone of voice.
"You will be fine to leave for a few moments as nothing is likely to happen here while you''re aware." His boss assured him though he still wasn''t all that thrilled to be taking orders from the princess despite the situation that they were in.
He more so preferred to stick around his boss as much as possible until they were certain that everything else going on had been dealt with correctly.
So far it didn''t seem like there was going to be any more targets, but one could never be fully certain until the right amount of time had passed.
"Very well. I will be back once I have taken care of this." Alonso confirmed as he bit back the sigh that wanted to escape.
"Good man. We will probably be back in the other room by the time that you return. Just make sure you knock since it will likely be crowded." Jovani told the other before he closed the door behind himself.
Once he was gone, Jovani motioned for the doctor to leave the room as well so that he and Lena could talk.
"Now that this is taken care of princess, what happens next is really up to you." He told her.
Lena didn''t reply right away though as she was too focused on watch Clive''s chest rise and fall. The only indication aside from the machines in the room that the other man was truly alive.
"I think that the next best course of action is going to be going for blood." She informed the other man who seemed rather delighted to hear this.
"Not tonight though. We will wait tomorrow to sort everything out and figure out the best way to move."
Jovani didn''t mind waiting a few extra hours so long as he was able to have his fun after everything that had been going on.
Chapter 280 He Should Leave Too
"Well princess, you know that you''re the one who gets to call all the shots right now. For this instance, I will allow my resources to be your own for you to use as you need." Jovani told her catching her off guard slightly, or at least if the shift in emotion in her eyes was any indication.
"Most of them are watching over the men right now as it is so it wouldn''t be that much trouble for them to do anything you wish or take them to wherever you prefer for them to be held."
Lena was going to need to think about what exactly it was she wanted to do before she decided.
"Where are they keeping them right now?"
"A little way away from here. I Have a ce near the airport. Usually what one would call a safe house, but for now I have turned it into a ce for them to be held until we decide what to do. I would think that it is about an hour''s drive from here." She hummed in response to his answer as she looked back over at Clive and then to the door.
"Keep them there for now, we can work on moving them toe tomorrow. I don''t think that there is much else that can be done here for tonight, but I don''t think that anyone should be leaving."
"I would agree with you on that princess, except that I do need to go for a little bit. Alonso will be staying here and anyone else you contact and think should be around, but there are a few other things that I need to take care of myself."
He nced at his blood-covered watch. One of them he was actually alreadyte to.
"That''s fine. Just keep him posted on whatever is going on and don''t do anything that will add an extra problem that needs to be taken care of any top of everything." Jovani let out a smallugh in response to her words.
"I Hardly think that is something you need to be worrying yourself about princess. I''m not so much of a troublemaker as to create an additional problem on top of what we are already dealing with." He informed her as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
? "If anything should happen that creates any extra problems, I will hardly be due to anything that I have caused. You could just simply say that I am working on sorting out a few things to make sure that everything else around here will keep running smoothly." He exined.
"Besides, the only thing that you should really be focusing on right now is watching out for your family and making sure that your uncle is able to get here safely. That would be one more problem on our hands that we don''t need if something were to happen to him."
Lena couldn''t deny that he had a good point with that. She did need to get in contact with Julius though before he found out what happened through a third party and wonders why he wasn''t informed about the situation sooner.
"Right. Well, you can take Richard with you on the way out. I know that you don''t like him that much, but I also don''t think that there is any reason for him to be staying here tonight." Jovani made a noise of protest in response to what the princess asked. She gave him a hard stare in response, however.
"I am just asking you to get him to leave with you. It''s not like you have to spend any more time around him once you two exit the hospital. Just suck it up for five minutes." She ordered.
"Very well Princess. Just know that if anything does end up happening between the two of us, I will hold you solely responsible if he says anything that I can''t ignore." He told he before he opened the door to leave the room before resuming the texting on his phone.
Lena rolled her eyes once he had left the room.
She didn''t quite understand how someone as well put together and calcted Jovani was most of the time could be so obstinate and irrational when it came to something as small as the request she was making.
It wasn''t like Richard was going to do anything to him. Not to mention the fact that whatever happened between them seemed to be from some years in the past. No reason to hold on to such a thing if there was no proof to support the ims that he was making.
The princess knew better perhaps than almost anyone else how hard it could be to try and not hate someone you felt was responsible for wronging you despite the fact that all evidence pointed to the fact that it wasn''t their fault.
IT took her years to learn it and she was younger than the Vedova Nera boss. There was no reason why he should struggle to pick it up sooner than she had.
"You stay here and rest, for now, I will make sure that whoever is responsible for this is taken care of in the best possible way." She assured Clive even though she didn''t think that the other could hear her in his unconscious state.
It was an assurance and promise mixed into one. Even if Clive wasn''t able to hear her say it, it didn''t change the fact that she intended to follow through with it. She would be certain to make sure that everyone who was responsible for causing the situation got what they deserved.
That included whoever the person hiding behind the shadows who was responsible for this was all well. She might not have known who they were yet, but there was little that would stop her from finding out.
If the men that they currently held in custody weren''t going to be willing to tell her, she would find whoever else she had and force them to give up the information.
She didn''t know when her uncle was going to be back, but he would be a most weing asset in assisting with making sure things went the way that she wanted them to.
Chapter 281 You, Come With Me
Jovani wasn''t thrilled in the slightest yet did exactly as Lena had asked, go back to the room where Zane and everyone else was staying and request that Richard leave with him.
It seemed that he had interrupted a conversation that was going on between him and Samuel, but the older cousin didn''t care at the current moment in time. He had other matters he needed to take care of and in order to get to them, that meant that Richard needed to leave with him sooner rather thanter.
"Do you have to go somewhere?" Samuel asked as he was trying to usher the other mafia man out of the room who wasn''t so inclined to leave right away.
"Yes I do. On my way out, the princess asked that I make sure this onees along with me before I left." Jovani replied. Richard didn''t seem like he was quite convinced that was the case, however.
"Lena made that request? Why wouldn''t shee to tell me herself?"
"I don''t know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that two-thirds of her family are currently in the hospital and she''s trying to do that which doesn''t leave her much time to speak with you?" Jovani suggested with no little amount of annoyance.
"You might have something that you want to talk about the princess with, right now isn''t the time though. We need to be leaving because that''s what she requested and I have other matters I need to take care of."
"I do have something important that I need to talk with Lena about and I think that it is of no concern to you whether I stay here or leave with you. If she made the request, she came and tell me to leave when she gets back." Richard retorted in a rather calm tone of voice that only seed in further annoying Jovani.
"Look I don''t like you and I''m pretty sure you can''t care any less for me either. But for fucks sake, I''m demanding that you leave here with me right now because that''s what Lena ordered and while you may not be man that''s great at following the orders you''re given, you damn well better suck it up this one time and just go along with it." By the time he had finished speaking, Jovani had moved so that he was standing a mere two inches away from Richard. They were almost nose to nose and despite the fact that Richard was a few inches taller than him, there was no hint of trepidation or sign that he was intimidated in his eyes.
The only thing that Richard could read was frustration mixed with a hint of hatred it seemed as the other red at him.
"Right now." He repeated when Richard only stared back at him without saying anything.
It was wordless but from Samuel''s perspective, it seemed as though there was a silent challenge going on between his cousin and Richard. They refused to stop locking gaze as neither one wanted to budge from the position that they were in.
He felt like he should have spoken up to deal with the situation, yet he didn''t quite know what the right thing to say would have been. Not only that, but it seemed by what was going on that neither one would probably pay attention.
Watching them, he couldn''t actually think of a time when he had seen his cousin this anger before. Jovani was usually one who kept his good mood even when he was annoyed irritated by something. He might hit back with venomous sarcasm or a harsh remark, but rarely ever did he disy such a high level of anger so visibly before.
Samuel was about to say something when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It belonged to Romeo.
The burly man shook his head without taking his gaze off the other two in the room. A silent sign that he didn''t think that Samuel should involve himself in the situation.
"If you''re going to be that insistent about this matter, very well then. I will leave with you." Richard said after more than few tense moments of silence. It was obvious to him that Jovani had no intention of backing down which left him as the person to end the standoff.
"In the future though, I would appreciate that you don''t take such a tone with me considering that you''re not someone who holds any position of power." Richard told the other. He wanted to push Jovani away but knew that would be a bad move in the current situation and instead decided to step around the other.
"The fact that neither one of us are in positions of power over the other is exactly why I will speak to you the way I wish. Mutual respect is gained and if you want me to give that to you, you might want to start by showing the respect first." Jovani retorted as he offered the other a tight-lipped smile.
There was another silent sh between the two before Richard opted to break the ring contest by turning to leave the room first.
This only helped Jovani slightly. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to breath fully until the other waspletely out of the hospital. Thest thing that he needed to be doing right now as wasting what little energy he had on such annoying things.
"Right. Before I leave now, there is one more thing that I would like to talk with you about." Jovani turned his attention to Samuel.
"It isn''t anything all that serious but I think that it is something important for you to keep in mind since I don''t know that I will being back tonight." He informed the other.
Alonso would be there still as well, but Jovani wanted to make sure that Samuel knew some things to do as well since he would technically be the one on his side in charge while he away.
It was a chance for his younger cousin to learn about some of the greater responsibilities he would be taking over once he became the boss of Vedova Nera.
Chapter 282 Perplexed
When Jovani told Samuel that they needed to talk, thetter wasn''t expecting his cousin to say as much as he did. It seemed that he wanted to ensure everything would be okay while he was gone.
The older cousin didn''t indicate if there was anything specific he was worried about, however. He just told his younger cousin a few important things to keep in mind. One was that he needed to keep in mind that Alonso was there for support. Another was that Lena still needed to have an eye kept on her.
"What do you mean by that?" Samuel asked. Lena in his mind seemed to be preupied with what everything going to do anything he''d need to watch.
"You say that, but trust me when I say that she still might decide to do something reckless." Jovani informed the other.
"We agreed to wait to do anything until tomorrow. I''m not sure so though that she''ll keep that agreement up if she isn''t able to sleep."
"You mean to say that you told her something that could create a problem?" Samuel rified, ncing over at the hospital room door to ensure that no one wasing in.
"Good question." Jovani sighed.
"At the time, I didn''t think so. With that one though, it is hard to tell what is going through her mind from one moment to the next. I just think that you should be mindful."
"How long are you going to be gone for?" Samuel then asked, shifting the conversation to his cousin.
"I don''t think that I should be gone too long. It is hard to tell as there are a number of things I need to tend to." The older man replied. He shifted position as he turned to face the office door to take the weight off his injured shoulder.
"We both should have our phones with us. If not, I will send someone by with a spare for you to use. I don''t know how much I will be able to talk, but I''ll do my best to update you." Jovani turned back around to face the other before suddenly reaching out to ruffle his hair.
"This probably isn''t the best introduction to the mafia life right after engagement, but the unpredictable can happen. Try not to let it get under your skin too much. There is still a lot that we need to do after this." He informed his younger cousin. He would have given the other a hug but didn''t want to risk getting blood on him.
"By that, I presume you mean the initiation?" Jovani chuckled at this question.
"One of many things." He replied.
"I was actually nning on stealing you for a while again. You and I have done a lot together, but there is still more training you need. I know that the princess is taking care of some of that, but I have another ce in mind that would be perfect."
"You will probably have to clear that with her beforehand. She would probably want toe along after what happened thest time we were together." Samuel remarked. Jovani was quick to brush him off over this.
"This and that are two different things. The princess doesn''t need to worry about anything bad like that happening so long as you''re with me. Now that everything is sorted out, I will make sure that nothing happens." The Vedova Nera man assured him.
"Enough of that for right now though. You need to get back there with them and I need to leave. Keep in mind what I said though.".
Jovani made sure that his cousin left ahead of him so that he could take a moment to collect him. Richard was still going to have to be dealt with before left. He could hope that the other man would have left before him, it was highly unlikely though.
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, everything was feeling so much worse for Jovani. Not only did the injury on his shoulder hurt but his head was throbbing now too. If Alonso had any idea bout what was going on, he would certainly me his injury for this.
Jovani wasn''t bleeding out from such a small wound. He was educated enough about injuries to know that. His issue was aligned with him not having eaten anything and the stress that had piled up all day. If there was anything else going on, it would have been tied to him being stuck outside in the heat for too long.
He had been through worse though. A little bit of heat like today wasn''t bad enough to phase him or so he thought. Even if it did, he would just shake it off. Just like he was going to shake off that annoying mafia man he was certain was still hanging around.
No use in wasting any more time at the hospital. Now that he had told Samuel what he needed, it was time to get busy with the important stuff. Being the boss meant that Jovani was allowed to do reckless things if he wanted to. Jovani intended to use that time to benefit him the most.
Jovani wasn''t surprised to see that Richard decide to linger around the outside of the hospital instead of waiting inside.
"Are you nning on leaving or is there going to be more problems?" Jovani asked the moment that he spotted the other. Richard ignored him at first in favor of lighting up his cigarette.
"There were never any problems to begin with." He replied before taking a deep drag of the cigarette.
"If there were, it was only on your side. I only came to lend my support to a family friend and you happened to be there. Nothing more, nothing less." Jovani fixed Richard with a hard stare in response to his words.
"You might be good at getting other people to believe you so quickly. With me, you''ll quickly find that it doesn''t work so easy. If you''re going to end up working with younger my cousin, I expect you to keep that in mind."
"Another cousin. What a perplexing situation to be in. I would have thought you''d have nixed the idea from the start." Richard mused as he stepped away from the hospital door.
"If I had known it was you at the start, I would have. Now though, it is up to Sam to choose what he wants to do. You on the hand need to keep in mind what I saw and watch yourself."
Jovani wasn''t quick to shed blood except for when it came to family. Very much like the princess, there was little he wouldn''t do to ensure their safety.
Chapter 283 Even You?
Jovani was happy to be able to sink into the car once Charles had pulled up. Thankfully Richard had left after the little talk so that the Vedova Nera man could be alone.
"Where do you want to go to first, sir? I didn''t think you''d be allowed to leave in your current state?" Jovani sighed. Of course, the driver would be another to pick on something wrong.
"My condition is fine, I didn''t bother getting checked out. For now, I want to go back home." He ordered.
"There are a number of things that I need to take care of. This little thing can get taken care of while I''m there." Being inside the car, the temptation was high to remove the dress shirt. It hurt like hell each time the shirt became dried to the wound as each movement caused the freshly formed scab to be torn off. Without the shirt, the wound would have a better time sealing itself up.
"Do we need to pull over, sir?" Charles inquired, ncing through the rearview mirror to see the other struggling with his clothes.
"No Charles. I want you to keep driving. If we need to stop for any reason, I will let you know." Jovani replied. Damn seatbeltplicated the shirt removal process but not enough to need the car stopped.
Once this task waspleted, Jovani wished that there was a bottle of water somewhere in the car. The wound could do with a light cleaning. Saltwater was the best, but whatever was at hand could work.
"Charles, can you open up the bar please." The driver did as requested, silently watching what the other was doing. The bar pulled out of thepartment and rested between the back seats.
"Which one of these do you think has the highest alcohol content?" Jovani asked, looking over all the bottles to choose from.
"That would be the vodka, sir. Spirytus has the highest content." Charles replied.
"The clothes are in thepartment on the left if those are what you are looking for." A smirk shed across the other''s face.
" You might want to put up the divider for the next part." Jovani warned. Pulling out cloths.Without anything else being around, the soft material was going to have to work for biting down on.
"I will be fine sir. I think that it would be best for now if I keep it down to watch out for you should anything happen."
"Always the reliable one Charles." Jovani chuckled hoarsely. The smell of the alcohol was sharp in the air as the clothes were drenched with it. Once the first one was secured and his teeth were clenched tightly around it, the worst part was toe.
Jovani had endured a lot of pain throughout the years. Being in the mafia, it was hard to avoid injuries and fights. It was practically part of being a part of that world. The level of pain that was getting ready toe from this was on apletely different level than what most could even imagine.
Bracing for the pain, Jovani bit down hard on the cloth. No time to count or think, the cloth was pushed as firmly as possible against the bullet hole. The red hot pain that seared through the wound was as bad as getting stabbed by a red hot poker. A chocked sound of pain escaped as Jovani''s body jerked from the pain
Feet pushed hard against the car''s floor as possible in an attempt to stay grounded to reality. The force hard enough to leave deep scuff marks behind. The counting began as Jovani forced his eyes to remain open. Ten was the magic number. Ten seconds were all that had to be counted out before the pain would away. Simply as it sounded, it was hell to endure when the level of pain only increased with each passing second.
Jovani''s painting came outbored around the cloth. Seven seconds had passed but the sweating had already started. Three more to go and consciousness was slowly slipping away. The world was starting to spin and darkness began to creep towards the corners of Jovani''s eyes by the time he was able to remove the cloth from the wound. The one in his followed shortly after.
Jovani leaned his head back against the headrest as he tried to slow down his breathing. No matter how many times it had been endured, it wasn''t the kind of pain one could get used to easily.
"Are you still alive sir? Would it perhaps be better if I turned around and headed back to the hospital?" Concern was evident in Charles''s voice as he nced back to check on the other.
"No need to Charles, I''m not quite dead yet." Jovani joked, taking in a deep breath with eyes still closed. After that ordeal, the exhaustion was setting in even worse than it had before. Pity there would be no time for sleeping in the near future. A soft fluffy bed with an equally fluffy pillow sounded much more preferable to what was toe next.
"The only time that I will go to a hospital is either unconscious or in a body bag. Though, I thought that this was something we confirmed?" Shifting position, the Vedova Nera boss winced at the pain in his shoulder while moving into a more upright position.
"Indeed sir. From this perspective however it didn''t quite seem like you had a good grasp on your consciousness." Charles pointed out.
"If I didn''t do my job properly, your fianc¨¦ would be terribly displeased after everything. If keeping her happy requires me to force you to go to the hospital, then so be it." Jovani let out a genuineugh at thisment.
"Even you? I swear that it seems like with each passing day, I am losing more and more of my most loyal men to that woman. I wonder if it was such a good idea to pick her."
"If I may say, sir, I don''t think that there is anyone that you would be happier with. The miss might be firm with you and steal your best men but everything is done for you, not against you."
"I hope you''re right about that Charles. I would like to think that after today, I will still have a ce to stay." Eve would not be thrilled at all about anything that happened. The question was whether the level was low enough to deal with it like always or high enough for a tongueshing.
Chapter 284 I Love You?
Jovani knew that Eve would not be thrilled, how much was not expected.
"You told me that there was something going. I don''t think that was the right exnation." Eve stood with her arms folded as she leveled her fianc¨¦ with a re. Jovani continued to smile, unsure of what else to do.
"I realize that in hindsight. I myself couldn''t have expected that things would have turned out this way." Jovani wouldn''t have said anything if he had.
"But yet youe here expecting me to stick you up after another one of these events? Don''t give me that look, it wasn''t like you could''ve honestly expected me to miss the blood on your gloves." Of course she would notice...
"That was somethingpletely different from this." Jovani closed the door, stepping further into the house.
"There were a few people that needed some correcting. You know that I cannot allow anyone to speak ill of my cousin."
"And you know that we agreed you would tell me when anything like that happened. Otherwise, I don''t know to worry if it''s your blood or someone else''s." Jovani''s tongue clicked in response to this.
"You should know better than to think so little of me. I can handle myself enough to not get hurt by a few pups who don''t know their ce."
"I have been with you long enough t know better than to think things are that simple. Stop wasting time and sit down over here if you''re going to expect me to patch you up." The Vedova Nera boss did as he was told without arguing. Best not to upset the fianc¨¦ when she was in such a mood.
"Did you just use the alcohol to clean it up or did you have some as well. The smell is so strong I can''t tell where it ising from?"
"A bit of both?" Eve didn''t look thrilled over this response.
"You thought that with this kind of wound, it would be a good idea to drink? Scratch that, did you think at all about what you were doing?" Sitting the medical kit down non-too-gently on the table, she flipped it open.
"Do you want it patched or stitched? If you want it to be stitched, you''re going to have to avoid doing anything crazy for a while." Jovaniughed in response to herments.
"You should know that''s impossible with everything going on. You''re going to have to just patch it up for now. I can''t afford to be limited right now." Eve grumbled about Jovani''s decision while pulling everything out that would be needed.
"We are both from this world love, you should know exactly what to be expecting when you get involved with me." Jovani was trying to be gentle about the matter.
"This isn''t the first time and won''t be thest. I think we can both guess that. You know though that if anything truly serious happens, I will be the one to call you no one else."
"That''s what worries me." Eve''s voice was quiet as she prepped the saline pads and iodine pads along with the butterfly bandage and gauze.
"What happens if you can''t contact me? What am I supposed to do if you''re gone and it is someone else that I hear from because you forgot?" Eve looked Jovani in the eye as she asked these questions.
"You say a lot of things like this all the time but we both know that your follow-up on this matter is poor." Jovani grabbed ahold of both Eve''s hands, kissing the palms gently while pulling them towards him. He wanted to soothe.
"This is something that I won''tpromise on. If we are going to be in this together, I will be the one to tell you if anything happens to me. I don''t think that I would be able to die in peace if you heard it from anyone else. You know how much you mean to me." Eve pulled her hands away, unable to look away despite the blush forming.
"I do, but I sometimes wonder which of us is more important to you. The family you''ve been in all your life or the one that you''re trying to make here with me." Jovani winced at the cold feeling and pain from the saline solution as it touched the bullet wound.
"I didn''t know there was apetition or a decision to make between. I thought this made the answer obvious." Jovani sucked in a sharp breath of air as Eve purposely pressed the saline pad more firmly against the wound.
"After this incident, that would be the wrong response to give." She clearly didn''t think the joke was funny.
"This and that kind of love are different though." Jovani attempted to backtrack while the other continued dressing the wound.
"I love you more than anything. Right now though, we''re not officially together yet so I have to keep my loyalty to this family to a certain degree." Mafiaw couldn''t be broken that easily.
"After this year and once we are finally married, things will change. You''ll officially be family and that means I can put you above anything else."
"If that''s the case, why don''t we just go and get a marriage license tomorrow then? We can focus on the weddingter." Jovani froze, what did she just say?
"Are you serious about that?" Eve simply nodded in response without looking up from the wound. It was important to make sure that the bandage was ced correctly to help the wound seal up.
"You really want to put off the wedding and do this?" Jovani felt like the world was tilting on its side.
"You know that I love you so much and would be willing to give you anything. I don''t know about tomorrow though. Next week." Eve''s face twitched.
"If it is early next week, we could still do it. I don''t want to wait too long though." Jovani could do that, there was a high chance it could be made possible. The rest of the week just needed to pass by without additional problems.
Chapter 285 Shifts
Read A/N at bottom
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Lena ended up wandering around the hospital until the coffee shop could be located. The fuzzy-headed feeling from the sleeping medication was not going away and coffee seemed like the best option.
The barista managing the front desk was nice enough and quickly got the coffee ready. There wasn''t even a question about how many espresso shots Lena requested.
"I hope your family gets to feeling better soon, dear." The princess thanked the woman before turning and leaving. Sentiments were nice but they never actually did anything to make such situations any better. Lena was genuinely thankful for the coffee though. The aroma alone was enough to begin lifting the tired haze. The chance of eating anything soon was low which meant the coffee would have to do as sustenance for the time being.
Most of the coffee was gone by the time Lena made it back to Zane''s hospital room. She took an extra moment to finish the drink before tossing the Styrofoam cup.
Samuel and Romeo were the only ones there to great her. Richard being gone took some of the pressure off. No point in him being there considering the current state of things.
"Are you doing alright?" Samuel watched as she went back over to Zane''s bed.
"Everything is the same as before. You should think about getting sleep. I''ll take the first shift." Lena would have been perfectly fine taking the whole night shift after sleeping for so long.
"It''s fine, I don''t mind staying up for now. Romeo?" The bodyguard remained positioned by the door in same ce since entering.
"I''m fine. There''s nothing for me to do." Romeo nced over at Lena.
"Unless there''s anything that the princess needs, I don''t intend to move from this position." Long nights were something the body grew used to. Being in the Mafia meant expecting nine out of ten nights to bete or without sleep.
"Both of you should be thinking about getting sleeping instead. I don''t mind staying upte to keep watch.
"That''s uneptable. Considering I have been sleeping most of the day, I will be staying up to keep watch. Both of you will sleep first shift." Lena knew that she wouldn''t be able to sleep after everything. Likely it would be days before she could rest properly again.
"I don''t mind staying up with you. I''m not tired yet. Plus, Jovani mentioned that there might be some things he needs from me." Samuel went over to give the princess a hug but Lena evaded before it could happen.
"Jovani can say whatever he wants. Both of you need sleep."
"Come now, I think what you really could do with is a hug. It''s good to let people take care of you during these times." Samuel wouldn''t be dissuaded that easily as he tried to hug the other again. The princess used firm force in keeping distance between them. Pushing the other back by his chest.
"I''m not in the mood for such things right now. Stop fussing about me and get some sleep before the night ends up passing by." Samuel grabbed Lena''s hand before it left his chest.
"I know right now isn''t you''re not in the mood for this and that there is a lot going. That''s exactly why you should let me do this for you. You can''t keep pushing people away, sometimes it''s better to just let them be next to you and give you strength." Instead of pulling the other in for a hug, Samuel opted for kissing her hand instead. His lips were soft against her hand like the feeling of a butterfly''s wings brushing against her fingers.
Samuel felt as the action made Lena''s hand twitch slightly. Did it create one of those odd reactions within her she tried so much to avoid?
"If you don''t want me to hug you, that''s fine. When ites to other things, don''t keep pushing me away. I want to stay up with you so that''s what I intended to." Lena''s eyes shed with confliction for a moment before her face settled into a typical scowl.
"Very well. Not for the whole night through. That isn''t something I will allow since you haven''t gotten any sleep."
"What if I do stay up all night? It isn''t like there will be anything else going on except for staying here. I will be fine either way." Samuel released the other''s hand after cing another teasing kiss on it.
"Romeo, I know that you aren''t very keen on leaving the door but would it would be too much to request that you or someone else bring dinner for us?" It would be another fight but Samuel would do what needed to be done to make sure the princess ate something before the night ended.
"I can see if Hester is avable to do so. If not, would you prefer something be ordered and brought here?" Samuel quickly shot the idea down.
"Right now, I don''t think that would be a good idea. Since we still don''t know everything going on. I would prefer if it was you or someone from the estate."
"I think he''s right. There will be fewer people at the hospital tonight. If someone is going to try anything again, nighttime would be the best shot they''d have." Jovani didn''t mention this but Samuel''s instincts told him that such an event could take ce.
"Very well. I will call Hester then and see what the options are." Lena checked her own phone as the guard went into the hall to make the call. Still nothing from Julius. He could handle himself without a doubt. Any kind of radio silence struck a nerve with everything else going on. The Princess preferred to have all her family in the same ce. Less to worry about.
"Try not to worry too much. Everything is going to be okay now that they are here. Even the doctor said it was unlikely the worst-case scenario would ur. You''ll need to try to eat something."
"I had coffee earlier, that''s enough for tonight." Samuel tsked.
"That''s hardly enough to get you through after not eating any all day. Coffee won''t cut it. If want, I can even feed you so you don''t have to struggle with it yourself" Lena shot the other a cold look. Not the kind of thing she needed right now.
Chapter 286 Food Is Good For You
Samuel felt a major deja vu moment when it came to getting Lena to eat. The princess refused to leave the hospital room which made perfect sense but did no one any good. Especially not herself.
"You know that you need to think about eating something. Your uncle is going to be here soon and the food has alreadye. No sense in putting off eating anything." Romeo requested that Jeff''s brother fetch dinner since he happened to be in the area. He settled on sandwiches believing them to be the best option for the current circumstance.
"I already told you that I''m not interested in eating anything right now. You should just focus on eating something yourself and letting me be." Lena pushed the sandwich back in the other''s direction. She felt slightly better knowing that her uncle was on his way to the hospital. Only barely however. Once he actually reached the hospital, she would be able to breathe better.
"I am going to eat my food. Nothing to worry about with that. I just want to make sure you have something to eat as well." Samuel picked up the sandwich.
"Even one small bite would be better than nothing. If you don''t take care of yourself, you know that everyone else who is here will start worrying about you." Lena turned her head away as her fianc¨¦ continued to try and coax her to eat.
"Nothing bad is going toe from me not eating for a few hours. That is hardly anything to worry about inparison to everything else that is going on." The princess huffed before slipping off the bed. She wouldn''t stay near the other if he intended to continue trying to push food in her face.
"Maybe not entirely right now. But over time it will end up causing you some problems. Coffee is only going to help you so far before your body ends up crashing once the caffeine is gone." Samuel broke off a piece and took a bite of his own sandwich.
"You need something better if you''re nning on staying up all night. Food is good for you. It''ll help give you the energy you need to stay awake longer." Romeo left earlier to deliver food to Clive''s wife leaving Samuel and the princess as the only two in the hospital room aside from her recovering father.
"Sammy. You know that this isn''t the first time that we have gone through this before. I''m not interested in eating and would prefer on that note if you would leave the matter alone." The harsh edge to her tone told him that the princess meant what she said.
"I know that, but I wouldn''t be doing my job very well if I didn''t manage to convince you to take care of yourself during these times."
"What job are you talking about? The only job you have to worry about doesn''t lie with me. That''s between you and Jovani whatever that looks like." Lena failed at evading Samuel when the other caught her in a hug. Pressing a gentle kiss to the soft lips, he tilted her head up to look at him.
"That might be what you believe. As your fianc¨¦ though, I believe that there is a job I need to take care of. Which includes making sure you are eating properly and taking care of yourself."
"You have a funny way of going about this job if you think the right way includes drugging someone to get them to listen." Lena gently elbowed the other to get him to let go. Something about the kiss left her without the energy to be harsh with the other.
"That is arguable I believe. I needed to be able to do something to make sure you weren''t going to run off when I wasn''t paying attention to you. This idea for once didn''te from Jovani." Perhaps not the right kind of thing to be proud of but Samuel wouldn''t suppress the feeling since his quick thinking lead to what he believed to be the right choice.
"Jovani might not have directly told you what to do, but he certainly has influenced you quite a bit since the two of you met." Samuel''s increasing level of boldness being one of the things that Jovani could be held responsible for.
The shy fianc¨¦ she first met had almostpletely disappeared over the past few months with everything that had been taking ce. On many levels the changes were good. On others, they annoyed the princess because the pushback made it harder to maintain her usual level of freedom.
"I don''t think that it is something that you mind as much as you might think you do. Jovani being around has led to a number of good things. This is one of them." Before Lena could fully shove the other away again, he moved her back towards the bed.
"Right now though, we need to stop talking about all of this and you need to think about eating something."
"I''m not interested in this food. You can put it aside forter or my uncle can have it when hees. I''m certain that he likely won''t have eaten any dinner."
"Do you think your uncle would be okay with you not eating something with everything else that is going on?" Lena snorted in response to the question, pushing the other''s hands off again.
"My uncle will likely not care all that much about my eating habits considering my father is his bother. His focus will likely bepletely on him until the doctor says for certain what the final oue of the situation will be." The princess didn''t want to think too much about what the final oue could be. Too soon to know anything one way or another. Spending too much time thinking about it would likely cause her to start getting destructive again. If the location was different, the princess wouldn''t care about causing destruction. Damaging a hospital though, didn''t benefit anyone.
"That might be. I''m sure though that he will also be worried about you just as much as your father. You are after all right now the only other member of the family who is awake. You need to keep it that way." The ever-persistent Samuel didn''t seem like no would be an eptable option any time soon.
"If you''re going to keep trying to get me to eat in such a pushy manner, you should go elsewhere because I don''t n on changing my mind either." Lena could feel her stomach grumble. Eating at the current moment in time wouldn''t be the best choice for her. She knew that her stomach would rebel against anything that she tried to eat.
"Why don''t wepromise. You take one small bite and I let it be for the rest of the night? I can even feed it to you if you''d prefer." Samuel broke off a rtively small piece of sandwich. Held it out to the princess as though it were some kind of peace offering that could be given to appease her. The look on Lena''s face indicated how unimpressed she was.
"Bad human. I have already told you plenty of times. No means no. No matter what you try to say or do." The use of the words ''bad human'' caused Samuel tough.
"Bad human, really you? Don''t you think that those words would be better applied to you since you''re the one being so difficult?" cing the piece of the sandwich down on in it''s wrapper before he identally dropped it, his full attention came back to the princess.
"Not in the slightest considering that I''m the person who is in charge right now. What I say or don''t say goes. Which leaves you being the one in the bad person position for not listening to me over thest half dozen times I''ve told you no." Lena crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow almost daring the other to argue with her. Her worn features made her look somewhat less intimidatingpared to normal. A clear sign she needed to be taking care of herself.
"I wouldn''t be having to repeat myself if you were more willing to take better care of yourself. I believe that is what makes you the bad person in this case." Samuel took a step toward the princess as he spoke. He opened his mouth as though to say something else but paused when a knock came on the hospital room door. By the rushed urgency of it, one could presume Julius had arrived.
Samuel shot Lena a look and mouthed something to her. This conversation would have to be finished at ater point in time when they were alone. Right now the focus needed to shift back to what was going on in the hospital room. Julius would want to know in more detail what took ce.
Chapter 287 No Offense
Julius hardly waited for a response before bursting into the hospital room. The sheen of sweat on his forehead an indication of how quickly he made his way back to be able toe to the hospital.
"How bad is it?" He didn''t dare look over at his older brother instead turning to Lena for her verdict.
"Everyone is still alive if that''s what you''re worried about." The princess indicated where her father was.
"The others are in two other hospital rooms. Pretty much all in the same condition minus Clive who took the hit worse than the rest." The news did little to ease the other''s concern over the matter.
"Do we have any sold information for what to expect over the next few days?" Julius took off his work coat, folding it neatly before resting it over the arm of the hospital chair.
"Observation is the only thing that will be going over these next few days." Her uncle didn''t appear thrilled by the news.
"Do we at least have some idea of who is behind this and what else needs to be done to ensure that nothing else along these lines happens?" Lena forgot what her uncle could be like once he hit his protective and over-worried mode.
"Yes. With the help of Jovani, we are already working on getting that taken care of right now. We don''t know for certain yet who is behind this but we have some leads we will be taking a look atter." Not enough to thrill the princess though not that this would pose much of a hurdle to her.
"With you being here, it will be a little easier to off and figure out more about what is going on."
"You shouldn''t be nning on going anywhere at this point in time. There are still too many things that we don''t know about. Can''t afford to have something happen to you along with everyone else." Samuel interjected himself into the conversation causing the princess to sigh.
"I already discussed all of that with your older cousin. Nothing will be going on until the following morning. The only thing to figure out is who will be going on." Of course, the princess wanted to be the person to go and do it herself. With her family being the ones that got hurt, it only made sense that she would be the person to deal with the problems.
Lena took some extra time to tell her uncle about everything that he missed hearing about. Knowing that the older man would end up being more stressed out if he couldn''t see the full picture. She loved her uncle, but sometimes he became more of a deficit than a benefit when it came to dealing with difficult situations.
"Since I am here now. The rest of you don''t have to stay around if you don''t want. I have no problem with keeping an eye on my brother while everyone else does what they need to."
"I have already tried to talk with Lena about doing something different for tonight. She doesn''t seem keen on a listening though." Samuel interjected himself into the conversation again. Earning himself another jab from Lena''s elbow into his side.
"This isn''t something that''s up for debate. Right now, no one should be thinking about leaving here. Jovani can watch out for himself. Everyone else shouldn''t be thinking about doing anything until morning." There would be a lot of people who would want to react after what happened. An open attack on the Red Scorpions could be called a deration of war if the news went far enough.
Mild protection came in the form of the media knowing better than to broadcast such things. If they valued their lives and jobs. Few would go against and those who did should serve as an indication of who might be behind this issue. Few names came to Lena''s mind, the ones that Julian could throw out. Leaving Jovani as the ck sheep.
"This is a very serious situation right now and there are a few things you need to understand. Every move made needs to be considered carefully. You or anyone else can''t go anywhere without prior notification. Jovani may be training you but that doesn''t make up forck of real-world experience." Turning around, Lena reached up and grabbed Samuel''s chin, forcing him to look directly at her. The thick tension only being broken by the constant beeping of the machines keeping her father alive.
"You need to keep in mind that at this moment in time, you''re the most vulnerable piece here. You know better how to protect yourself and don''t believe you need full protection. But that doesn''t mean you''re ready to handle something like this. While you''re here, everyone in this room and outside of it who works with us is who you''re going to listen to and follow. Is that clear?" Their gazes remained locked when Samuel didn''t respond right away. Julius wasn''t going to get involved with his focus being on his brother.
"There still has to be something I can do yup help out." Close enough to an understanding? Perhaps.
"Of course there will be. Just not tonight. I will be requesting Hesteres here tomorrow for exactly that reason."
"Is it going to be safe for him to move?" Romeo''s question as he stepped back into the room.
"We''re in fairly far apart locations. It could be a bit of a challenge to put together an escort."
"I don''t think that we need to worry about that. Hester knows well enough what he''s doing. We''re by no means trapped either but I don''t want to draw a lot of attention." Lena shifted her attention over to her uncle.
"You too though should be staying in ce until we figure everything out."
"I have no intention to do anything reckless. But if ites down to it, I will be the one making the announcement." Julius''s tone came out strained. Anyone in his situation would be near his limit considering the situation. Both he and Lena were in the same boat yet the emotions they felt and the experience were worlds apart. Zane might''ve been Lena''s father but he was also Julius''s brother. Thetter having grown up with him all his life. He knew all the sides that the princess never met or saw. Experiences, memories, things Lena would only understand as her and Leo grew older together.
"I don''t have anything to say against that. I want to wait for as long as possible however." Waiting in some respects would only work in their favor.
"There''s a few things that I want to look for right now. One of those being a certain rat who I believe took off with something important. The other I only have ideas about but may not prove useful."
"What ideas?" Samuel''s inquiry came as Romeo''s phone began to ring. Lena motioned for him to take it outside of the room.
"Things that I will talk about tomorrow. Jovani will need to be here for this as well. I think he might be able to help." There were a few other pieces the princess wanted to move into y as well. Some of which would likely take a few days to move.
"Tonight though, we just need to focus on what''s going on here and wait."
"Surprisinging from the one person I know to the be most impatient of all." The joke from her fiance didn''t have quite the anticipated reaction.
"Serious situations require a little bit of a different approach." Lena shifted to sit back down on the empty hospital bed.
"Everyone is ounted for which allows us some extra time to figure out what to do next. Whatever it is, I don''t want whoever is behind this to figure out. No offense to your cousin, but I don''t think he''s going to be the one
making the best moves going forward."
What ideas?" Samuel''s inquiry came as Romeo''s phone began to ring. Lena motioned for him to take it outside of the room.
"Things that I will talk about tomorrow. Jovani will need to be here for this as well. I think he might be able to help." There were a few other pieces the princess wanted to move into y as well. Some of which would likely take a few days to move.
? "Tonight though, we just need to focus on what''s going on here and wait."
"Surprisinging from the one person I know to the be most impatient of all." The joke from her fiance didn''t have quite the anticipated effect.
"Everyone is ounted for which allows us some extra time to figure out what to do next. Whatever it is, I don''t want whoever is behind this to figure out. No offense to your cousin, but I don''t think he''s going to be the one
Lena''s instinct told her that. Jovani might''ve been good at a lot of things, working with others didn''t feel like one of them.
Chapter 288 Just A Little Helpful Someone
As much as Eve wanted Jovani to stay for the night and rest him arm, he couldn''t afford to do it. Too much going on that required his attention. Most of the Red Scorpion family being currently out ofmission meant a lot of small pieces for him to focus on. One of which lied with Samuel''s family. His younger cousin''s mother might''ve been with them but the rest were elsewhere.
While the older cousin didn''t think there would be much of a threat to them, he wasn''t the kind of person to take such chances. Tomorrow something would have to done in order to ensure their safety. Alonso would''ve been his first choice but his right-hand man didn''t happen to be the best with kids, the one thing he needed someone for. Thus, he would have to rely on someone else for that task or himself if it came down to it.
"Emily, you know that I really need your help with this right now. Not tonight, it would be tomorrow afternoon. You''re one of the best people I know with kids and they do happen to be family." Low blow to bring that up, he knew but desperate times called for desperate measures to get her on board.
"Sam won''t mind. I''ll make sure to tell him about it myself. You just have to go there, make sure they know who you are and pick them up." Jovani winched as he attempted to move his injured arm. Few more painkillers before he wouldn''t be feeling that anymore.
"Of course. Where they will stay will be up to my cousin but I know you''re plenty qualified to watch out for them." If she remembered to keep anything dangerous out of their reach.
One call already down but a ton more for him to take care of. Some would require him to call in some rather big favors. ying his cards carefully would be important for this. Something Jovani happened to be good at when under a decent amount of pressure. Picking up the marbled ss, he finished off the amber liquid in one shot. Liquid strength wouldn''t go amiss either. He didn''t get a chance to make his next call before his phone started ringing.
"Alonso, I already told you before that you need to be staying at the hospital for tonight. I don''t need to you to being back here as I can take care of myself just fine."
"While I appreciate you informing me of that. For once, it isn''t the reason why I''m calling you. I thought instead that you would like to know you got a tip on one of the people you told me to watch out for. I don''t how much good it will be, but worth a look at the message I sent." Jovani stopped everything else he was doing in order to find the email the other mentioned. His lips curved into a smirk the moment he scanned through it.
"Aren''t you a little helpful someone. This is indeed more than a little useful for what I have been working on. Having this though means there might be a few favors I need to ask you to do for me. Top one being to make sure everyone there stays safe. Tell me if we need to get a substitute to take your ce." Jovani looked through the email once more before closing it off again.
"The second being that I need you to contact a certain someone for me. I know that you aren''t all that thrilled about them but their help could reallye in handy right about now." Alonso became unusually quiet on the other end of the phone after Jovani finished speaking.
"Are you really certain they are the person you want me to contact? Isn''t there someone else we could rely on instead?" Jovani''s ears didn''t miss the other''s exasperation.
"Ohe now. It isn''t like I''m asking you to work with them this time. I just need you to contact them for me and let them know I need a favor. After that, you don''t have to do anything else." The Vedova Nera bossed huff. His right-hand man could certainly be a child when he wanted to be.
"I put up with Richard today due to everything else going on. You can do this one thing for far less time than what I dealt with. Just let me know when you''re done and I will take it from there." Jovani didn''t give the other a chance toin again before ending the call.
ncing around the room, he sighed. The use peace he could enjoy in his office when Alonso was gone didn''t feel the same after today. The heavy silence put him on edge. No way would anything be able to lurk among the shadows yet his eyes kept trying to y tricks on him. Pain, exhaustion, stress, and blood loss were a badbination for someone who could hardly keep his over-excited mind in the correct ce most days. Rather than fixating on it, he shifted to going on to his next call. The noise would help take his mind off of it.
"Ralph! Thank you so much for picking up despite howte it is tonight. I hope you and the family are doing well still?" Jovani refilled his ss as he got the polite chatter out of the way.
"Really? That is so good to hear, congrattions on going ahead with the second one. I hope your wife is just as pleased about it as you are? Ah well, you know me. I''m not quite in the ce to be thinking about that yet." He silently nodded his head along with what the other said.
"In a few years, I''m certain that my own fianc¨¦ is eager to be where your wife is right now. Just a few more pieces need to be in ce for that to happen. Actually, that leads to one of the reasons I called you tonight. I''m sure that you remember you owe me a little favor after thest time I helped you out. I thought that maybe I could take the time right now to cash in on that?"
Jovani hoped that the other would agree rather quickly. He didn''t want to have to pull out the harsh card like he had done so many times in the past. Ralph was one of the few he actually liked. Family came first though. Hence, Jovani would do what needed to in order to get the other to agree if it came down to it. Enough people were still wandering around that he could afford to do somete night visits if needed.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 289 You Know, I Dont Like You
Alonso sighed. He didn''t want to have to leave the hospital again. Except to be with Jovani to keep an eye on the other. The task requested of him though put him elsewhere. Around someone he would rather avoid.Any order from the Vedova Near man was an order he had to follow though.
"You think that everyone will be safe here for now?" He didn''t know Romeo that well but the man seemed reliable.
"No one is going to be leaving tonight. Why do you ask?" The other guard sipped his coffee. He despite how he dested the pitch ck liquid, he knew it would keep him awake. An energy drink would''ve been his first choice but the hospital needed to restock them.
"Because I need to leave in order to run an errand. I should be back before morning. I don''t want to leave however if you think anything could go wrong." The somber, stalky guard remained quiet for a moment. Lost in thought while staring at the hospital room door.
"If anything does go wrong, it''s nothing you''d be able to help control. Just make sure you watch yourself and who you''re around." Alonso understood well enough what the other meant.
"Don''t worry, I will make sure to be careful of that. Even if there isn''t anything I can do, update me about any changes. I would be the best person to update Jovani." Romeo nodded his head.
"Don''t offense to anything. I rather like your boss and appreciate what he''s done, I don''t fully trust his capabilities though." Alonso offered the other a lop-sided smile.
I don''t take any offense to that. A lot of people feel that way about him before really getting to know him. He''s not exactly a typical Mafia boss either. What hecks in abilities though, he makes up with for spirit. I won''t say anything to him but everyone in here is in good hands with him around." That was something Alonso would be willing to stake his life on.
He waved the other off as he turned around. No way would Jovani allow anyone in the room to be harmed so long as he had a say in the matter. He''d sooner risk himself than allow for anything to happen to his family. Jovani''s spirit was exactly what made people like Alonso want to give so much back to the man. In fact, it was the only reason the right-hand man was even willing to do the task he was asked. Anyone else, he would''ve refused right away.
Tonight though, Alonso would suck it up though and do what needed to be done. He''d keep the meeting short and sweet but get what he needed from the other. Jovani didn''t need to direct him to know what the Vedova Nera boss would be looking for. The car ride would at least be short and sweet.
In fact, it ended up being much too short for the other man. He didn''t have enough time to mentally prepare himself for the man he was about to face. Alonso slowed the car as he approached the location. Not too many people were out to take notice of him. He intended to keep it that way as well. Shifting off the main road to find a parking space that would provide enough cover. He didn''t have to think to know the man would already be aware of his arrival.
"Only for you would I be willing to do something as foolish as this." Alonso grumbled under his breath, taking the key out of the ignition before cing it into his pocket. This was much closer to a suicide-style mission than he would''ve liked for it to have been. That didn''t stop him from standing as tall as possible upon exiting the vehicle.
Keeping his eyes staring straight ahead, he ignored the few looks thrown his way. The less attention he gave to them, the less they would do to him. He needed to avoid causing as much extra trouble as possible.
"Isn''t this a sight for sore eyes? I thought that thest time you were here, you said you wouldn''t being back." Alonso didn''t bother knocking as the threw the room door open. The man didn''t take his attention away from the wine ss in his hands. Lounging on the sofa without a care in the world.
The room was dull light and musty. The smell a sign that the room hadn''t been cleaned in quite some time. Especially if the yellowing of the walls was anything to go by. It didn''t seem as though the man had changed much since Alonsost saw him. Pity he couldn''t have found out the other died some time ago rather than sitting in front of him alive and well.
"And I very much meant what I said back then. If something hadn''t changed recently, I wouldn''t be standing in front of you right now."
"Aww, did the little put have toe back to get help with his tail tucked between his legs?" The man cooed, finally looking up at the other, a mocking smirk stered on his lips. It took almost all of Alonso''s strength to not pull his gun and shoot the other. Even touching his gun at the current moment in time would likely seal his death. For now, he would just have to hold back.
"I didn''te back here looking for help with my tail tucked between my legs. The only reason that I havee back is to fulfill a request by my boss. He''s the one who''s looking for you, not me. This request is one that I would advise you not reject either." Alonso managed to maintain a straight face as he spoke despite the other not seeming to take him seriously.
"Your boss? Are you still trying to hide behind someone else when you make these requests? That is so very much like you Alonso. Why don''t you juste out straight and tell me what you need? We have both known each other long enough that there is no need for such things between us."
"You should know that I truly don''t like you. Not even a small amount. If it wasn''t for a request by my boss, I would choose to never see your face again." Alonso spat out the harsh words.
"If you really are wanting to take this job and have work for once, I suggest you hurry up and answer. I don''t have all day to waste on this matter, Cain." Cain tsked at the other before tossing the rest of his drink back.
"That is now way to be speaking to an old friend. Since it does seem like you''re in a rush though. I will go ahead and y along with you this once. Tell me what your ''boss'' wants and I will see if I can make it happen." Refilling his ss, he looked back up at the other.
"Don''t just stay standing there, sit down here and drink with me. You should know that being stiff is no way to go about finishing a business transaction." Alonso sighed deeply at the other''s words.
He knew Cain was right but, the man wasn''t someone he''d normally be caught dead drinking with. Another part of his sanity, he''d have to give up for Jovani? It would seem so even if it just for a little while.
Chapter 290 Not The Plan
Lena knew that her fianc¨¦ would the first one to fall asleep. In fact, she made sure of it. The princess''s ns weren''t ones he could be involved in. Samuel needed to stay somewhere safe so she didn''t have to worry. Her uncle wouldn''t care to stop her. Julius wouldn''t even pay attention to her with everything else going on. She betted on that at least.
"You know that I am technically not supposed to allow anyone to leave here. That goes for you as well." The ever-diligent Romeo would be the one she would have to argue with.
"You wouldn''t actually try to stop me though. We both feel the same way and you know exactly why I''m doing this."
"Precisely why it would be wise of me to stop you from what you''re doing." The burly guard replied.
"Creating a scene in the hospital though I don''t believe would over well with everyone else." The hospital was practically deserted. Only thete-night staff were on call. The rest of the visitors were requested to leave hours earlier. The Vedova Nera and Red Scorpion families were granted special privileges allowing them to stay however long.
"You''re right. That''s exactly why you''re not going to create a scene. Should things go well, I will be back way before morning." The princess fiddled with the pipe in her pocket as she stared the guard down.
"First Alonso and now you. What exactly am I supposed to say if neither of you turn back up before morning?" There was an edge of exasperation at the back of Romeo''s voice.
"You can say whatever you need to. More people will be arounde morning. No one else would likely be able to leave by that point." The princess shrugged. She only really cared if one person knew where she went.
The engagement didn''t make them bound to each other though. The princess still held her freedom to do as she pleased. After all, she held the most power between the two of them.
"Very well. If you''re not back by morning though, I maye and fetch you myself. You know that your father wouldn''t ept anything happening to you during this time." Lena let out a dry chuckle as the guard shifted to let her pass.
"I think that that is something you hardly need to worry about. Now that things are starting to shift into motion, I hardly intend to die before they are settled." Roneo watched as the other left but didn''t say anything. Nothing he could say would stop the princess after all.
Too many things to do and too little time to aplish them all. Still, she would pause to smoke before she left. With the caffeine wearing off, she needed something else to rece it. Something that would help to calm her nerves.
"Fancy seeing you out here tonight. I thought that we all agreed earlier that no one would leave before morning."
"You''re one to be speaking. I didn''t expect you to being back here with that injury of yours, Jovani." The princess put the pipe to her lips without turning to look at the other.
"As if such a small flesh wound would be able to keep me down. I just needed to make sure it got treated. You would be surprised by the wonders that alcohol can do for such things." Stepping away from the car, he rolled his injured shoulder to emphasize how little it hurt.
"So you''re telling me that I''m expected to trust a drunk man to take me to our destination." Jovani let out a sharp, amusedugh. His eyes shone brightly with amusement as he shed her a grin. Something about it made the world feral sh through the princess''s mind. An indication of a man close to the edge?
"Did you really think that I would allow you to have all fun yourself? That would simply be unthinkable. Not to mention you need a guide to get you there." Against her better judgment, Lena offered him her pipe.
"Of course not. But, I figured that we would end up meeting there. Not be going there together." Jovani gave the pipe a good look over and a quick smell before putting it into his mouth. The man had special tastes when it came to such things.
"You guessed wrong on that. I couldn''t let you go there alone when you don''t know your way around that well." Jovani took another puff from the pipe before handing it back over.
"You certainly have good taste." The princess willingly took it back. If Jovani would be driving them there, she could continue to smoke.
"It actually belongs to my father. I just borrow it from time to." With the pipe, at least she could keep something of her father''s close to her. Even if she needed to leave the hospital for a while.
"We should be getting now before we waste too much extra time. Everyone here should be fine for the time being."
"Very well then. We shouldn''t take too long to get there. I know the best route to reach our destination in the quickest time. What about my younger cousin?" The princess paused getting into the car at this question. Shooting the other the first harsh look of the evening.
"Two can y at the same trick. He likely won''t be waking up until the morning. Certainly not before we get back if you stop wasting time."
"Indeed. Very well yed. You can''t me me for choosing to stoop to such methods. Sometimes it takes all sorts of things in order to make sure someone stays safe." The Vedova Nera boss obviously regretted nothing. In fact, he would do it again if the situation called for it. He would teach his younger cousin all the harmless tricks he needed to know. The more dangerous ones would never leave his lips unless absolutely necessary.
"I suppose you should know now that we''re leaving you and I probably have different ns. Both routes are going to help us reach the same goal. Just, probably not as quickly as you''d like." Jovani fastened his seatbelt before making sure the car door locks were in ce.
"I thought that you were taking me to where we could get some answers." Did she make the wrong choice deciding toe with him?
"Yes, but not exactly the n you''re thinking of. Don''t worry though, you willpletely understand when we get there. I should say that Alonso will being along as well. He''ll be meeting us there."
Starting the car, Jovani turned to look at the other with the same strange grin on his face again.
"I take it that you don''t mind speed, do you Princess? though I''m not often behind the wheel. I do enjoy a little bit of speed. Especially when trying to get somewhere rather quickly." Did she have a choice? Stepping into the car had practically sealed her fate on whatever he nned to do.
Chapter 291 Understatement Of The Century
Lena''s idea of speed and the other man''s seemed to be somewhat different. Certainly, the princess did enjoy flying down the freeway on her motorcycle. The feeling of the wind brushing against the body was absolutely amazing. That same feeling though couldn''t be recreated in a car. Not even with the windows rolled down.
Lena didn''t open her mouth to tell the other to slow down. Due to howte it was, the road happened to be fairly empty which decreased the risk of a crash. Not to mention the driver seemed to know how to drive well at such high speeds.
"Do you know where we''re going? It might be a little hard to tell with how dark it is." Lena nced over at the man without fully taking her eyes off the window.
"I Have a general idea though the dark does make it hard. I am not sure why you want to go this way. Earlier you said our destination was more east of here." Lena bit down on the tip of the pipe. It would need to be refilled again soon.
"That''s because as I told you before, we are going about things a different way. There is someone else I think we need to go speak with first."
"Someone whose name you haven''t bothered to impart to me yet." Lena pointed out, shifting her seat to cross her legs. At least his car had enough space for her to do sofortably.
"They''re someone you''re not familiar with. I doubt that their name would mean anything to you." Jovani''s hands tightened on the steering wheel as his put pressed further down on the gas peddle. The car lurched slightly before speeding up even faster than before.
"How does the speed suit you though. Do you think we will make it there in plenty of time?" Half-past one in the morning reflected back on the car''s clock.
"I think we will. Even if you don''t go any faster than this. For the speed, I can''t say I really care for it. Nothingpared to riding on a motorcycle. Far more enjoyablepared to this."
"I haven''t rid one of those in a few years. Perhaps something I might need to change after this. What about Sammy? I bet he''s fairly good at it. Though perhaps not quite so fond of the same level of speed as we are." The princess raised an eyebrow in response to hisment.
"My motorcycle is solely for me to drive. I don''t allow anyone else to touch it unless they are a passenger. I highly doubt whatever you ride isparable to my own."
"Perhaps only because I haven''t touched my own in a few years." Jovani chuckled. Reaching his hand out to take the pipe.
"You do always seems to have good taste though. Maybe something I can get a look atter on."
"The pipe is out. I need to take care of relighting it again." The other retracted his hand in response to this.
"Would you do that in the car?" The answer to his question came hardly seconds after it passed his lips. The princess had done it plenty of times in the past to know what she was doing. Even the speed wouldn''t stop her hands from being steady as she poured the powder. A little bit was all it took.
"You sure you want to take another hit? You already have a lot of other things mixed around in your system." Lena didn''t hand it back over right away. Instead, taking the first few puffs for herself. No matter how much she took though, it would likely not be enough for what was going on.
"Of course. It has been a few hours since I''ve had anything else. Most of it wearing off now and I need something extra to keep the pain away."
"Funny you say that." The princess mused as she handed over the pipe.
"Considering you seem to have no problem using that arm. I wonder if you''re just saying that to get me to hand it over." Jovani paused for a second before a smirk flittered across his lips.
"You really think that I would do something like that? I am rather offended you wouldn''t believe me to be more straightforward."
"Straight forward is a word that suits Sammy far better than it does you. Though, our encounter wouldn''t be so amusing if you were more serious about yourself."
ncing out the passenger window, a silver car following not too far behind them caught the princess''s attention.
"Serious? I always take everything I do very seriously. I just might note across as the most serious person you''ve dealt with."
"Understatement of the centaury. I could believe that after thisst hour stuck in the car with you. I had honestly thought though that the conversation would go a little differently."
"Differently how? Considering the circumstances, I think it''s as best as can be expected. You don''t evere across as an open book, Princess. I can''t imagine our conversations being anything but shallow." Jovani passed the pipe back to her again.
"Shallow? I would more say, impersonal. You and I don''t exactly get along after what you did to Samuel. Though you''ve started to grow on me, that wouldn''t stop me from smacking you again."
"Because someone like you dear princess is hard to resist? Such an interesting person taking such a liking to my younger cousin. It certainly is something interesting to watch."
"You think so? Outside family support has never mattered much to me. You can think what you like and it wouldn''t change my impression." Lena took another deep breath, inhaling the fumes from the pipe. Following this, she snuffed the thing out.
"I think though it''s about time we changed courses on this, don''t you agree." The sound of a trigger clicking cut through the silence in the car.
"I do enjoy ying games every now and again. I can''t say though that this is the right time for it. I suggest you consider pulling over before you end up with more than just a sore arm."
Both knew that the Princess meant the threat. But, that didn''t stop the driver from continuing at the same speed as before.
"You really think that is a wise move considering the positions? I would reconsider if I was in your ce."
"If you wanted me to reconsider, you should have thought about that far before now. Don''t think you can get away with anything by underestimating me now."
"Very well then." The driver''s hands went up as he suddenly mmed on the breaks. The rapid move jerked the car harder than both of them had anticipated as the vehicle swerved before it began to spin out.
Chapter 292 Dont Test Me
Alonso didn''t like everyone else that came to join them. Hispanion on the other hand seemed ted.
"Learn to rx a little bit. You''ll get what you want if I deem it important enough. Right now just take a few minutes to get your mind off it." He practically thrust the ss filled with cold amber liquid into the other''s hands.
"Besides, it''s not like anything bad will happen to you while you''re here." The right-hand man hardly felt any concern for himself. Alonso didn''t like the attention he received. The lingering eyes on top of his nerves made him near ready to shoot someone. He could ignore it though if he focused on the ss in his hands. At least for the time being.
"So why don''t you tell me a little bit more about this person. What kind of request are we looking at? If it didn''te from you, I expect it to be something big." The man tapped the empty bottle impatiently on the table. A signal he wanted something full to rece it.
"It is a big request. Something that you might be able to profit nicely off of. If you can do the job properly that is." Alonso took a tentative sip out of his ss. He would need his wits to be able to drive back safely.
"Money is always a word that I like to hear. Very simr to you know who. s, pity he hasn''t shown up here in a while." Despite the words, no hint of remorse lingered in the other''s voice.
"I didn''te here looking for him. I came only because I need something from you."
"You think that if I imparted that information onto him he''de around more? Jensen always did manage to find the best jobs to take. Sting bastard though never wanted to share them." Alonso huffed, shifting the other''s arm that somehow managed to find its way draped over his shoulders.
He didn''t want to be so close to the other but didn''t have a choice. Most of the other seats were taken. By people who weren''t the type to be messed with. Though they stayed quiet and observed, Alonso wasn''t fooled in the slightest. One wrong move and they would deal with him. Setting in the ce was akin to walking into a den of snakes. Snakes Alonso might''ve known from time past but not any less dangerous.
"If you really are wanting the money, I suggest you focus. I brought this here with me. I need you to look at it and tell me what you can find out?" The other man tilted his head at the zip lock baggy held out to him.
"You got something important you want me to look at and you think that''s the best way to store it."
"If you''re going to pick on how I handle things, maybe you don''t want the job." Before he could take it back, the other snatched it away. Setting down his ss of scotch to get a better look at it.
"I didn''t say I didn''t want the job. I simply made an observation." Cain clicked his tongue.
"Besides, even if you did want to give this job to anyone else, who would you go to? We both know that no one else would take you at this hour. Not after everything that happened."
"For someone who double-crossed, I''m honestly not surprised that you still think so highly of yourself. Sorry to disappoint, but you''re not the only option out there. I repeat again that I am only here because I was requested to be. Nothing more, nothing less." The rising frustration was enough to get him to drink the rest of his ss.
Alonso didn''t intend to drink anymore but the other man didn''t seem to understand that.
"It''s going to take me some time to do this. You might as well drink in the meantime. Not like you will be able to go anywhere until I am done." a tall,nky man with a rather nasty scar on the side of his face stepped forward to fill Alonso''s ss.
"Once I figure out what''s on this and what you need from it, I will set my price. I expect that whoever employs you will have enough to pay? You always did go for the stable and reliable ones." Cain motioned for someone to hand him a pair of gloves. One couldn''t afford to leave fingerprints behind.
"Why don''t you stop pretending to not know who he is. It''ll only get more annoying the longer you keep this up." The ss shifted towards the middle of the table but quickly found its way back to its owner.
"Drink. The less you have to drink, the more distracted I will." Cain returned the re the other sent his way. The man-for-hire hardly blinked in response to the other''s cold look.
"You might not like it, but right now I am the one making the calls. You need to drink to get rid of that dark aura around you. If not, I won''t be able to focus on this." Cain didn''t turn away as he began to put thetex gloves on.
"You can be pissed off over anything you want. Fact is, I ended uping on top that time, you didn''t. You decided to go the more stable right. I decided to stick where I am the happiest." The was carefully removed from the bag.
"You don''t have to like it but you can suck it up for now. Especially if I am going to be helping you with this. So bottoms up and sit there quietly for now." Alonso didn''t like the other making a good point. He didn''t have any kind of rebuttal, however.
What Cain said hardly touched the real reason the right-hand man didn''t like the mercenary. He knew it very well too. Not an argument worth having though it seemed.
"Fine. I am on a tight schedule though. Don''t test me by wasting too much of my time." To humor the other, the ss quickly became empty. The poor quality of the scotch could be tasted as it slide down one''s throat. The burn and artificial vor were both very bitter.
"Everyone in the world is on a tight schedule. I will get it done as quickly as possible. I won''t sacrifice the quality of my work though. One hour and we will both get what we want." An hour sounded like a long time. Especially since the other had yet to give the chip a proper look.
"Thirty minutes unless you can give me a good reason to change my mind." Alonso argued firmly.
"Forty-five minutes then. My reason for that is this little one already looks like trouble. Maybe you can''t see that yourself. I have trained to do this for quite a while now." Cain showed the chip to the other.
"You can tell by this little spot here that it''ll be encrypted. Nothing I can''t handle. I will just need the extra time to do it in." Alonso pursed his lips at this. Forty-five minutes would feel like an eternity. Could it be given to spare?
"Thirty minutes and no more unless you absolutely need it. I will say again to not test me on this. Think of it this way, the sooner you finish up, the sooner you get your money."
If money was all the other cared about, those words should''ve been enough incentive to finish quickly. Alonso didn''t have a lot of time to spare. Too much wasted time would result in someone else being in potential danger.
Chapter 293 Crazy Human
Lena''s mouth filled with a metallic taste. Despite bracing for the impact, it didn''t protect her tongue from her teeth.
"Come now, princess. I don''t imagine you thought things would go this way." The other seemed far less fazed about the matter than she did. This didn''t bode well for the situation at hand. He somehow retained a certain amount of his sanity. Choosing to take back control of the wheel before the car struck the barricade.
"Keep your hands on the wheel." Lena took the safety off the gun and kept it pointed towards the other.
"Do you really still think that you''re in a position to be making such demands? I''m still the person sitting behind the wheel do I need to remind you of that again?"
"You try anything again and you will find a bullet nted in your head quicker than you can blink." The driver let out a low, harshugh.
"I highly doubt your reflexes can match mine. You can try though if you want. If you do, keep in mind it would be rather tricky for you to take control. Taking into ount where we are right now, you would need to do it in about ten seconds. You want to try?" Lena narrowed her eyes at the Jovani. Forcing herself to keep her eyes focused on him rather than turn to look behind. One wrong move and the crazy man would likely throw everything into chaos again.
"If you keep pushing me, I would be more than willing to try my luck. Better than being stuck with you."
"really, you wound me, princess. Here I thought that our rtionship was finally starting to get better. You were even willing to share your oh-so-precious pipe with me." The man licked his lips as though savory the vor.
"Sometimes, I have good reasons for doing things that don''t quite benefit me." Lena replied.
"Now, I want you to either keep going to the ce you said we were heading to or pull over." The further they went, the thicker the traffic started to be. Potentially involving innocent in an altercation that didn''t have anything to do with them didn''t bode well with her. Damn it... where did the person she need go? Didn''t the promised time already pass?
"You have a rather sour expression on your face, Princess. Do you not like being around all this traffic?" At least the crazy human held some form of observation skills.
"Perhaps you don''t want something to happen with all these people here? Such as me letting go of the wheel again?" Jovani took his eyes off the road to study Lena''s expression. Despite the neutral expression on her face, her eyes indicated the internal conflict urring.
"Don''t worry, I won''t do anything right now. I would hate for the police to get involved. In case you didn''t notice, they''re only twones across from us." ncing over, Lena saw the other was right. Not one, but two police cars were driving twones over from them. Shit... the gun needed to go down for now. If they caught sight of it, the car would get pulled over.
"That''s a good girl. You don''t want anything to happen to anyone. You keep that down for now and everything will go smoothly." Jovani kept a tight grip on the steering wheel. Speeding up in order to pass the police and get out of the thickest part of traffic. One would think with it being sote, there wouldn''t have been any more rush-hour traffic. Apparently, nightlife in New Jersey managed to stay quite alive and well.
"I''m not doing this for you so don''t get the wrong idea." Lena hissed. Keeping the gun down didn''t mean not being able to point it at the other.
"At the other junction, I want you to get off the interstate." He quickly rejected the request.
"That isn''t something I can really do, Princess. We have somewhere we need to be. Getting off the interstate would create too big of a detour. No way would we be able to get there in time."
"I don''t care about that anymore. I''m telling you that I want you to get off the interstate." She pressured, moving the gun across the seat to press against the other''s leg.
"Can''t really say I''ve been a fond fan of the feeling of a cold, metal gun. Even clothes don''t prevent the chill from seeping through."
"Of course it doesn''t. Maybe what you''re feeling though is an internal chill knowing how serious I am right now. Knowing that I am extremely close to pulling the trigger on this gun if you don''t listen." Jovani let out another harshugh despite swappingnes.
"You act as though you think I''ve never been shot before. Certainly not a pleasant experience but likely wouldn''t die from being shot there."
"No, but two inches to the right might change that." Lena warned. One of the best things her father taught her early was human anatomy. Even with her eyes closed, she knew where to aim to kill."
"You wouldn''t be so willing to kill your fianc¨¦''s cousin, now would you? I don''t think that would go over very well with him." Lena hummed softly in response to this. ncing to her left, she could see they were approaching the next exit. How much more stalling needed to be done?
"I don''t think that he would mind if he saw how you are right now. Get off at this exit." She pushed the gun harder against his leg in an attempt to get him to obey.
"Touchy touchy princess. If you really want me to do, I can. I don''t think it will go the way you want it to."
"You''re right. I think that you will it''ll go better than anticipated." Something out of the corner of her eye took away some of the intense pressure felt. Didn''t mean everything would be settled yet though.
"You sound confident? Perhaps waiting for something to happen."
"Yes, in fact, I am. I''m waiting for the chance to shoot you the next time you do something foolish."
"IT seems like you might exactly get the opportunity you''re waiting for." Jovani waited until thest minute to do as requested, turning off the interstate to get off on the side road.
Turning off the main road meant traveling somewhere darker. Lena didn''t mind though, she only needed to see the man sitting next to her. She just needed to keep an eye on the crazy human for a little while longer.
The sequence of what happened next moved too swiftly for the princess to follow as two shots rang out into the dark night sky. The sound echoing through the air.
Chapter 294 Vanishing Act
Couldn''t people be more careful? Lena winced. Her vision swam as she tried to take note of her surroundings. The timing had been off. By how much, no one could tell. Enough that it messed everything up.
The car thankfully managed to stay on the road. Someone at least knew which tires to hit to keep them on the road. The princess needed it to stay that way if she was going to survive the night. Right now, the chances of that seemed far slimmer than before. Especially after Lena managed to hit her head. Would car manufacturers ever create airbags that deployed in response to any type of collision? At least she hadn''t lost the grip on her gun.
Speaking of lost... One thing missing stuck out like a sore thumb. The bloody driver. Lena didn''t need her vision to be perfect to see that. Even through blurry eyes, one could see quite evidentially that no one upied the driver''s seat. When did he manage to get away? Shouldn''t someone have been able to spot him?
Lena blinked several times to try and clear her vision. The ringing in her ears lessened but her vision didn''t correct itself. Shit... dealing with a concussion wasn''t an option right now. She needed to be able to finish what had been started.
Turning in her seat, she could make out the lights behind her. Someone obviously managed toe. Who exactly though? Fumbling with the sp on the seatbelt, she tried to unbuckle herself. She needed to be able to get out before the other could get away. Otherwise, everything would end up being for nothing.
Darkness, shaky hands, and bad vision didn''t prove very useful for getting a stubborn seatbelt sp to open. The damn thing decided to jam itself. Refusing to unlock believing that danger could still be inevitable. To make matters worse, each tug caused the fabric across her shoulder and waist to cinch tighter into ce. Too much further and it would start to get rather ufortable.
"look here. I need you to unlock yourself right now. I cannot afford to waste my time on you." The princess let go of the gun in order to be able to use both her hands. The stubborn thing still refused to yield even with the extra force.
"Are you okay?" The unexpected voiceing from outside the driver''s side door caused Lena to instinctively go for her gun.
"Easy now. I am only here to make sure you''re okay. No need to be getting handsy with that gun." An unfamiliar face popped into her line of site. The fact that she didn''t recognize the other made her feel worse.
"Who are you?" Lena demanded, unclicking the safety again on her gun. She didn''t need to see well in order to be able to shoot the other.
"I am the person that was sent here to help you out. By Jovani? He told me to expect you to be on edge. I didn''t think you''d be pulling a gun on me." The man put both his hands on disy for the princess. He carefully showed her he didn''t have anything before he dropped his hands again.
"Pockets." The princess nodded her head towards the man''s pants.
"Do you want me to strip down and show you I don''t have anything hidden under my clothes as well?" The snipped back, emptying his pockets and untucking his shirt to reveal no gun.
"If you''re looking for my weapon, I left it in my car. Though, I only loaded two bullets into the thing. I didn''t think that any more would be necessary to deal with this."
"Where Jovani then if you''re here?" The princess didn''t feel fully convinced the other was safe but she put her lowered her gun.
"Should be somewhere around here? He told me to take care of firing the gun and he would handle everything." Leaning over, one hand resting on the roof of the car, he watched her fight with the seatbelt.
"Do you need some help with that? You don''t exactly seem like you''re in the best condition."
"I would prefer if you left me to this and you stayed on your side of the car exactly where you are." Lena didn''t bother looking at the other while trying to get the seatbelt off. Of all the times to not have a knife on hand...
"You know, I wasn''t actually nning oning over to help you. I would prefer to keep as much distance between your gun and myself. I offered because I have a pair of scissors in my car I can give you. Actually, I would very much so like it if I can give them to you. I want to be able to finish up here before the police end up showing up" The police would just make everything worse.
"If they''ll work, you can give them to me. You can have them back once I am able to speak to Jovani."
"Sure. Whatever makes you happy. I can work with that if you promise to keep that gun down once you''re free." The princess only nodded. Who knew focusing on speaking and looking around with vertigo could be such a challenge? It didn''t help that the tightness of the seatbelt threatened to trigger ustrophobia. The princess tugged on the seatbelt once more to see if it decided to change it''s mind. The verdict quickly became clear that it didn''t... Who knew that an inanimate object could be such as stubborn as her?
"Here. They should be strong enough for you to do what you need to with me." The scissors were tossed from the driver''s side almost directly into herp.
"Just try not to break. I actually really like that pair and they are terribly hard to rece."
"Unless this seatbelt is secretly made of metal, it''s highly unlike your precious scissors will be damaged." It only took two seconds for the scissors to cut through the fabric trapping her in the seat.
Before handing the scissors back, Lena decided to get out of the car. Holstering her gun first just to be safe.
"Is there anyone else here with you?" Lena asked, checking around carefully once outside. Theck of the moon lighting up the night sky made it hard to see any kind of distance around her. The darkness engulfed everything more than two feet in front of her.
"No. Jovani thought it would be better for it to just be me." The man replied, not moving from his side.
"Why didn''t you go with him?" Lena tossed the scissors back to the other as she came around the side of the car.
"Because Princess, I asked him to stay here with you. Someone managed to pull a vanishing act. Not exactly expected but no reason to leave you alone in that case." Jovani''s voice interjected into the conversation.
"Seems that things didn''t work out as nned." The bitterness in his tone seeped into his words.
"As much as I hate to admit it, I think that we might have lost our one good chance."
"Don''te any closer than that. How do I know that you are who you say you are?" Lena didn''t hesitate to pull her gun on the bitter man.
"Tell me how I should know you are who you say you are?"
Chapter 295 Just In Case
The darkness made it difficult to see the expression on Jovani''s face. Without streetlights to cut through the dense darkness, all Lena could see were arm movements from the man.
"Easy now princess. I know that things are kind of mixed up right now, but I do have the means to show you who I am."
"Then don''t waste time talking about it and just do already. I don''t have much patience with all the time wasted thus far." The princess didn''t take the gun''s safety on but kept it pointed at the other.
"Had you told me we were going to be dealing with someone like this, I might have changed my mind on the matter." Jovani let out a deep sigh in response to thement.
"John, you do realize you aren''t really helping matters right now? The princess is hardly the one you need to be worried about. That would be the person you helped to allow to get away." The mafia boss bit the inside of his cheek. It seemed no amount of painkillers could dull the ache in his arm.
"Really, Don? I think right now maybe you''re the one who is mixing things up. The only person I see pointing a gun right now is thisdy over by me."
"Don''t address me in such a crude manner. My position far outranks your own. You don''t even know me well enough to speak in such a manner." John flinched in response to the cold voice. The cold in her voice actually physically chilled him to the bone despite the humid night air.
"You wanted the proof right? Over shirt off. You can see I don''t have a gun on me. Plus, there''s the rather nice patch-up job that my fianc¨¦ did to make sure I don''t end up bleeding out." Jovani dropped the shirt over next to him while keeping his arms at length.
"You cane closer to look if you want. I don''t have anything on me that would hurt you." Dealing with Lena sometimes felt simr to dealing with a wild animal. When stressed, one could never tell what she would do from one second to the next.
"I don''t have any intention ofing over there. I want you toe over here so I can get a better look." The princess used the gun to motion the other closer. She needed to be absolutely certain of what she saw before she''d let her guard down.
"As long as you promise you''re not going to shoot. I have no problem with that." The young mafia boss left his shirt on the grass. It could be picked upter once this ordeal ended.
"John, why don''t you do the favor of turning the car light on? It might make it easier to see." Jovani suggested as he stopped where the princess told him.
"My car. Not yours." Lena directed. She would''ve done it herself if not for theck of trust for either man. The young man silently did as instructed. Leaning over to the driver''s side to turn on the headlights.
"Goodness. I don''t need you going about blinding me like that! Turn off those and rece them with the lower ones." Jovani flinched, using his good arm to cover his eyes from the bright light.
"Sorry, sorry. I didn''t realize you were a vampire." the lights switched despite the grumbling. Afterward, he shifted back to standing within Lena''s line of sight. He didn''t want to give any reason for the gun to be pointed back at him.
"Show me one more time." Lena could see the other didn''t have anything on him. She wanted to be absolutely sure though. The other obligated though a bit begrudgingly.
"Satisfied now? I can go ahead and take everything else off if you would prefer? Make sure that I don''t have anything hidden down below?" Hands shifted down to the pants buckled into ce. The belt would easilye off with a flick of the wrist.
"I don''t find your normal jokes to be very fun in this type of situation. I would prefer if you would retain your more somber tone consider what just happened."
Lena finally lowed the gun. It seemed good enough to trust the other for now. It wasn''t like she couldn''t shoot himter if it turned out he lied to her.
"You know that it isn''t in my nature to retain that for very long. Even in such situations, it''s kind of hard." Jovani folded his arms over his chest, cradling the injured one atop his good arm.
"Then you better have a good reason for why things ended up the way that they did. I thought that we sorted everything out earlier." Lena returned the gun to her holster but kept her hand close to it.
"We did. But a few slight unexpected problems popped up along the way. The police for one. The other is that the person I needed ended uping throughter than anticipated."
"Alonso? Is that why this unknown shrub ended uping with you instead?" John made a grumble of annoyance but quickly shut up when the Princess nced over at him.
"Yes. I would have still needed someone else though anyways. You might not know John but he is reliable enough. As much as I would like to keep standing around talking about the finer details of this matter, we should probably leave the area."
"You want me to get into the car with the two of you?" Lena nced between the two men.
"I mean, you can''t really drive that thing back up onto the road. Nor should you really be driving in the first ce."
"You''d be a fool to think I would trust either of you to take care of driving." Lena huffed. Though, she couldn''t deny that it didn''t seem like there was much of an option otherwise.
"Don''t worry Princess. No one else will be going about jumping out of cars and causing problems. We have a very important date that we''re alreadyte for. John is a good driver and you can take the back seat and I''ll sit up front. Decreases any kind of risk just in case."
"I don''t mind driving if she keeps the gun away from me." John confirmed.
"I would like to know what exactly is going on here though." Considering the stressfulness of the situation, the guard felt he earned the right to know.
"You will know in due time. I need to make a few calls anyways and figure some stuff out. Once we are on the road, we can properly talk. What do you say, Princess?"
"Do I really get to have a say in the matter? It seems like it is the only option we have right now. I also want to exactly what is going on and why things went pear-shaped."
The princess didn''t quite trust the situation but knew that she couldn''t drive herself. The blurriness didn''t seem to want to get better. Driving would just increase the risk of another ident. One that would make things worse than they already were.
She would just have to hope nothing else bad would happen.
Chapter 296 Third Shot
John didn''t object as everyone piled into his car. A few things needed to be shifted in order to make room for the three of them. Lena got inst after making sure Jovani took the front seat ahead of her. The younger mafia boss obliged the other without speaking a word. Only a small nod of his head and a raised hand to remind her that he didn''t have anything on him.
"Somehow it feels as though the rescue crew became the hostages." John''sment didn''t go unnoticed as the car started up.
"The rescue crew ended up falling apart when not everyone arrived on time as they were supposed to." Lena put the safety back on the gun. She didn''t think she would need it while they were in the car. At least, not for the current moment.
"Nothing much that can be done about things not turning out the way we want. You knew Princess that what we were doing from the start would be arge gamble. I did what I could to make things out but I didn''t make any promises." Jovani rolled down the car window to let the cool, crisp night air in. Once the other started the car, he indicated for him to keep going down the road they were on.
"We should be looking to go back on to the interstate. Going down this way will just make things harder." Not to mention the darkness would only get thicker the further they went. Something better to avoid for the time being.
"I am well aware of that, Princess. You might also be aware of the sounding from the other direction. I don''t think that we need to get the police involved in anything." Now that the other mentioned it, Lena could see the shing lightsing behind them. Far enough away that their car wouldn''t be stopped but too close forfort still.
"We will do much better going this way for now. We can look for another way back onto the interstate once we know we''re safe." Lena made a noise of disapproval but didn''t verbally object.
"Now that we seem to be safe for the time being, can I know what''s going on, Don?" John nced over at Jovani. Thetter sat dangling his hand out the window, letting the cool breeze kiss his injured appendage.
"I suppose that it is only fair you know. Though none of this came out in the wash as expected. Alonso should still be doing his part." Jovani tilted his head back.
"Do you want me to be the one to exin it or you Princess? I think you might have the better story taking into consideration proximity." A heavy silence followed the remark. The kind that could quickly make a car ride awkward. Did she not want the information to get out? John wasn''t one of the ones high up in Jovani''s ranks. That didn''t mean that he couldn''t be replied to.
"You can tell him. I want to listen to your side of the story just to make sure."
"Very well. If you insist then. I will go about it then. You wouldn''t happen to have anything that could help dull pain, do you?" The pain in his damn shoulder was beginning to get the best of him again. The dull yet oppressive ache made it feel like every fibber in his limb.
Finding out that John didn''t have anything for him to take. Perhaps only reliable when it came to some areas.
"Maybe just stop somewhere then so that I can get something to drink. I cannot stay like this for the whole drive that we are going to be taking."
"Aren''t we going to be getting ready to go back to the hospital now? Nothing worked out so I don''t think we need to do anything." Jovani clicked his tongue at the princes.
"That is where you would be wrong. We might not have been able to do what we want here, but that doesn''t mean we''re done though."
"I thought that we agreed before to not do anything else if things didn''t work out?" A sudden change of ns now? That didn''t bode well with her.
The darkness along with her throbbing headache and the previous tension formed an ufortable ball in her stomach.
"We did. I have something I''m working on though that I think will help us out a great deal. We just need to get that one call I keep waiting for." Jovani turned in his best as he could to look at Lena. Even though he couldn''t physically see her injuries, he could see the dullness in her eyes. Things seemed to be taking a strong toll on her than they were on him.
"I know that everything that just urred it''s hard to do this but you need to trust me. If I can move all the pieces we need to, I think everything will turn out better than expected." Lena didn''t give much acknowledgment beyond a derisive noise.
"Now back to the important part though that I think everyone wants to hear about." Jovani paused just long enough to be able to wet his lips. Cool air might''ve been good for his arm, not so much for his lips though.
"You wouldn''t have been aware of this John. The princess only because I needed to tell her for this to work. At least, it meant to work at the time. Enough of that though." Jovani waved his arm as he tried to shift into a morefortable position.
"What you might not be so aware of though is the little dark cloud. A spot of bad luck and trouble who looks rather a lot like me." Reminiscing always brought back the good memories with the bad ones. The kind that Jovani wanted to try so hard to forget about.
"That little dark cloud of trouble was and is the person I needed you to take the third shot at for me. You could call it a doppelganger if you wanted."
Chapter 297 A Treat
"John couldn''t really turn to look at the other to see if his boss was joking. The car could potentially drive off the road if he did that. ncing in the rearview mirror, he tried to meet Lena''s gaze. She ignored him, however. Sitting as far back as she could be in the seat. Her eyes shut as her chest rose and fell in a rather uneven pattern.
"Am I supposed to be taking any of this seriously because I am finding myself having a hard time doing it."
"It is a very serious matter that we are working on addressing here right now. Is the reason why you didn''t take the proper shot because you doubted?" The other''s answer became clear when the grip on the steering wheel tightened. He couldn''t be med for what he didn''t know.
"Just keep your eyes on the road and I will exin more. If I ever get the phone call I need, we have a tight deadline to be making." Jovani nced at his phone as the other turned the next corner a little sharply. The device jolted and ended up dropping from Vedova Nera boss''s hand.
"That is a rather unfortunate turn of events. You need to learn how to drive better to avoid this happening again." John apologized but neither one of them could pick up. The sted devicended on the side with his bad arm. He couldn''t lean forward to get it even if he wanted to.
"Back on track though. As I mentioned before, that crazy person jumping out of this moving vehicle is my cousin. Younger one if you couldn''t tell. We also very much look alike minus a few differing features. Nothing one could really notice in the dark though."
"Not to be rude, Don. If he''s your cousin, why would you want to be fighting with him? Shouldn''t the two of you be working together in the family?"
"How quick you are to pick on such things. Things that you aren''t so very wrong about." Jovani muttered thest part, eyes dropping to meet his shoes rather than the other man. Half lidded as he messed with the hem on his pants.
"That is a story for another time though. Part of why we are dealing with this problem. Not directly corrted with it. He couldn''t afford to lose himself in sentiment. Not yet at least. Too much still to do.
"What is important for you to know is that he''s the target. Next time you see him, you don''t hesitate to shoot. If you think that it might be me, just make sure to not shoot somewhere vital." John nced in the rearview mirror again. His expression indicated he heard everything his boss said.
"You know that you don''t have to keep looking at her like that. If you do, she might think about pulling the gun out again on you." Jovani snickered at thest part but instantly regretted it as pain shot up his shoulder.
"You think that she''s still awake? From here it doesn''t look like she''s in the best shape." Jovani didn''t get a chance to reply before a voice in the backseat responded.
"I am in plenty fine enough of a condition to hear what you''re saying. I trust that for right now there isn''t a reason for me to be too alert. You''re getting close to where we need to get off though." John looked over at his navigation system to see that the other was right. He needed to shiftnes so he didn''t miss the right exit.
"I hope that after hearing a little bit of that you trust me now."
"Maybe for now. I trust you to be who you say. Or at least, not do anything at this point in time." Lena didn''t bother opening her eyes as she continued.
"You did tell me that you and your cousin looked a lot alike. You didn''t tell me though that you two could easily be mistaken if one didn''t know better." Jovani let out a smallugh.
"That was actually unexpected. Being cousins, we look very much like. I don''t quite remember the resemnce being so strong though." Most likely, a little trick on his cousin''s side. He always was one to do such things when they were younger. All for fun and games back then. Now though, it ended up being for far more devious reasons. The Vedova Nera man grimaced thinking about this.
"So basically you''re cousin is some kind of psycho." John surmised.
"Shouldn''t you have been keeping him closer before now if you knew what he was like? Not to question you, don, but this is the first time I''ve heard about this and I don''t think I''m the only one."
"The trip down memoryne over that is for another time." Jovani ended the conversation with those words.
"On another subject, how many times do I need to tell you to stop calling me Don? I would much rather you refer to me by my name."
"Because you''re my Don. It doesn''t feel right for someone in my position to call you by your first name." The man admitted, turning his blinker on to go onto one of the other side roads. One that would hopefully lead them back up to the interstate.
"Comfortable or not, I''m ordering you to do it. Before I end up losing my sanity. Make sure you tell everyone the same when you get back." John didn''t object though his face exposed his difort at the request.
"Jovani, we''re already getting quite far along. Why don''t you go back to exin to me what we''re waiting for?" Lena had pulled the pipe back out of her pocket. She needed something to focus on and the only thing at hand was the pipe.
"That is a little treat or at least it should be. If Alonso managed to do what I requested of him. You have your people to rely on and I happen to have a few of my own." Jovani checked his phone once again. Still no message yet? More than enough time should''ve passed for the other to have something for him.
"Would you shut the bloody thing up?!" Cane barely missed hisputer as he mmed his hands down on the table in response to the unexpected ring ringtone. The friction resulted in the ss of amber liquid sloshing on the carpeted floor.
"Really Alonso? Not only do you use Wreak Havoc for your ringtone but you also leave your phone volume all the way up? Do you not understand how delicate what I''m doing is?" Alonso fumbled to quickly silence the phone. Jovani could wait for him to call him back. A text would suffice for the current moment.
"I''m literally two steps away. If I mess up anything here, let''s just say there won''t be a second chance. Capiche?" Cane didn''t go back to focusing until the other confirmed he understood.
"I swear, you do one more thing to set me off and I''m upping the price for this." Alonso bit his tongue. Arguing could wait untilter. Cane remained necessary until after he finished everything up. The right-hand man didn''t think his boss would be able to guess exactly how amazing the little they came across was.
For the first time in a while, Alonso found himself getting perhaps a little too excited about something.
Chapter 298 Wait For It...
"Otherwise upied it seems. Looks like we both struggle tomunicate around the people we don''t like." Jovani shrugged off the text. Setting his phone down to lean back in the seat.
"Everything should line up the way we need it to when it''s time. How much further until we reach our destination?" He couldn''t quite see the navigation map on John''s phone from his position.
"Around another thirty minutes ording to this. Shouldn''t someone havee along by now to stop us?"
"If by someone you mean the police then no. You might not be that well known but you are with two people who are." Lena forced herself to sit up despite the splitting pain in her head.
"Now that we are far enough away from the scene, they won''t touch us without due cause. Too much of a hassle for them." Jovani leaned over to pinch his subordinate''s cheek.
"Not to mention having such a fresh-faced younger driver alsoes with its perks. Highly unlikely that anyone would deem you that suspicious." Slowly it began to click. Everything that the Vedova Nera boss did had been calcted. Down to the small point. Though nothing turned out quite the way it was supposed, that didn''t mean it was due to ack of nning. Some pieces just didn''t move the right way.
"I see. So basically you brought me into this world to provide you both with a bit of protection." A statement, not a question. The younger man slowly nodded his head.
"Makes perfect sense in that respect. I wondered why our Don would pick someone like me above anyone else to take with him."
"I told you- stop that. It''s Jovani. Jovani, Jovani, Jovani. J.o.v.a.n.i." The mafioso spelled his name out in a harsh, enunciated matter.
"I''m sorry Don, I don''t think that I got that the first time you said. Might you be able to repeat it again?" The princess could do humor? John failed to hold back the snort of augh that escaped in response to the quip from the backseat much to Jovani''s dismay.
"Dear princess. As much as I love that you''re in a mood good enough for humor, please refrain from indulging him. You don''t know how terribly how it is to get most of them to listen to me." his tone bordered on pleading as he nced back at the other from the rearview mirror.
"Maybe you should just let them call you whatever it is that they prefer then. It seemed like that would cause you far fewer problems." Lena lit up the pipe once more.
"That''s a firm no. I don''t like it. You''re free to be called however you prefer and I am allowed to do the same." He wouldpromise on many areas except for this one. Jovani never intended to be their ''Don'' in the first ce. One thing or another just led to it happening.
John opened his mouth to say something else but the sound of Jovani''s phone''s ringtone stopped him.
"Now this is likely what we have been waiting for right here." Answering the call, he made sure to put it on speaker for everyone to hear.
"Alonso, I hope that you''reing with good information. We''ve been waiting for you longer than expected." Like a switch being flipped, the good-natured Jovani disappeared behind his cold, professional business mask.
"I think sir that you will find it to be even better than what you were expecting. You should be getting something rather soon." Jovani pushed down the smirk that wanted to break free upon hearing Alonso''s barely contained excitement.
"You''re not supposed to be sending it to me. I want you to send it to the other one. I think that she should be the one to see everything first."
"Are you sure about that? I thought that you wanted to be able to go through it first?" Alonso paused as another voice broke into the conversation.
"Hello who I am assuming is the boss man. Lest you forget, I''m not doing this for free as some kind of charity case. The longer you decide what you want to do, the more it''ll cost you."
"You must be the Cane that I have heard so much about. Perhaps you didn''t hear me clearly but I already made up my mind about who I want it sent to. Alonso will be giving you that information." Jovani took a pause, ncing back at the princess who watched him intently. Did she know who they were talking with?
"Really? You can''t tell me yourself while we''re already on the phone together? I would love the chance to better get to know your voice." Cane whined.
"Come see me in person if you want that. I don''t give up such intimate contact information over the phone. Best to give the phone back if you want to be paid." Muted voices could be heard over the phone. Their words were unintelligible but the tones sounded rather heated.
"I apologize, sir. I warned you that he wasn''t one of the easy types to deal with. I will make sure that he gets the information we talked about. Once I''m done, can I finish up here ande back."
"I want the phone for a moment." Lena interrupted the conversation, leaning forward as she reached for Jovani''s phone. Moving the phone away, he made a silent ''no'' signal to the princess. Even putting his fingers to his lips to indicate for her to be quiet. Something that didn''t quite go over well with the princess. She fixed Jovani with one of the hardest looks she possibly could. So intense that it even made John shudder from her aura despite not seeing her face.
"Now." She made a beckoning motion with her hand. Jovani leaned away from her but refused to give it up.
"Just ensure the informationes and you cane back as you like." The Vedova Nera boss rushed thest part to end the call quickly.
"Sorry, Princess. You can''t do that right now." Jovani tucked his phone safely back into his inner shirt pocket.
"I know you probably have a few things you wanted to say. Right now, I think it would be better for you to focus on your own phone."
"Why would I be caring about what came to my own phone?" The princess demanded. The phone of interest had been the other''s before he decided to cut the call short.
"Wait for it..." Jovani became quiet as he waited for the sound. The sound would answer quite a few questions.
It took longer than anticipated but when it did, Lena checked her phone. Still annoyed, she didn''t tell either man what she saw when she got passed her lock screen. The look that shed across her face and the way her eyes widened indicated enough for Jovani.
Finally, something good hade.
Chapter 299 Not So Fast
Alonso did his job. Once it was confirmed the information went through sessfully, he paid Cane. The mercenary could have whatever he wanted so long as the other didn''t have to deal with him again.
Of course, he didn''t let the other leave until he made sure the promised amount hit his bank ount. No way would he let that kind of money escape him. Such a simple thing such high pay.
"Now that you have what you want and help me to get what my boss wanted, we don''t have to see each other again." Alonso packed up his things to leave. Except, one of the other men suddenly blocked his path.
"Ah ah ah. Not so fast. You didn''t really think you could leave already? You and I have hardly had any time to catch up yet." Putting his phone away, Cane stood up and put his arm around Alonso''s shoulders, pulling the other closer.
"Don''t you think that it would be good for us to take some extra time together? Since as you say, we likely won''t be seeing each other again?" The right-hand man resisted the urge to shove the other. His sixth sense told him it would the wrong move.
"Spend time catching up? I don''t have time to do that right now. I already told you when I first came here that this was a rush job. That''s why you got paid extra." Cane nodded his head slowly in a rather understanding manner.
"True. You did say that now that you mentioned. I can''t but notice though that you left out some rather important information." Cane''s tongue ran over his bottom lip before they pursed together.
"What part did I leave out? I told you who I needed the information for. You even heard for yourself that I wasn''t lying."
"You did. You didn''t tell me though that there would be someone else needing it as well. You left out that small little important detail."
"So? It''s not important who the other person is. They aren''t the ones who would be paying you." Alonso felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle when the other turned to look at him.
"You see, that''s where you and I are different now. Everyone who is involved in a transaction is important to someone like me. Maybe in your little mafia world, it doesn''t matter. It seems that you forgot on this side of things though that that kind of information can make all the difference in the world." A dark look shed through Cane''s eyes. The arm around Jovani''s shoulders suddenly got tighter.
"Especially when the other person getting the information happens to be someone of great interest."
"Great interest? How so? You don''t even know who they are. The only one who should matter to you is the one paying you." Alonso argued as he tried to push the other away. Cane wasn''t so quick to let him go.
"That''s for me to decide, not you. Purposely keeping information from me when I thought that we had finally gotten back to being on the same page? That really isn''t going to do at all."
"Cane, back off. You can''t just start changing the rules as you want now. You got paid so leave it." The two men stared each other down. The rest in the room were tense but unmoving until their boss gave the signal.
"And what? Do you think that I am going to listen just because I got paid? No, no. That isn''t going to work." He waggled his finger in the other''s face. His anger was barely contained based on the way his eyes narrowed and the redness of his cheeks.
"If you''re wanting me to keep this kind of secret for you, that''s going to cost extra."
"That isn''t what we negotiated." Alonso took a step back without breaking eye contact with the other. Hand sliding down to feel for the gun holster.
"Call your boss back up then. We need to renegotiate this matter." Cane waved at the other''s phone.
"I''m sure he will reply right away since a second so quickly wouldn''t be expected." Could this man for once not push his limits? Alonso didn''t have the energy to deal with this right now.
"And what if I refuse to do that? You don''t have much of anything to hold me here with. I already got what I wanted."
"Nothing to hold you with? Have you actually taken a look around this room?" Cane threw up his arms up.
"You''re surrounded! You''re the one who doesn''t have anything on his side to be able to leave here."
"And you think these many men are enough to keep me here? I think that you might want to reconsider. You seem to be the one forgetting that I dealt with much worse than this in the past. Is that a button you really want to risk pushing with me?" Alonso shifted his position to stand at his full height. Surveying the room to see if everyone was watching them.
"If these men have worked with you long enough, I am sure that they have heard some of the stories. Enough to know that they would be better off backing down than trying their luck." Some of the men nced between each other. Confusion and uncertainty crossed their features.
"Are you sure you''re still capable of that? Last I heard, it sounded like the mafia life turned you rather soft. Made you forget about how hard it used to be out here." Cane sneered at the other who brushed him off.
"I''ve hardly gone soft. Unlike you, I have just chosen to put it aside and focus on other things. He could tell that the other had begun to lose his patience.
"If you want to get paid more, I rmend that you refrain from doing anything right now. I can speak with my boss but I can''t promise anything if I don''t leave here."
"Not so fast." Cane stopped the other by taking a step forward to close the space between them.
"You''re just starting to get back into this and now you leave? Why don''t you follow through if you''re so serious?" Alonso knew right away that the other wanted to try and goad him.
"Because I have more important things to do. I suggest you ask the one guarding the other door to move."
"No. Not yet. We''re not done talking. I still-" A fist connected with Cane''s face resulting in a rather sickening sounding crunch. Falling back hard, his body made contact with the table, upending it as everything either fell to the floor or flew through the air.
Shit... that wasn''t supposed to have been so hard.
Chapter 300 Not Luxurious But They Dont Need It
"Where did you get all of this?" Lena''s eyes darted back and forth as she stared at her phone.
"Just a little something extra we managed to pick up from one of the lovely captives. Unexpected really. We had a bit of a guess that would be on it. Just needed the right person to help us confirm it." Jovani replied.
"Obviously not something anyone was supposed to get ahold of. Just a happy little ident that gives us a bonus."
It had been quite some time since the Princessid her eyes on something so detailed. Obviously, someone wanted to do a thorough job of collecting so much information. What for? Names with corresponding connections, jobs, and organizations. A little too convenient? Perhaps.
"Is the person who got this information the one that Alonso was with?"
"Do you happen to know who they are? Your expression earlier told me you might. Wouldn''t be a surprise with everyone your father knows." Jovani countered her question with one of his own.
"I do. I just want to know if they are the ones responsible for taking care of this information for us." Lena downloaded the attachment to her phone. She didn''t want to risk losing it. Later, she would give it to Hester to look over.
"They helped. Not exactly someone Alonso is fond of. They worked together well enough for this though." Jovani nced down at his right shoulder, feeling as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Another call? The other shouldn''t have already finished up already.
"Who? I thought that you said they were just so random mercenary you were hiring?" John turned his head to look at the other while turning on the right blinker to get off the interstate. They were almost finally at their destination. Once parked, he would be much happier. Driving at night wasn''t exactly easy on the eyes.
"He is a random mercenary. Random in the sense that he''s someone you wouldn''t know." Jovani confirmed, frowning as he pulled his phone out. A missed call and texts stared back at him. Alonso must''ve done something.
"He''s someone who has a lot of connection. One I''m rather interested in finding." Lena added.
"I wasn''t aware that you knew him though." Jovani let out a rather loud and amusedugh.
"Actually for once, this isn''t someone that I know. The person who knows him is actually the same one who apparently just knocked him out. I don''t think that we will be able to get any more questions out of him any time soon." The texts didn''t exactly read as frantic. More a cross between stressed and frustrated. Another dy before his right-hand man would be back at his side. It was important though for one to clean up the mess they made.
"Right now isn''t the time to be worried about that. As you can see princess, we''ve reached our destination." Jovani pointed out the front windshield to a rather dull gray-looking building.
"I wouldn''t exactly call it anything luxurious. It''s not like they need it though. After all, their stay probably won''t be of the extended kind." Despite the still throbbing headache, Lena didn''t hesitate to start unlocking her door and seatbelt. She barely got to turning the handle however before the child lock kicked in.
"Not so fast princess. We need to talk about a few things before you go marching in there." Again with him preventing her from doing what she wanted?
"What exactly is there to talk about? We both know what needs to be done here. Who does what just depends on who gets inside first." The princess''s tone once again turned sharp.
"It''s already taken us far longer than expected to get here. Rather than wasting more time, I would prefer to focus on getting what we need already. Unlock the car."
"I couldn''t agree with you more. That doesn''t mean though we should just go in there without a n. I would like to try a few things before we go about taking on your method." Jovani undid his own seatbelt after putting his phone away once again. He carefully turned around in his seat to face the other while avoiding hurting his injured arm.
"We just need to discuss how far exactly we are wanting to go. Not like you don''t have experience with this, I just think that it is better we are on the same page."
"There isn''t any same page for us to be on. You''re injured so you''re not going to be taking part in this. You''ve already done more than enough by making sure they''re here." Jovani blinked a few times.
"I''m not the only one injured. In fact, if we are going about it based on injuries, John here would be the one taking care of everything." The young driver nced over but kept his main focus upfront, thrumming his thumbs against the steering wheel. The decision they made didn''t matter, he just wanted to be able to get out of the car.
"A concussion isn''t anything that serious. Even at a fair distance, I would be able to hit any target without missing. I don''t think the same can be said about your arm." The fire in her eyes had begun to burn again. Someone wouldn''t be willing to back down unless they got their way.
"Fine. How about then we decide once we get in there? Once you get the chance to talk with them. We can make up our decision after that."
"Unlock the car door then so we can go inside and take care of this." Jovani didn''t get a chance to say or do anything before John fulfilled the request.
"Is this mutiny?" The Vedova Nera boss raised an eyebrow at his subordinate.
"No. I would simply just prefer if you would take your argument away from here. Preferably to inside over there or out there where she''s already at. I don''t like having a gun inside here." John was right, Lena had already stepped out of the car and didn''t seem intent on waiting for Jovani. Obviously, the little princess was more than ready for bloodshed.
"We are going to have to talk about thister. Put it on the list of things along with the right way to address me." Opening the car door, he mmed it behind himself in his rush to catch up with the other.
Jovani did warn her it wasn''t luxurious inside. What he didn''t tell though about though were the exact conditions of those being kept inside.
Chapter 301 Unwilling? No Problem
A thick rusted scent hit Lena''s nose the moment she entered the dull gray building. Rust or blood? Hard to tell with the state the ce looked to be in.
"Hold on now Princess. I don''t think that we are done talking things through." Jovani shut the door behind her. No need to lock it since there wasn''t anyone to keep out.
"I don''t care to spend time talking when there is still a lot to take care of and it''s already sote." The front hall was devoid of furniture or any simr items. No ce for her to take off or set anything down before she moved ahead.
"I know that you''re impatient to get started. I just think that we should take the time to decide what should happen in regards to difficulties." The Vedova Nera boss moved ahead of the princess. He knew the ce better than she did. It only made sense for him to flip the switch to lightening up the rather gloomy area.
"Even if they turn out to be unwilling to answer any questions, I don''t see that being a problem. This is one of the areas where I likely have more experience than you." Jovani paused for a second as the words sank in.
"So over anything else, this is why you didn''t want Sammy to be here, isn''t it?" Lena stopped in her tracks.
"I don''t want him to be here because it''s not safe. Already shown by the fucking psych of a cousin you have." She tilted her head as she turned to face the other.
"Did you expect me to have some other kind of answer to that question?" The look on Jovani''s face told her so. Rather than replying, he simply smiled at her.
"Let''s go ahead then. We only have a little bit of time left before we should think about leaving here again." He continued to take the lead ahead of her.
They stopped at one of the side doors rather than continuing down the long hall. Jovani knocked twice before he opened the door.
"At ease. I brought someone along with me who came here to have a little fun with our guests." He shifted to the side to allow Lena to enter ahead of him. The three men inside rxed the moment that they saw their boss.
"Why did you bring me here? This isn''t the room I want to be in." The Vedova Nera boss gently pushed her in the rest of the way before closing the door behind them.
"First, I think you should see what you''re going to be dealing with. Second, I''m sure you have a few things that you want to leave here. Blood stains are rather hard to get out of some items." Jovani motioned to her jacket as he made thisment.
Between the desks and the other three men, the space felt rather cramped but they somehow managed to make it work. The three men keeping watched shifted to the far end of the room, emptying the chairs should their boss or the girl want to take a seat.
"You don''t think that my jacket is made to be stained by the blood of my enemies?" Despite the joke, Lena began to unzip it.
"It''s been put through a lot worse than this and lived to tell the tale. I highly doubt these men will need much bloodshed before they''ll speak."
"I''m sure it has. I just didn''t think that we would have much time to stop by a dry cleaner who would take care of it before heading back to the hospital." The three men exchanged looks as the two neers bantered. It wasn''t often their boss brought someone in who could hit back against what he threw at them. There was only one person the girl could''ve been.
"No dry cleaner needed. I''m sure that you have some bleachying around here somewhere. At the right dilution, it will do the job without ruining the jacket." Lena ced it over the top of one of the rolling chairs. Folding it in such a way that it wouldn''t fall off.
"Now though. Which is the one here that I should be paying attention?" The princess''s attention shifted to the security camera system with over ten screens. Half of them showed rooms where the obvious ''guests'' as Jovani chose to refer to them were held.
"I think that one over there would prove to be of most interest to you. The quietest of the group but the one most likely to be the leader." He indicated to one of the bottom screens. The camera showed a rather stalking-looking bald man. Calm-faced but with a dark glint in his eyes.
"Put up quite a bit of a fight but didn''t have much to say for himself once we got ahold of him." That was more than enough for the princess to know where she would be starting.
"I don''t think that there is anything left to be discussed then." Lena didn''t even wait for Jovani to reply before she turned and left the door they''de through moments before.
"I swear that you''re still getting ahead of yourself princess. We don''t even have everything together and ready yet." Jovani called out to the princess who didn''t even bother stopping.
"I take it then you can get that ready while I go be more familiarized with the guest I will be keepingpany for the next hour." The Vedova Nera boss wanted to object but knew it wouldn''t do any good. Opting instead to sigh before going back into the room. His men could take care of putting things together. There were more important things he needed to take care of.
A bolt lock kept the door closed. Simply enough to open from the outside but sturdy enough to keep anyone in. Not that the guest could leave in his current position. Arms tied tightly behind his back with one leg tied to the corresponding chair leg.
Despite the low light in the room, the dark bruises on his face were still visible against the otherwise pale, unblemished skin. He didn''t even lift his head or stir when the princess entered the room.
"I take it that you know who I am?" Lena questioned but didn''t get too close to the other. Deciding to first observe the other before taking action.
"..." he didn''t even so much as look at her. Keeping his star on the ground.
"You do realize that silence is only going to make things harder for you. You might''ve gotten a reprieve until this point. That ends now though." Circling the chair, the princess took the other man''s size in. Just by look, it was obvious he''d been well trained. Perhaps too well.
He lifted his head slightly but otherwise ignored her. Now though, she could see that his half-lidded eyes were following her every movement.
"Do you have anything you want to see before we get started?" Lena took her time rolling back the sleeves of her ck shirt. Blood wouldn''t show easily on the fabric but the tightness would limit her mobility. Something she wanted to avoid.
Her head still pounded which only made her usually short patience almost non-existent.
"Unwilling. No problem. I think that I have a few things that will make you more willing to speak."
Almost as if on cue, the door behind her opened again. Only a covered cart was wheeled in before the door became closed again.
The fact that she couldn''t see whaty underneath the dark cloth someone how increased the anticipation in the room until almost became palpable.
"I suppose that we can let the fun begin." Lena grabbed the cloth, barely able to contain her excitement over what would be revealed.
It had been quite some time since she felt such a strong blood lust surge through her veins.
Chapter 302 Unavoidable Call
Jovani wanted to stay back and watch what Lena would. It wasn''t often one got the chance to see the Red Scorpion Princess in action. Everyone knew the tales of the kind of person father used to be. Lena didn''t have many rumors surrounding her in that regard. Not yet at least.
However, before the fun even started, Jovani ended up having to leave the room once his phone started ringing. Bad timing for a call he couldn''t ignore toe through.
"You couldn''t have waited until ater point in time to call? I was just getting ready to watch something fun." The Vedova Nera bossed leaned against the door, wincing as his arm protested the weight on it.
"Now, Now. That isn''t my problem, is it? You''re the one who went about messing everything up. I asked you for one thing." He made a nose to hush the person on the end of the phone when they raised their voice.
"Don''t start shouting at me. We had a deal. You didn''t end up following through on your end, that means my end is negated as well. What were you even thinking in the first ce? It''s like you didn''t even realize who you were with." Lowering the volume on the phone, Jovani moved away from the door to check down the hall. Not like there was anyone who would be wandering around. One couldn''t be too careful though.
"No. Don''t go yelling at me about that. You just need to be more careful next time. I won''t be doing this again for you in the future. I''ve already graced you with more than one chance to fix things." Jovani rolled his eyes as the other continued their tirade. Half the wordsing out of their mouth weren''t even intelligible.
"You should just be focusing on getting yourself cleaned up. You are going to owe me for that car as well. It was a rtively new one I''ll have you know. One I wouldn''t have picked for use if I knew what you were going to do." Jovani ended up turning back around when he heard the door behind him open. Before the man could speak, the mafioso indicated that he''d be finished soon and for the other to go back. Jovani wanted the call to be over with just as much as the next person. At this rate, by the time it actually ended, he''d have missed all the fun. Scuffing his feet against the floor, Jovani waited for the other to finish speaking.
"The answer I am giving you isn''t going to change. Nothing about this is going to change. No one else is on the table. You messed up. Blew thatst chance you had. In fact, I don''t want you to go about calling me again. Nextmunication that goes on between us will be initiated by me." Jovani cut the call before another explosion could ur. People could be so much trouble when they wanted to.
Sighing deeply, Jovani chose to shut the phone off to avoid further disturbances before returning it to his pocket.
"What did you need from me?" Jovani asked while entering the room. The three men in the room turned to him at the same time.
"Apologizes Don Jovani. I wouldn''t have bothered you over anything if it wasn''t important. I think you might need to consider getting involved." The Vedova Nera boss didn''t understand what his subordinate meant until they shifted so that he could get a look at the monitors.
"Oh my." Jovani mumbled cing two fingers against his mouth. Partly out of shock, partly to suppress the smirk that wanted to emerge. The princess seemed to be even worse than even he could have anticipated.
"Well, it would seem that someone very much so takes after their father." He moved closer to the monitors, cing his hands on the desk in order to lean forward and get an even closer look. The man didn''t seem to be dead at least not yet. Based on the blood that could be seen pooled on the floor and what was still dripping, it didn''t seem like the man had much time left.
"I am taking it that everyone here agrees of the fact that I should perhaps intervene? None of you here think you should go about doing it?" The shuffling of feet and adverted gazes were answering enough for the boss. With a clicking of his tongue, Jovani finally let the smirk appear on his face.
"Since none of you here seem interested in going and dealing with the princess. I as your boss will go about taking care of it." Despite having an injured arm, Jovani decided to take off his own jacket. No need for one more thing covered in blood. His fianc¨¦ might actually kill him if he ended up ruining her expensive gift to him.
Jovani patted as he set it on the chair, tasking his men with making sure nothing happened to it. Not like it would suddenly sprout legs and run away. He just wanted to give them something to do. Though he doubted he''d actually be able to stop the princess, it would be better to survey the damage up close.
The three men watched in awe and deep admiration as their boss left the room to deal with Red Scorpion Princess without a second of hesitation. Unlike the rest of them, their Don must''ve somehow been immune to the woman''s terrifying aura.
They would need to work in trying harder in the future. After all, their job was to ensure the safety of their Don not hide behind him in such situations. Alonso would have to be called in to help address this issue. The right-hand man who was always following their boss around would have to have answers that would help. They couldn''t think of anyone better to learn from. Plus, he''d also been around the princess. He too like their Don must''ve learned how to deal with her.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 303 Doing It The Hard Way
Lena had to give the man credit, he was holding out much longer than she expected. Thirty minutes and most people would''ve been ready to give away even their most private personal details.
The man in front of her however hardly even screamed. Not to say he didn''t make any noise to indicate pain. He just didn''t make the noises the princess expected him. Experience told her that the gag she''d put back in ce hardly ever kept the noise down once they really started screaming.
However,pared to when she first entered the room, the man hardly looked recognizable. His face had swelled up to a decent size from her blows and blood caked almost every inch of the little clothes he had left.
Taking things slowly, Lena pulled over a chair to sit as she observed the other. The humidity in the room caused the blood on her skin to remain moist. Mixed with sweat, it gave her skin a red-tinted gleam.
Though she tried to keep the blood off her face it was rather hard with the close proximity during torture. She would just have to make sure to have a proper show when she finished.
"How much longer are you wanting to go through this for? I don''t know about you but I have plenty of time left on my hands." Lena twirled the knife in her hand. Tossing it into the air and catching it each time without cutting herself.
"..." The man didn''t even open his eyes to look at her. His paced breathing gave away the fact that he was still conscious.
"Come now. Is whatever you''re holding onto so much more important that your life? If you''d just tell me what I want to know, you would already be on your way out of here." Kicking the leg of the chair the prisoner sat in caused him to let a hard grunt. HIs brow furrowed in reaction to the pain radiating through his body.
"How much more hm?" The princess twirled the knife once more before standing up.
"Maybe the problem is that I just need to change things up a bit." She murmured under her breath as she began to circle the other.
Lena tried to hide her displeasure over the situation. After all, if the other knew he was getting under her skin, it would just make him hold out longer.
"Where do you want to start first? I think that fingers tend to be an easy way to go. Considering you don''t need all of them toplete regr daily activities." The princess stopped when she was standing behind the man.
Giving the chair a rough kick, she knocked it to the ground. She didn''t even flinch as the other''s body mmed against the floor, body shuddering from the pain.
Finally, it seemed as though he was slowly starting to crack.
"Tried to keep yourself as still as possible. I don''t really want you to go about making this harder for either of us." mming her knee on the other''s back, The princess leaned over the prostrate body below her.
"Your ring finger looks like it would be a good ce to start. The absence of a ring tells me you wouldn''t be missing it that much in the first ce.
Gripping the finger tightly and pulling it back, she could feel it twitch harshly in her hold. An indication that the other was trying to pull away.
"Come now, if you keep resisting like that it''ll only make it harder for me to cut it neatly." The man made noises of protest under her as he tried to pull his hand away in vain. There wasn''t anywhere for him to pull away to being stuck on the ground.
"How about we count to three? That way we both know when I''m going to be getting ready to do this."
"One." Lena pulled the finger back further, ignoring the crack sound indicating the pressure likely broke the bone.
"Two." With what little energy he had, the man tried his best to resist or push the princess off. His reaction spoke of a power struggle more than fear. Still, it made it hard for her to get the finger in the right position. Pity she didn''t have an extra pair of hands to help her keep the other in ce.
"Three." With one fluid movement, Lena sliced through the appendage. Without anything to hold it, it went flying through the air.
It only took a second for the blood to start flowing from the stump that remained behind. it wasn''t the cleanest cut that could''ve been made. The princess wanted it to be as straight as possible. The man under her seemed to not agree with her idea based on the fight he put up.
Speaking of which, he was making much noise now. Not quite anywhere near the level of scream but enough to let her know she''d done a decent amount of pain to him.
Wiping her face, Lena licked off the blood thatnded near the corner of her mouth. A bad habit that she really needed to stop. One never knew what kind of diseases people such as the man below her had.
The princess didn''t move to staunch the steady flow of blood or move off the man as she watched his futile struggle. It wasn''t like he was going to bleed out just from this.
"You know if you would just start cooperating, you''d be able to cause yourself a lot less pain. Lena chided the prisoner, in the same manner, a parent punishing their child might. Her tone held just enough condescension to get a reaction from the man below her.
The pain seemed to be a good way to fuel his anger which was good for her. The more upset he was, the more pain she could cause him.
"I must say, Princess, you''ve done quite a good job on this one thus far. Wouldn''t you say though that it is about time you take a break?" Lena had been so focused on the task at hand that she hadn''t even heard Jovani enter the room.
"What are you doing here?" She nced back at the other without moving.
"Oh I came here to see how you''re doing actually. I had been distracted taking care of a few other things but my men thought I might need to intervene." Jovani stuck his hands in his pockets as he moved to get a closer look. Careful to avoid the blood as he didn''t want to ruin his shoes.
Scanning over the prisoner''s state, he let out a low whistle.
"You have certainly done quite a good job thus far. I still think though that a break might be in order." Lena let out a derisive snort in response to the other''sment.
Taking her knee off the other''s back, she stood.
"This one is wanting to do it the hard way. I hardly think it would make sense to take a break when I''m only giving him what he wants." Tossing the knife back on the cart, she began to rummage through it in search of something specific.
"I would imagine that he is taking the hard considering the state of his body. I would prefer though if said body didn''t give out before we got the answers we need." Lena paused what she was doing to turn around and face the other.
"Do you think that I''m not capable of handling this and don''t know what I''m doing? I think that you might be forgetting that this isn''t the first time I''ve been through something like this."
Jovani raises his hands as a sign that he didn''t want to argue with the other. He didn''t have to hear it from her to be aware of her skill level. The picture in front of him told him more than he needed to know.
"It really isn''t anything like. It''s more that I''m just thinking he''s not the only one we have here. There are others who might be more willing to talk. Not only that but we are starting to run short on time." He knew that the princess wanted to return before his younger cousin awoke.
Too much longer and they would be pushing time to take that happen.
"I did say that I wanted to get back by then and I''m aware of the time. I am also aware that there are others aside from this one to attend to." Picking up the rubbing alcohol from the cart, she shoved it away once more.
"But I''m not going to stop until I am finished. You can choose to partake or stand on the sidelines. I really don''t care what you chose to do as long as you understand that I''m not stopping until I''m finished."
Despite knowing very well that the man lying on the floor brought this upon himself, there was still a small part of him that pitied the prisoner.
The princess really could be a devil when she wanted to be.
Chapter 304 Little Devil
"Now now. I know how you are feeling right now but we really need to put this on hold." Jovani put a firm hand on her shoulder causing a harsh re to be directed at him.
He''d allowed her to take things further with the alcohol but even he could see the man needed a break. They needed information out of him but it wouldn''t do them any good if he ended up dying.
"Didn''t we just have this conversation a few moments ago? I told you before that I''m not done yet." She tried to shrug the hand off but Jovani refused to move it.
"I know what you said and I''m telling you now that it is time to stop." He nced between the man and Lena.
"We''re done with this and we''re going to be getting ready to head back. My men will be certain to keep him alive for your return." Jovani managed to move between her and the prisonerying on the floor.
Kudo to the man for being able to manage as much as he had. Though the alcohol might have been near breaking point for him. He made little noise but the intensity of the pain became evident when he threw up. Bile mixed with blood was never a pleasant sight or smell.
Jovani would need to request that the room be properly bleached after they left.
"You really think that it would be a good idea to leave without any information? We spent this much time here, I''m not about ready to leave before we get any answers." Shoving the other man, Lena managed to get his hand off her.
"You can go back if that''s what you want to do. Even taking time into consideration, there is still at least another hour for me to work with."
The princess did want to get back before Samuel woke up. He wouldn''t be pleased to know she''d vanished while he was out cold. Not that he would have been able to stop her.
Looking at the man on the ground, Lena knew that she just needed a little more time before he would crack. A little more and they''d have the information they were looking for.
Licking her bottom lip, she nced back over at the cart. What exactly would it take to make him break? There were still so many forms of torture that she could go through...
"Princess, for once I am taking charge of this situation and we are going to head back." Jovani''s persistence was beginning to get on her nerves more than usual. He even went so far as to move the cart away from her.
"Jovani. You brought me here to do what I do best. You can''t honestly expect me to be willing to stop so suddenly after getting started?" The ice-cold aura surrounding Lena matched with the fire in her eyes made even the Vedova Nera boss shudder.
Her expression wasn''t like any that he''d seen on her before. A vortex of white hatred and cold indifference that threatened to swallow up anyone who came in contact with it.
"I did indeed bring you here to do your job. Except that I thought we would have a bit more time. Things didn''t exactly turn out as nned though. Hence why we need to leave now." Jovani didn''t mind admitting his mistake if it would get the princess to back down.
"Time isn''t an issue here. There is more than enough time before we leave. Just a little more and I''m certain he will be more than willing to talk." A well-aimed kick to the man''s stomach caused him to let out a grunt of pain. He practically curled in on himself due to the pain and instinctive need to protect his sensitive abdomen.
"And with a little bit more you might also seed in killing him. I''m telling you that we really need to break for now." Jovani ran a hand through his hair.
Now it made sense why his men wanted him to handle it. No way would any of them even be able to get close to making the princess budge.
What a bunch of cowards sending off their boss to fight against the little devil. Weren''t they supposed to be there to protect him?
He would definitely be making sure that they scrubbed the room extra hard.
"Nowe on. If not for your sake, do it for mine then. I don''t really want you toe back like this when my cousin wakes up." Jovani motioned to her blood stand clothes and skin.
Honestly, if anyone didn''t who she was, they''d have a hard time recognizing her in her current state.
"all of that stuff on you is going to have to be thrown away. The shower should allow you to take a shower. I would prefer though if you change before you get into my car." Blood would be really hard to get out of the seats.
The princess seemed to waiver in response to what the Vedova Nera boss said. He did have a point as much as she hated to admit it.
Cleaning up wouldn''t be that hard for the princess. Ten minutes in the shower would get rid of all the physical evidence.
Mentally though...
Lena would need some time to get out of her current state of mind. Her murderous intent wasn''t something that she could easily makee and go at will. She needed time to breathe and clear her mind.
Normally she wouldn''t care about how she seemed. Most everyone knew to ignore her or watch what they did around her.
Samuel wouldn''t do that though. No, her na?ve fianc¨¦ would want to know what was wrong and try to fix it.
It wasn''t anything he could fix though nor could she even begin to exin what the problem was. He wasn''t in any ce to know about such things. Not yet.
"As much as I hate to give and don''t think he deserves to have a break, I will cede to your point this one time." It was done begrudgingly but at least the princess did it.
"Good. I honestly didn''t want to have to get any more serious than this." Jovaniughed trying to defuse the situation.
If he hadn''t been able to persuade her to leave, no way would he have been able to physically do anything to make it happen.
Chapter 305 All Is Fair In Love And War
Samuel''s head felt fuzzy as he began to return to consciousness. The brain fog was heavy he couldn''t remember everything at first. Feeling a small lump resting against his quickly brought him back to reality.
They were still at the hospital. Blinking, Samuel rubbed his eyes to try and get rid of the rest of the tiredness he felt. The only result though was making his vision blurry.
How long exactly had he been asleep for?
He couldn''t really recall anything after he started eating. Except that Lena hadn''t joined him.
Carefully shifting in the bed, he moved just enough to be able to look behind him. The sight caused his heart to flutter.
Lena had somehow managed to curl herself rather tightly behind the other despite the small size of the bed. Wearing something that looked one size too big for her. She didn''t have a nket but the shirt was sorge it practically engulfed her.
One of the rare times that Samuel was able to see her looking anything other than indifferent or annoyed.
The princess never looked exactly peaceful when she sleep. Sleep caused her facial features to rx however. Taking the edge off made her almost look her age.
When did she finally decide to go to sleep?
Samuel felt tempted to shift the hair away from the front of her face but refrained from doing so. Knowing the princess, such a small touch would likely wake up considering the current state of affairs.
"You''re safe to get up if you want. I don''t think that you''ll wake her. She''s not been asleep for that long." Samuel snapped his head to the side, startled by the unexpected voice.
With everything going on, he''d forgotten that Julian had managed to arrivest night. One extra person was there to keep an eye on everything.
"Have you not slept yet?" The dark circles and bags under Julian''s eyes were enough of an answer but Samuel felt inclined to ask regardless.
"Nah. I don''t need sleep right now. I prefer to stay awake and keep an eye on everything." Julian shifted his legs to swap one folder over the other. Leaning further back in the chair, his gaze returned to his older brother.
Zane hadn''t woken yet. The steady beeping remained the only reminder that the other was still clinging to life.
"You probably should think about it sometime though. I don''t think he''d be very happy to wake up and find out half his family is sick due to worry andck of selfcare." Shifting on his side, Samuel did his best to get out of bed without causing it to rock too much.
The hospital bed was nowhere near asfortable as the ones back at the estate. It would have to do for now. Just like sleeping in day clothes versus pajamas for the foreseeable future.
"You really don''t need to worry about waking her up. She took something before you woke up. She''ll probably sleep the next few hours off." Still, Samuel would rather not take the risk.
Taking the nket that had been covering him, he draped it over the princess. She barely shifted despite the change of weight atop of her.
"Oh goody. Samuel is up already. I was so certain that you would end up sleeping as long as the princess had yesterday." Jovani entered the room carrying a tray of coffee.
"Jovani! What are you doing back? I thought you said there were things that needed your attention."
"Indeed there were and I''ve already finished up so I came back ahead of time. I don''t think that it would be right to leave my young cousin and soon-to-be inws to deal with all of this on their own." Jovani shed his younger cousin a smile before pushing a Styrofoam cup into his hands.
"Once the princess gets up and around there are actually a few things to discuss. Important things that I think will be beneficial for us."
"Did it have something to do with why Lena left with youst night?" Julian didn''t take the coffee cup, choosing to wait to hear what the other said first.
"Something like that. Nothing very important. Though, I think that it would''ve been better to wait until the princess awoke to say anything." Jovani mumbled thest part under his breath. Julian side-eyed the other but didn''t say anything.
"You two leftst night? Howe I don''t remember that happening?" Samuel''s ears perked and he stopped blowing on his coffee upon hearing this.
"Probably because someone used the same trick on you that was used on them?" Jovani shrugged. Setting down the cup holder before grabbing his own coffee.
Samuel paused upon at thisment. ncing over at the sleeping lump on the bed. That would exin why he didn''t remember much of what happened after eating.
"When did that happen? Why even? It wasn''t like I was the one nning on going anywherest night." The incredulous tone in Samuel''s voice caused Jovani to snicker.
"Sammy, you should know that the exact reason why doesn''t matter all that much. Haven''t you heard before all is fair in love and war? Likely the princess did it for the exact same reasons that you originally did it."
"I haven''t been around much to see how these to interact. It seems though that they might be a rather good fit." Julian''s interjection somehow made the situation feel worse.
"I don''t see how drugs being in the mix somehow is a great indication to use for how we''re a good fit." Samuel frowned at thement, turning back to his coffee.
"Generally it isn''t but Sam, you''re among the mafia. Using drugs for the right reasons is a great indication. It shows the length that one is willing to go to protect theirs." Jovani dismissed the other''s response.
"Not to mention, it isn''t like we''re talking about opioids or something serious like that. Sleep medicine is used on a regr basis for such things."
Jovani had a point but that didn''t help his younger cousin feel any better about the situation.
Samuel would have to have a talk with Lena once she woke up about her reasons.
Besides, what did this even have to do with fairness in love and war?
Chapter 306 This Information
The doctor hade and gone before Lena began to wake up. Even though she only took one of the sleeping pills, it still had a heavy effect.
The nket was so warm that she didn''t want to get out from under it at first. Being aware that they were still in the hospital made her want to move even less.
Waking up and facing such a rough reality didn''t ever be easier despite it not being the first in this kind of position.
She barely shifted her position before a gentle hand came to rest atop her head. It stilled for a moment before brushing the hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.
There''d only been one person in the past who did something so gentle for her.
Lena''s eyes snapped open before the sudden wave of sadness could fully crash over her. She shifted her position but didn''t fully jerk away from the touch.
"Sorry, that probably wasn''t the best call." Samuel. He would be the only one who''d think to touch that kind of thing.
"it''s fine. Has anything changed sincest night?" Rolling over onto her other side, she looked across the room to her father. Julian shook his head without saying anything.
"Doctor seems to think everything is the same as the night before." Samuel answered since Julian didn''t seem keen to speak.
"He did say though that he thinks Leo might wake up sooner than expected. The concussion is still bad but the swelling is starting to go down." Lena made a listening sound but didn''t reply.
"If someone wakes up, it might help to get rid of some of the gloom that''s covering this ce. For someone who is used to being in these spaces, it''s even heavy for me."
"Jovani, you''re not supposed to be here." the Vedova Nera boss was supposed to return home.
"You know that I couldn''t leave you guys here on your own. Who cares that I haven''t slept for almost two days now. I''m actually not feeling all that bad." To make his point, he even waved his injured arm. Hardly wincing in response to the pain.
Neither Samuel or the princess were overly thrilled with his antics.
"It doesn''t matter. You were supposed to be heading back. I thought that there was something going on with Alonso that you needed to deal with." Alonso who was supposed to have been back already himself yet failed to reappear on time.
"Ah." Jovani clicked his tongue, leaning forward in the hospital chair.
"Alonso is more than capable of taking care of himself. I took a call from him early. It seems that he had no problem sorting everything out himself. He''ll be backter today."
Tossing the nket to the side, Lena got out of bed. Now the size of the clothes was getting on her nerve. It was one thing to sleep in them. No way though would she be able tofortably walk in them. They were in no way made for short people such as herself.
It wasn''t like there was anything else for her to wear at the moment though. There would just have to be a lot of rolling to stop things from dragging.
"Aww, you almost don''t look so dangerous in those oversized clothes. I really think that they actually might suit you, princess." Lena was about to let the other''s jab go until she saw the phonee out.
"You take one picture of this, I will murder you in your sleep." Pursing his lips, Jovani gave her the best innocent smile that he could muster.
"I surely don''t think that you mean that. It isn''t like that photo would be going to anyone outside of this room." Was that supposed to somehow make it any better?
"What if I want a picture though, would it be bad if I take one?" Samuel suddenly jumped in. Except that he took things a step further.
He somehow managed to move behind the princess and wrap his arms around her waist. A rather gentle touch but still ufortable at thetest set of events.
"Maybe I want something tomemorate my fianc¨¦ being in such a cute outfit." Without thinking about it, he kissed the princess on the cheek.
For a brief second, Lena wavered. Only slightly as a pink hue descended upon her cheeks. Barely noticeable to anyone who wasn''t looking for it.
"No." The princess replied firmly.
"Come now. Not even one photo? Maybe aspensation for what you didst night?" The princess shot a dangerous look over at Jovani who seemed taken aback.
"Come again?" Lena asked trying not to tense too much in the other''s hold.
"You know what I mean." Samuel buried his nose against the side of her neck.
"The reason behind why I slept so much? Jovani told me what happened when I woke up before you did earlier." This news didn''t lessen the dark look that Lena directed at Jovani.
Though, he seemed slightly more relieved about the whole ordeal.
"I only did what I had to exactly like what you did. Now it''s time that you let go of me." Samuel didn''t though. Instead, he chose to hug her that much tighter.
"Not until I get a picture first. I don''t think that I''m asking too much by that. One photo I get to keep."
"I already said no. But if that''s how you''re going to be, you can keep hugging me for as long as you like." Lena realized only after the words left her mouth that it wasn''t the wrong thing to say.
"I think that I can deal with that as a constion prize." He brushed his nose closer to her.
"A rather pleasant prize I will take my time to enjoy." Samuel practically purred the words in her ear.
Now was neither the time nor ce for this type of thing.
Lena didn''t have to deal with the situation herself though as there was a sudden knock on the hospital room door followed by the doctor entering.
"I do realize that there is a lot going on for you all right now. Could you keep the number of peopleing and going from the hospital down a bit? You''re making some of our other patients here ufortable." The doctor seemed to not know where to look while speaking. ncing at everyone in the room without letting his eyes linger on any one person for too long.
"You''re right that we are dealing with a lot right now. If the other people in the hospital are getting ufortable, you might want to move them elsewhere." Julian responded without missing a beat.
"We''re not here to cause any problems. Just likely everyone else here, we have people who we are visiting and worried about that. If that isn''t something they can understand, that''s hardly our problem." The doctor''s Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly.
"I-I understand." The doctor fumbled as he took a step back.
"If you understand, I don''t think that there is any other reason for you to be here. Instead, you can kindly go and tell this to the rest of your patients if you don''t want me to. Also, allow whoever is here toe in."
The doctor only mutely nodded. Turning tail quickly to go and as Julian said.
"If we didn''t need that man, I swear that I might actually kill." The younger brother huffed under his breath, tucking his folded arms closer to his body.
It seemed that the devilous streak hadn''t just been contained to the princess and her father. Perhaps the younger brother was the only one spared from it?
"Maybe instead of killing him, you can look at getting him reced when all is said and done." Jovani suggested as he got up from the chair.
"You probably give them more than enough money here that you could get away with doing something like that." It was a valid point but more trouble than just making someone ''go away''.
"As for the guest. I think that I have an idea of who that might be." Jovani turned to Samuel while rubbing his hands together.
"As much as I know you''re enjoying hugging your little princess there, you''re going to have to let her go. I need a little something from her." Though somewhat reluctant, Samuel did release Lena. Not before nting another kiss on her cheek.
"And what exactly might you need from me?" Lena shifted away from Samuel to avoid being touched again.
"That information? The stuff that I went to all the trouble of getting for us?" Jovani asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I believe that Hester whom you called Princess should be the oneing. If so, then it''s time that we got everyone to see the little gift that we managed to pick up." Lena nced over at her fianc¨¦ when the other said this.
This again would go into the bucket of things she didn''t want him to see.
But eventually he would be exposed to much worse, wouldn''t he?
Chapter 307 Next Steps
Almost as if on cue, there was a knock on the door.
Hester only entered after Julian confirmed it was safe to. He brought along a ratherrge briefcase.
"I wasn''t sure what was required so I brought along a few things." Shifting away from the door frame, he set the briefcase in a corner before casting a nce at the boss lying in the hospital bed.
"Before things go any further, Jovani and I need to go have a chat." She handed her phone off to Hester before indicating for the Vedova Near boss to follow.
"Do we really have to have this conversation right now?" Jovani barely waited for the hospital room door to close before speaking.
"Yes because there''s going to be a lot going oning up and we need to agree on a few things."
"Samuel will be fine. There''s no reason to hem and haw over this." He didn''t wait to hear what she said before brushing her off. He was beginning to get uncannily good at reading her. He needed to stop that.
"I didn''t bring you out here just to talk about that." Lena shifted to the side when a pair of nurses walked past them. Only someone oblivious would miss the looks shot in their direction.
"What then? I know there is going to be a lot going on. I don''t think it''s much to worry about though. No one diedst night so we can follow upter."
"How exactly did you get this information? Don''t try and give me that vague story you tried to pass off earlier. I want the truth." Jovani''s head tilted back against the wall, eyes closing for a second while shifting to support his aching arm.
"My men were the ones who found it. Independent of what happened." The Vedova Nera boss shifted position, rummaging in his pocket for something.
"We''ve been dealing with something separate on our side for a little while now. Just so happened that was part of the bounty we got for weeding out a rat." Pulling a bottle out, he unscrewed it to pour a few blue tablets into his bad hand.
"Until all of this took ce, we didn''t think there could be a connection. It was encrypted and I was going to get someone to take care of it. I just decided to speed up the process."
"By going to mercenaries? You do realize who else works in that area of business?"
"Aside from your family friend Richard?" Jovani shot back, a little more venom in his voice than initially intended.
"I''m quite aware of who works with them. I''m also aware though of what they are capable of and how beneficial they can be." The Vedova Nera boss tossed back the pills in his hands. Wincing slightly as they were dry swallowed.
"You know, Princess, there are other people around you who can handle all sorts of things. You don''t always need to be on high alert that something is going to end up going wrong."
"Firstly, I would appreciate if you would avoid bringing Richard into a conversation that has nothing to do with him. Secondly, I''m well aware that others can handle things. I just don''t like when people are moving things when I don''t have all the pieces to what''s going on." The princess narrowed her eyes at the older cousin.
"More so when there are reasons for me to believe that they shouldn''t be easily trusted."
"Who shouldn''t be so easily trusted? I heard my namee up earlier though I doubt you''d be referencing me when saying that." The voice of the unexpected guest but Jovani on edge.
"They is what happens when you say the name of a devil, they end up showing up unannounced and unrequested." Richard didn''t even bother acknowledging the scowling man, instead shifting over to where Lena stood.
"What are you doing back here?" Lena shifted away from the other man who came a little too close into her personal space with her current mood.
"I came back to see how everything was going. Like I mentioned yesterday." Richard replied coolly. If he could sense the tension between the two, he didn''t make it easily apparent.
"I assume that nothing has changed since yesterday aside from what''s obviously in front of me." The princess shook her head.
? "Pretty much everything is the same. Nothing to worry about, nothing to celebrate." The worrying part was a touch of a lie but only because Lena knew stress wouldn''t leave her until everyone woke up.
"I see. I suppose then it might be best for me to stick around for the time being and see what''s going on." Richard got ready to make his way into the hospital room until the Princess stopped him.
"There is something else that''s going on right now. Nothing personal but I think that it would be better if you came back at a different time." Jovani''s eyes widened a fraction at the little devil''s words. How unexpected it was for her to be the one to turn him away.
"Something going on that I can''t take part in?" The other mafioso turned to Lena with a raised eyebrow. A slight frown a clear indication of displeasure at being turned away.
"Indeed. Considering the princess is the one turning you away, I think it would be best for her to exin why." Jovani piped up.
The Vedova Nera boss would''ve been more than thrilled to be the one to reject the other Having the Princess speak up though made things seem suddenly that much more interesting.
"It''s a close family matter for the time being. At least until we figure out everything that''s going on." Lena kept it brief.
"You cane backter to see how things are going. Right now, I would just prefer if there were less people added to the mix to keep things from beingplicated." Richard''s sour expression didn''t change. He wouldn''t argue with the princess though.
Doing so would most certainly be simr to disrespecting her father. Something he would never willingly do consider everything that the other man had done for him.
"I see. Well, I didn''te all this way for nothing. I will stick around in the hospital for a while, and you can just let me know when it is safe to drop by."
Jovani didn''t open his mouth to offer a small mocking wave to Richard before the other left the area.
"I would prefer if you would refrain from antagonizing family friends in the future." Lena told Jovani off the moment that Richard was gone.
"I know that you don''t like him. As I said before though, now is not the time and ce to allow that to bleed over into what we are doing."
"Why don''t we make a deal then?" The Vedova Nera man offered as he stepped away from the wall.
"I will keep my manners when he''s around if you agree to not bother me anyone about the sources that I chose to use. Simple enough I think. Especially when nothing I''m doing is going to have a heavy impact on you." Jovani could feel the fireing from the Princess''s gaze as fixed him with a hard stare.
Today though he really wasn''t in the mood to be backing down from the other.
"I already know well enough the drill about making sure that nothing happens to your family. They''re starting to be mine as well in case you forgot." Jovani moved away from the wall to get ready to head into the hospital room.
"Considering nothing about what happened the night before has left my mouth; I think that it is high time that you started trusting me more."
"It''s not even close to that time. If anything, what happenedst night makes doubt whether or not I should really be trusting you with everything." Jovani stopped when his hand made contact with the door handle.
"Really? I wasn''t the one being all that scaryst night. That was you. I generally tend to take a different approach to matters." The princess made a sound of annoyance.
"That''s not what I''m talking about and you know it very well." Jovani was about to turn to face her again when his phone suddenly started ringing.
"What troublesome timing this decides toe out." Moving away from the door, he pulled the phone out of his pocket.
"Good to see that it is no other than the great one responsible for helping us to get ahold of our current information." The Vedova Nera boss smirked as he read the caller ID.
"You should head back in to get started on everything. I will be back shortly once I''m done with this." Lena watched as the other epted the call.
"You don''t need to tell me to do that. Once you''re done with him though, I want a chance to speak with your right-hand man as well."
"Once he''s allowed to get some rest, you can talk with him as much as you like." Jovani waved the other off as he walked down the hall. The conversation was much too low for the princess to keep up with.
Chapter 308 This Is Going To Be Good
Jovani excused himself before anything even started. Alonso hade back and they needed to talk.
The right-hand man didn''t seem as though he were in a very good mood.
"You handled everything, didn''t you? I don''t see what the problem is then." Jovani chose to talk to the other outside.
"The problem is that that isn''t how things were supposed to go." Alonso ran a hand through his hair in a rather agitated manner.
"Do you even understand what it means for me to have gone about hitting him? Isn''t not good." Jovani couldn''t refrain fromughing at his friend.
"I don''t think it''s as bad as you think. If anything, you''ve gotten more respect from them. They could useful in the future." The other shut that down the moment it came out of his boss''s mouth.
"Absolutely not. I don''t want anything to do with them after this. I already told you once before that I''m done with that side of things." Alonso folded his arms over his chest.
"Come now, don''t be such a stick in the mud. Things are going to be really good at this rate. Don''t mess it up with such a fussy attitude." Jovani patted the other on the shoulder.
"Besides, I only said you didn''t have to deal with one person again. The people around him aren''t the same. Plus, isn''t it nice to know that you can stillmand that level of respect.
"..." That was besides the point.
"We can talk about itter. It''s not like I''m going to ask you to bring them all over here with you." Though, the extra hands wouldn''t go amiss.
"We''re taking it one step at a time right now. You getting what we needed anding back safely is what was most important."
Jovani shifted attention to Alonso''s car taking note for the first time that it was idling.
"I came to get permission to clean myself up beforeing back." The right-hand man exined.
"I''ve not yet had a chance to do that with everything that has been going on."
"Oh. You didn''t have toe all the way here to ask me that. You should know that the answer would''ve been yes." Hadn''t they worked long enough in difficult situations for the other to know better?
"There are other reasons that I wanted toe back and speak with you. It seems right now isn''t a good time though."
"Isn''t a good time? We''re talking right now, aren''t we?" Jovani indicted between the two of them.
"I don''t think that it is a conversation to take ce right here." Alonso rified.
"Things that you don''t want others hearing about? Then, no. Not right now. We can talk when you get back though."
"I would much rather if you would juste with me now so that we can get this taken care of." Alonso insisted.
"You know that there are a lot of things that I am willing to do for you as my boss. Some of them such as what''s going on right now push the line even for me. So if you would please be willing to get into the car so that we can talk about this." The right-hand man even opened the car door to show insistent he was upon them talking.
"Alonso, this really isn''t something that can take ce right now. With the information that you brought; we need to get some things in to order right now." Jovani sighed.
"I know that you feel like you''re being put through a lot right now. It will only be for a little longer until everything that''s being sorted is taken care of." Despite the assurance, the right-hand man didn''t seem any less tense.
It really wasn''t the ce to be having any kind of serious conversation. Too many people wereing and going even in the hospital parking lot that it made Alonso''s skin crawl.
He''d spent far too much time around people in thest few days.
"Just do me a favor for the time being. Head back to get yourself taken care of and we will talk about thister. Depending on how things go today, I think that this is something Lena should be involved in as well."
"Why do you think that I''m stressed about wanting to talk with you about this in the first ce? I think that there are some things we need to talk about before then." Alonso groaned. Why the usually sharp, on top of thing boss being so dense at the exact moment when he needed him to not to be? Whatever the reason, it was giving Alonso a pounding headache.
Between exhaustion and stress, the urge tough at the pressing situation was beginning to get stronger.
"Is it really that bad? I don''t generally see you in such a state." Jovani''s head cocked to the side as he observed his right-hand man. He did look rather worse for wear. Stress often did that to his reliable friend. Though, never at quite this level.
"Really what makes you think it is that bad? My face or the fact that I''m almost on the verge of tossing you into the car and forcing you toe with me." Alonso did his best to not take on a fully disrespectful tone with the other.
"Well. Whatever is going on, it really is going to have to wait for the time being. This is more pressing at the current moment. Unless whatever you need involves life and death, leave it. You need to go rest and clean up." The Vedova Nera boss decided to put his foot down after weighing things out.
"There are too many people here to talk, you''re right. You''re also not in any kind of state to have this conversation. I also have a little devil waiting back in the hospital for me. If this takes much longer and I don''t have answers to give, we''re both going to be in trouble." Trouble might''ve been an understatement despite being true.
"If that''s your final word on the matter, I will do as you request. I will make it clear at this point though I''m very thrilled about being sent away before we can have proper conversation." Alonso closed the car door rather firmly.
"I do want to set aside some time tonight to go over everything. No putting this off like other things that you don''t want to deal with." Jovani let out a gasp, giving the other a rather wounded look.
"Me putting things off I don''t like? I thought that you always said before I didn''t know how to let things be. I worked too much in order to deal with all the thing I don''t like. You should be happy that for once, I''m letting something go."
"We both know that when you deal with things you don''t like, they''re only the ones you''refortable dealing with. The rest of matters I almost always have to pull teeth to get you to take care of them." The other deadpanned.
"That I would say is a tiny bit of an exaggeration." Jovani indicated how small of one by pinching his thumb and index fingers together. Based on that, it was very tiny exaggeration to the Vedova Nera Boss.
"Seriously though, you really need to be heading off to take care of yourself. We wille backter to have this conversation." As though the universe agreed with what Jovani said, his phone pinged indicated that the princess had messaged him.
"Just as along as you understand that I will being back tonight so that we can finish this conversation." Jovani shot the right-hand man a thumbs up before turning his back on the other. Too busy with his phone to really care what the other said or properly respond.
Alonso watched him walk away for a moment before turning back to the car. Letting out a deep sigh, he ran his hand through his hair once more.
He really wasn''t happy about leaving things at this point. Certainly, he''d been more than able to take care of himself when dealing with the mercenaries. By some magic, he''d even been able to get away without any injuries.
That wasn''t exactly a good thing though. Hitting his former friend had some kind of odd effect on the men in that room.
Good once of respect and loyalty as Jovani might''ve called it didn''t quite seem to fit what took ce. It felt like something more than that to Alonso.
Something he didn''t want to have to deal with after turning his back on that world for so many years.
"You better keep your promise about us talking about this. If not, I might actually go through with my threat to smack you this time." Alonso red at the hospital for a moment before turning to get into the car.
He would go get cleaned up, eat, and maybe sleep for a little but still make it back in time before night fall.
This conversation would be happening that night one way or another. Even if Jovani didn''t care to make it a priority.
Chapter 309 Way Too Much
There was quite a bit ofmotioning out of the hospital room by the time Jovani returned. Far more than he''d expected there to be despite the information that they were going to be looking at.
"How are you going to be able to get through all of this?"
"I think that is likely a pattern to the way it should be processed and organized." Julian and Lena''s voices were the two most prominent ones.
"I honestly don''t know. I think that it is going to take me some time. I don''t even know if they had a system they used. If there is, that will take me a day or two at least to figure out." Hester spoke just as Jovani entered the room.
"It almost sounded so loud out there that I thought there might''ve been a party going on here." only Samuel turned to look at the other.
"This data you gave us is quite a mess to deal with. Did you not find out anything about the way it was stored before you touched it?" Hester hated when things were messy. Especially when there was so much mess to organize.
"Alonso would be the one with the answer to that question. He''s not here right now though as I sent him back to get cleaned up and rest." Jovani took a seat on the edge of the hospital bed.
"I can send him a call and ask him about itter if that would help."
"It would be preferable if that''s something you could take care of doing right now." Lena told the other.
"It''s great that we have all of this to work with. It doesn''t do us much good if we can''t figure out the angle to take it from."
"Then don''t stop looking at it as a whole. Try to look at each separate piece and see what you can figure out from that. Hester would you mind if I saw theptop for a moment?" Jovani patted the spot on the bed next time, indicating from theputer-wielding mafioso to take a seat next to him.
"I know you haven''t had much chance to look at it yet. I want to know what you see on the first impression. What data do you notice? Connections perhaps between the names. You''re good at this, so I don''t think that you should have a problem understanding what I''m getting at."
"I''m not quite sure what you''re talking about. All I see are names and other corrted information." Hester humored the other though, taking a seat and allowing the Vedova Nera boss to look at the screen.
"Well. This certainly looks quite different from what I saw before. It seems that reformatting to free the data might have messed a few things up." Jovani took theputer, bncing it on his legs as he scrolled through the list.
"Don''t you have anything else that we could use to help us open this? This software seems a little too basic." He grumbled under his breath, closing everything out before doing a search on theptop much to the other chagrin.
"Try not to break anything on it. I highly doubt that you really know what you''re doing with such an expensive piece of equipment.
"Jovani, don''t go about stealing other people''s things. Particrly not Hester''s. You''re going to cause us more trouble if you mess something up." Lena knew that from experience.
"Stop worrying too much. I feel like you all are forgetting who my fianc¨¦ is." Jovani didn''t appreciate being treated like a butter-fingered child.
"Thanks to her, I know my way aroundputers probably better than most everyone in this room." ''Most'' was only being used to exclude Hester so as to not offend the hovering mafioso.
"See? Just a few clicks of a button and a little something different and we''ve got some magic going on here." Jovani handed theputer back over so that Hester could show it to everyone else.
"What are all these other files that appeared? I don''t think that the folder was this filled earlier.
Jovani shifted attention to Alonso''s car taking note for the first time that it was idling.
"I came to get permission to clean myself up beforeing back." The right-hand man exined.
"I''ve not yet had a chance to do that with everything that has been going on."
"Oh. You didn''t have toe all the way here to ask me that. You should know that the answer would''ve been yes." Hadn''t they worked long enough in difficult situations for the other to know better?
"There are other reasons that I wanted toe back and speak with you. It seems right now isn''t a good time though."
"Isn''t a good time? We''re talking right now, aren''t we?" Jovani indicted between the two of them.
"I don''t think that it is a conversation to take ce right here." Alonso rified.
"Things that you don''t want others hearing about? Then, no. Not right now. We can talk when you get back though."
"I would much rather if you would juste with me now so that we can get this taken care of." Alonso insisted.
"You know that there are a lot of things that I am willing to do for you as my boss. Some of them such as what''s going on right now push the line even for me. So if you would please be willing to get into the car so that we can talk about this." The right-hand man even opened the car door to show insistent he was upon them talking.
"Alonso, this really isn''t something that can take ce right now. With the information that you brought; we need to get some things in to order right now." Jovani sighed.
"I know that you feel like you''re being put through a lot right now. It will only be for a little longer until everything that''s being sorted is taken care of." Despite the assurance, the right-hand man didn''t seem any less tense.
It really wasn''t the ce to be having any kind of serious conversation. Too many people wereing and going even in the hospital parking lot that it made Alonso''s skin crawl.
He''d spent far too much time around people in thest few days.
"Just do me a favor for the time being. Head back to get yourself taken care of and we will talk about thister. Depending on how things go today, I think that this is something Lena should be involved in as well."
"Why do you think that I''m stressed about wanting to talk with you about this in the first ce? I think that there are some things we need to talk about before then." Alonso groaned. Why the usually sharp, on top of thing boss being so dense at the exact moment when he needed him to not to be? Whatever the reason, it was giving Alonso a pounding headache.
Between exhaustion and stress, the urge tough at the pressing situation was beginning to get stronger.
"Is it really that bad? I don''t generally see you in such a state." Jovani''s head cocked to the side as he observed his right-hand man. He did look rather worse for wear. Stress often did that to his reliable friend. Though, never at quite this level.
"Really what makes you think it is that bad? My face or the fact that I''m almost on the verge of tossing you into the car and forcing you toe with me." Alonso did his best to not take on a fully disrespectful tone with the other.
"Well. Whatever is going on, it is going to have to wait for the time being. This is more pressing at the current moment. Unless whatever you need involves life and death, leave it. You need to go rest and clean up." The Vedova Nera boss decided to put his foot down after weighing things out.
"There are too many people here to talk, you''re right. You''re also not in any kind of state to have this conversation. I also have a little devil waiting back in the hospital for me. If this takes much longer and I don''t have answers to give, we''re both going to be in trouble." Trouble might''ve been an understatement despite being true.
"If that''s your final word on the matter, I will do as you request. I will make it clear at this point though I''m very thrilled about being sent away before we can have a proper conversation." Alonso closed the car door rather firmly.
"I do want to set aside some time tonight to go over everything. No putting this off like other things that you don''t want to deal with." Jovani let out a gasp, giving the other a rather wounded look.
"Me putting things off I don''t like? I thought that you always said before I didn''t know how to let things be. I worked too much to deal with all the things I don''t like. You should be happy that for once, I''m letting something go."
Chapter 310 Do You Mind If I
Lena couldn''t ask everyone to leave the hospital room, so she removed herself. Samuel wanted toe but she told him not to this time.
Everything going on was messing with her head a little too much. So many people in such a small space didn''t leave much room for breathing. Something the princess desperately needed to do otherwise an explosion might ur.
Heading over to the hospital''s coffee shop, she ordered a ck with two espresso shots. The barista shot her a concerned nce but didn''t say anything.
She didn''t care what other people thought, Lena just needed something to clear her head.
Being in the hospital was one of the worst ces in the world. All the peopleing and going to see ill loved ones. The rm sounds went off each time a code blue or simr urred and the smells of bleach mixed with other chemicals.
It was nothing more than a prison for the dead, those to soon die, and their loved ones left behind who would never be whole again.
"You seem like you''re rather deep in thought based on the way you''re ring at that wall." Lena instinctivelyshed out, striking with her hand in the direction the voice came from.
She didn''t make contact as the other managed to catch her first right as it went around behind her back.
"Easy now. It''s just me. Richard." Hearing the other announce himself was enough to stop the princess fromshing out a second time.
"I must say that this is the first time being on the receiving end of that kind of attack. Definitely don''t want to be getting on your bad side in the future." Richard tried to joke it off as he let her go.
The princess though didn''t seem to share in his humor.
"What are you doing here? I didn''t think that you were supposed to being back untilter?" Lena shook her hand out, feeling a slight tingling in her thumb where the other inadvertently pinched a nerve.
"I was. Though I''ve really just been wandering around the hospital. Waste of time and money to go just toe backter. I wouldn''t have approached but from this point, it seemed like you were thinking really hard about something."
The barista handed Lena over her coffee with a little more trepidation than she''d begun to serve her earlier. Anyone who''d seen what urred seconds before would be wary about approaching the little Mafiosa. She wasn''t to be trifled with.
"There is no reason for you to be here. I''m just thinking a few things through." Lena took a sip of the coffee, holding back a grimace as the bitter vor rolled over her tongue. She''d forgotten how bad hospital coffee could be.
"Whatever you''re thinking about must be pretty bad if you''re resorting to drinking that." Richard pointed to the coffee cup as Lena pulled it away before he could touch it.
"I like the bitter vor. It helps to remind me that I''m still alive despite being stuck in this ce." Richard knew well what she meant by her words.
Outside of her family, he was the only one after all who was there to know what she had gone through.
"I don''t think you have to worry about it being so bad this time. Getting through one day is a good sign in and of itself. Give it a week and things will be far better than they are now."
"My family is only one part of the issue that is going on. There is a myriad of other things that I am going to have to deal with once this is done." Lena shifted away from the coffee shop, noticing that other people wanted to order but seemed wary to approach.
She upied one of the benches a few ways away and off to the side.
"Do you mind if I join you here?" Richard didn''t sit down until the other indicated that it was safe for him to do so.
"I know how you are feeling about everything so why don''t you just stop thinking and take things one step at a time? I know how Jovani feels about me but I don''t think he''s a problem." The princess forced herself to down more of the foul bitter liquid. The bitterness unsettled her stomach in a bad way.
"What makes you think that? I''ve heard a little bit that you have a history. Nothing thought that makes your opinion seem reliable though." Richard''s usually indifferent expression cracked into a small smile.
"Did he tell you that it was only a little bit of history between us? I would say there was a lot more than a little." Turning to look at his hand as he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, he continued.
"We actually knew each other quite a bit. Or more like I knew his cousin well. The older cousin always means well, his way of going about things just isn''t always the best." That went without saying.
"Is it true what he mentioned though? About you being the reason as to why his cousin went down the wrong road." the smile fell off the other''s face, reced with a small eye-roll.
"That would depend on which side one looked at the situation from. To me, his cousin was already getting into far worse. To Jovani, he thinks that I put that seed in his cousin''s head. Reality? His family is all sorts of fucked up." Lena raised an eyebrow at the other.
"First you tell me that I should trust him then you say his family is fucked up? Not exactly the best way to fill someone with confidence." A wry smile spread across her face.
It wouldn''tst long though. The next time she drank coffee the bitterness would wash it away.
"I''m only here, to tell the truth. Whether you decide to listen or not is fully up to you. I will maintain though that I don''t think there''s any harm to him." Sensing the conversation wasing to a close, Richard stood up.
"The one I''m actually more interested in at this point is the younger cousin, your fianc¨¦."
"What do you want with Sammy?" Richard''s eyes shed with an unreadable emotion for a second before. He couldn''t help but wonder if she was aware of her response to him asking about Samuel.
That kid seemed to have an interesting effect on the Red Scorpion Princess.
"Nothing. I''m just saying that I''m interested in him. Speaking of the little pup, it seems he''se over to collect you." Lena''s head turned in the direction that Richard pointed in.
"That doesn''t-" Turning her head back, Lena noticed that Richard had already disappeared. Damn slippery man.
Chapter 311 No More Hands Than Necessary
The conversation with Richard likely didn''t help Lena as much as the nasty coffee did.
Bad or not, coffee was what the princess needed to help her get to focusing on what was in front of them.
Issues with Jovani would have to be set to the side for the time being. Right now the focus needed to be on figuring out everything going on with the data he managed to get hold of.
Whatever was in there would likely be able to help them figure out what the next move would. That and being able to get that stubborn human stuck back at the warehouse to speak. Maybe Lena could find someone aside from Jovani to take her this time around.
She knew where to go now. She needed someone with her who wasn''t going to stop her when she was almost at the tipping point.
Heading back to the room, Lena couldn''t help but notice that she was getting far more stares from the hospital staffpared to before. Not direct or noticeable, just quick nces and slight frowns. Did it have something to with Richard? She''d not heard anything about him having any kind of reputation at the hospital.
If anything, he did his best to avoid such ces. Much like her, the white walled prison made him feel ufortable. If not for Zane being there, he would never have stepped foot into the ce for anyone else.
"Lena, I was just getting ready toe to look for you. Hester thinks that he found something of interest but wants to know what you think about it first?" Samuel poked his head out of the room at the same time Lena was getting ready to open the door.
"What is it?" He stepped to the side to allow her to enter. A quick nce told her that it seemed Jovani had left again.
Whatever the reason, she didn''t care. It was likely better for right now that the two of them weren''t in the same space until they could figure out their issues.
"I don''t actually know what it is. One of the files though seems to be a little from the rest. IT was encrypted so it took a little bit for me to figure out exactly how to get it open. Once open though, it had a bunch of documents inside of." The tech man turned theputer around so that Lena could take a look at it.
"I know some of these are again more names and ces. However, it seems that there is more of a code to thesepared to the other files."
"You think they refer to a different name than the one listed here?" Hester shrugged his shoulders.
"They could. It would take quite a bit of time though for me to be able to figure out what exactly that would be." Turning theputer around, he clicked a few times before once again turning theptop back to the princess.
"What is really interesting to me though is this right here. They are audio files. Recording that are also encrypted but by something a lot more solid than what I was just able to get through. They are untilted though so there''s hardly any way to be able to tell what they are.
"Do you think that you could open them up or know of someone who could help you get it done." The princess straightened out, ncing over at her Uncle who was still seated next to Zane.
"Julian, do you think that you know someone who might be able to help with this." Her uncle didn''t respond right away.
"I can see who I have in my contacts. There are a few people I know but it might require working with unorthodox sources which could be pretty pricy and carry a certain amount of risk." Hester piped up.
"I would be certain to talk it over with them first to see what the fee would be. I won''t go about doing anything that''s above a fair price." Julian nodded his head at the other.
"I would take that route first. I do know some people who might be able to help. I would prefer we didn''t contact them though with everything else that''s going on. Thest thing we need at this point in time is any more news about this situation getting out."
Shutting theptop, Hester stood up from the bed and began to put his things away.
"I will get this taken care as quickly as possible. It might take a day or two to get everything squared away though. If you don''t mind me taking leave away from here to do it? I think that it might just be safer in the long run."
"Is there anyone else we might be able to contact? What about Jovani''s fianc¨¦? Doesn''t she do tec stuff as well?" Samuel made a valid point but Lena''s expression told him that wasn''t a good question to be asking.
"She does. I don''t know though if she''s someone that we want to be touching around with this stuff." The princess replied.
"I know that Jovani was the one who brought it to us. I just don''t like the idea of it going through any more hands than necessary though. Hester can contact her though and see if she has any ideas of what might work."
Lena didn''t exactly have any problem with the other woman. Her work at thepany had been good enough thus far. Much more reliable than what Jensen had been doing for them.
The issue was that she was just too close to Jovani. Right now, Lena didn''t think that made her a good choice. The princess wanted someone who would be reliable without fail.
Mercenaries weren''t much better but at least it was easy to tell where their loyalties lied.
Give them the right amount of money and they would happily do any job requested of them without a second thought.
Chapter 312 An Apple A Day
Jovani didn''t want to leave yet but Alonso kept bothering him. Whatever got into the other seemed fairly serious based on the way that he was acting.
The mercenaries won''t all as bad as he was making them out to be. Jovani had been around them enough to know that for himself. More than that though, Alonso should have known that himself. The man spent more time with them after all than his boss had.
What was a sudden change in pace in being around them again? Shouldn''t have been anything that the other man couldn''t handle. Alonso was better put together than that. Even if the person he did punch happened to be an old acquaintance.
"You seemed to be bothered by this too much so I decided te and see what was going on for myself. I don''t think that it is something worth worrying about as much as you are." The Vedova Nera boss likely shouldn''t have been driving but was far too tired to care. One arm was more than enough to keep the wheel straight without too many drivers on the road.
? It wasn''t like the police would pull him over anyway.
"You think so? Do you even know what this has started?" Alonso showed his phone to the other who nced down at the stream of text messages.
"You''re back in touch with them? Good for you, you''re remaking friends with an old crew." Jovani pushed the phone back towards the other. It seemed like the normal type of texting that took ce between people who were friends.
Nothing dangerous or worthy of noticing stood out to Jovani. If anything, they seemed rather pleased to be chatting with his right-hand man.
"I don''t see anything there that''s worth worrying about. I think you should just get better at epting admiration from others." Jovani walked around the other to get ready to head inside of his estate.
Too much time on his feet was causing his arm to hurt even worse than before.
Going inside would at least allow him to find something to drink to be able to drown a whole bottle of painkillers after which he might be able to get a few minutes of sleep.
"The admiration part isn''t what is bothering. It''s the fact that their boss isn''t thrilled about this shift. That man is crazy. Potentially crazier than your cousin whom we''re still dealing with."
"You think that there is someone who is crazier than him? I would have to see that for myself before I would be able to believe that." Jovaniughed lightly, ncing over his shoulder at the other.
"Though it''s fair to say anyone man worth his salt would be pissed after being knocked out by someone they thought that they had an advantage over. He''ll probably cool off over the whole thing eventually."
Jovani''s words hardly helped the other to feel better.
It seemed as though his boss wasn''t taking what he said all that seriously.
"He''s not the kind of person to let this go easily. I don''t care really whatever his men want to do about. I don''t like being associated with them. Not after everything that happened before. My concern is what the other might do. You know who is with them still." Jovani paused right before reaching the kitchen where the sacred pain pills would be located.
"I guess that just means that we will have to do something about getting ahold of him sooner than anticipated then, doesn''t it? I''m pretty certain that the princess would be more than thrilled if we could anyways." It might have been exactly what Jovani needed in fact. Something that would get her to get off his back for a little bit.
A different kind of peace offering than the other was used to giving but it could still work out in his favor.
"Do you know where to find him? They certainly didn''t know where he had gone beyond the fact that he left before I got there. I don''t think that it will be that easy to get ahold of him." Jovani raised his hand to signal for the other to stop speaking for a moment as he downed the pills with vodka.
"You need to think outside of the box if you are wanting to find him. They might not know if they don''t care. Give them a reason to care and I''m sure that they won''t have a problem finding him for us." Jovani tossed the other apple off the counter.
"First, you need to eat something though. I highly doubt you''ve had anything since before you got back either. Second, just give them something to work with and I''m sure that they will find what you want them to." Alonso didn''t seem convinced by the other but focused on the food handed to him.
He did need to eat something. He''d not had much of an appetite for everything that had been happening.
"An apple day is supposed to help keep the doctor away. You might want to consider eating a few more if you''re going to stress much. It would be a shame if my right hand ended up getting gray here before me."
Jovani brushed a hand through the other''s hair as he walked by almost as though checking to make sure everything looked dark still.
"You''re always going to be the reason why my hair ends up turning gray. Whether because of this situation or another, it''ll be the same." Jovani chuckled in response to thement. Though Alonso couldn''t see the other, he heard as his boss bit into the apple.
"If that''s going to be the cause, I guess I might want to think about pushing things forward so you can consider getting any early retirement."
Early retirement? Would that ever actually be an option for him? Even if Jovani handed things over, there was still his rather na?ve younger cousin who would need to be watched.
Certainly nowhere near as bad as Jovani but still a problem child in his own right.
Chapter 313 Thirty Seconds Of Regret
Lena looked down from the roof of the hospital. People walking below looked like mere specks from how high up she was. Even the cars didn''t look muchrger than models as they moved back and forth across the roads below.
She wasn''t quite sure how far exactly it was but certainly high enough up that no one who dropped from this high would likely survive. Not the most pleasant thought for that afternoon.
The princess closed her eyes as the cool breeze brushed against her face. A wee gentleness to the torrent building up inside.
Lena rested her hands on the ledge of the roof as she leaned her upper body over it trying to catch more of the breezing. There was something rather peaceful about being in such a position. A peacefulness that on most days she struggled to grasp.
At least for now there was no one else up there to break the momentary silence. It would give her a brief moment to collect herself before going back down to deal with everything once more.
Lena''s eyes fluttered open as she looked down once more. Would it be so bad to let go one time? Take the risk despite knowing what the oue would be.
Thirty seconds at most, right? That would be the only amount of time that one would have to determine if they made the right or wrong choice.
The princess could only fathom what that might feel like.
"What are you doing up here? I thought that you were still in the lobby below getting coffee?" An unexpected voice followed warm arms wrapping tightly around her waist.
"You really shouldn''t be standing so close to the ledge." Despite the warning, Lena didn''t find herself being pulled back.
"I would prefer if you wouldn''t go around grabbing me so unexpectedly. I can''t promise one of these times I''m not going to hurt you."
No matter how used to the princess''s unexpected touches, she couldn''t promise that she wouldn''t identally hit him at one point.
"Even if you don''t trust yourself, I have more than enough faith that you won''t." Lena only let out a small hum in response to the other''s words.
Why did it always seem that Samuel came around at all the right yet wrong moments at time? The princess would''ve preferred a moment longer of silence to be left with her thoughts.
Just enough until she figured out whether she would feel regret or relief in such a short period.
"Is there some particr reason that you came along to collect me?" Lena nudged her left arm back to get Samuel to loosen his hold on her.
Heplied only to allow the princess to be able to step back from the ledge of the hospital.
"Not really. I just mostly wanted to see how you''re doing and to know what''s been up with you." The princess shot him sideways as she moved to stand directly across from the other.
"What''s up with me? Shouldn''t that question be directed to Jovani? I think that there is more to be worried about with your cousin than me." She leaned her hands once more on the ledge as the wind caused her hair to whip around her face.
Maybe this would make a good ce for her to sleep that night. Close but still well enough away from everyone else that she would be able to get some peace.
So long as Julian was there, he would be able to take care of watching out for her father. He was far more suited for making sure that nothing would happen to him than the princess was.
"I would ask him what''s up but as I''m sure you already know, he''s still gone. That''s why I came up here to find you." Samuel watched the princess curiously.
The tense demeanor from before seemed to have all but melted away and instead was reced by something else that he couldn''t quite exin.
A strange sense of peace that didn''t seem like the type that came upon someone everything was okay in their world.
"I can''t exactly say that I''m fine with everything that has been going on. Whatever you''re worried about, it''s something you''re going to have to ask Jovani about. Whatever is going on with him is what''s bothering me."
"Does it have something to do with why you came backst night with blood on your clothes?" Never before had Samuel seen Lena whip her heard around so fast. Something akin to panic flickered in her eyes before the typical calm returned to them.
"Jovani didn''t say anything but I spotted the clothes before the hospital staff came back and noticed that there was a spot of blood on your pants.
"That had nothing to do with that. Any blood was likely due to your foolish cousin''s injury. He didn''t make sure to get it taken care of properly." The princess let out a deep huff.
"I don''t think that the stiches are going to hold very well if he keeps going about doing whatever he wants." She could tell by the other''s expression that Samuel didn''t quite believe her.
He''d still been spending far too much time around Jovani. The other''s uncanny perceptibility skills seemed to be rubbing off on her otherwise na?ve fianc¨¦.
"Don''t spend too much time worrying about it. There are other more important things that need our attention right now. You should also think about trying to get more sleep at some point." Lena stepped away from the ledge to walk past her fianc¨¦ to get ready to head back down again.
She didn''t quite make it past the other before he suddenly grabbed her hand, pulling her over so that he could hug her once more.
"I don''t think that I will need to worry about getting sleep any time soon thanks to you. I would honestly much rather you tell me what''s on your mind so I can figure out how to make it go away." The kiss that followed those words caught the princess off-guard.
Somehow, it was far gentlerpared to thest few kisses that the two shared. Tender in a way that didn''t bode well with the princess.
Was he trying to somehowfort her through such a intimate yet indirect means?
Chapter 314 Unexpected Move
Lena pulled away from the kiss before it got too deep. Now wasn''t the time to lose herself in such things.
Still, There was one thing that could be said.
"Being gentle suits you far better than your recent mood change." Samuel''s eyes turned inquisitive at her question. The princess chose not to respond though as she pulled away from the other.
"What is that supposed to mean? I didn''t think that there was anything about me that has changed?" her fianc¨¦ followed back down the stairs as she descended at a rather quick pace.
It was always surprise how quickly she could move despite how short her legs were.
"Something for you to figure out." Lena simply replied, reaching the bottom step.
"What exactly is this about? I didn''t think that anyone gave permission for these rooms to be touched." Lena''s pace slowed when she heard Alonso''s voice nearby.
It sounded like it came from Leo''s room.
"You should be asking the family for permission before youe in here doing as you please." The right-hand man didn''t exactly sound like the most pleasant person to be dealing with at the current moment in time. The tone in his voice held more power in inpared to normal.
Whoever he was dealing with sounded like they were struggling based on the lower toned stuttering the princess could hear.
"Alonso is in there?" Unlike Lena who waited to hear what was going on, Samuel decided to forward to see the situation for himself.
The moment he came to the door to the room, the atmospherepletely changed.
Alonso''s aura turned out to be vastly more intimidating than his tone.
The two nurse who came in to do their job were cowering by Leo''s bed. The boy still as of yet to wake up.
"What exactly is going on here?" Samuel inquired as he nced between the three individuals in the room.
"These three are intent on moving Lena'' brother to another room without asking her permission. I don''t believe they have even spoke to any of the other members of the family about this choice." Alonso replied, his arms pressed tightly against his chest while he leveled a hard stare at the two young woman.
"We-we did get a request though to move him from this one. To one that less easily essible." The older of the two nurses tried her best to justify what they were doing without seeming too intimidated.
"Who sent the order? If it didn''te from the Red Scorpion family, you shouldn''t even be given it a second thought." Samuel took Alonso''s side on this matter. No way would Lena or her uncle allow for such a thing to take ce without their permission.
"There was no name given. We just assumed it must havee from the family since they are the only ones always present here."
"We didn''t send any request for a move to be made. You won''t be touching anyone in either of these rooms now or in the future."
Lena stepped into the room as she made the announcement, her aura almost as bad if not worse than the one that Alonso had given off.
"I would also appreciate being able to see where this request came through. Don''t you have channels to confirm these things before just obeying?"
The nurses exchanged a wary nce with one another. The younger of the two looked as though there Was something she wanted to say but the words were stuck on the tip of her tongue.
The princess noticed this, and her gaze became fixed on the girl. A little pressure and she would likely crumble under the pressure.
Young ones almost always did. They hadn''t yet learned how to be as well-put together as their more seasoned counter parts.
"There''s nothing to worry about. It was obviously a mistake. One that we will apologize for and be more careful about in the future." The older nurse suddenly moved to block her youngerpanion from Lena''s intense gaze.
There it was.
"What is it that you''re trying to hide?" The princess moved further into the room.
The older nurse''s head turned in response to the question but she kept her mouth shut.
"Let your friend speak. It seemed as though there was something that she wanted to say. I don''t think that it would be right for you to keep her from speaking her mind." The princess waved her hand in a manner to get the older nurse to move.
However, the woman refused to budge.
"We apologized already, didn''t we? I think that''s more than enough to get you to stop antagonizing my staff and to allow us to get back to our job." Lena''s eyes flickered as though the words kindled a small me.
"Get back to your job? I thought that it was to ensure that you''re taking proper care of your patients, isn''t that right?" With each word, The princess took a step towards the nurse.
Lena gave the woman credit for not shrinking back with each step she took forward.
"Care to tell me how you''re supposed to do that when you''re keeping secrets and allowing yourself to be influenced by things outside of your conscience?" Lena was now standing level with the other woman.
The aura the biggest that it could be despite the size difference between the two of them.
The princess intended to stare the other woman down until she backed off. Whatever secret she was hiding, Lena wouldn''t be shy about using whatever means necessary to pull it from the other.
Her family wouldn''t be touched by any outsiders. No matter the reason. Not without their explicit permission.
"Lena, I don''t really think that you need to take things this far." Alonso remained quiet while the princess did as she pleased.
Samuel on the other hand determined the time hade to intervene before things became even more intense.
"I think that everyone here should take a few minutes to calm down. I was the one who put the request in for Leo to be moved. The rest of your family as well."
******Find me @ Damebutterfly on Kofi. Chance for mass release/ other content as avable/requested ************
Chapter 315 Out Of All The People
The moment that Lena caught sight of the man, she moved. Shoving past Samuel before he or either of the nurses and Alonso could react.
"Lena!" Alonso barked. The first to notice the murderous intenting off the Red Scorpion princess. She meant business.
A guard stepped out in front of the middle-aged man to protect him. He didn''t get the chance to draw his gun before Lena hit his right hand with a round kick followed by a sweep to knock him off his feet.
With the first obstacle out of the way, Lena went for her gun, clicking the safety off before it even left the holster. The motions were so fluid and quick, as though the princess had no second to waste and couldn''t move quickly enough.
The man didn''t even try to move in the few between the guard being knocked down to Lena pressing the gun under his chin. The neutral, tight-lipped expression didn''t shift either as he met her eyes zing with hatred. Despite how hard the cold metal pressed into the underside of his chin, he could detect the faint tremble. Anger barely contained.
"What are you doing here?" Lena spat, teeth gritted as she pushed the gun further forcing the other to tilt his head back to be able to breathe freely.
"You of all people have no right entering this room." Her trigger finger twitched. All it would take is one quick pull and the man would be dead.
"I came here because I heard what happened to your family and wanted to offer my services any way that I could." The calm tone and words only served to anger the princess further.
"You of all people? Do you think after everything that happened you have any right toe anywhere near my family? After what your father did?" Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper, inaudible to everyone except for the man she stood in front of. Of course, she hadn''t forgotten what took ce even after all of these years. Who could?
The man opened his mouth to speak again but before he could, he was suddenly pulled back by someone behind him. The unexpected move even caught Lena off guard as at the same time, something grabbed the gun in her hand.
"Lena! Easy off, I was the one who brought him here." Julian appeared in the doorway, putting himself between Lena and the other man. Shoving thetter behind him as though to provide some form of protection from the demon princess.
"He reached out to me and I was the one who requested that came, okay? You can back down now."
Julian''s words didn''t have the desired effect, however.
Rather than easing off, Lena took a swipe at her Uncle. Jerking the hand that held the gun down at the same time she brought her knee up. Julian winced as the bone made contact with his wrist, forcing him to drop the gun.
Lena caught the gun before it could hit the floor, backhanding Julian with the cold metal. The gun didn''t make full contact as Julian managed to grab ahold of her wrist to block the brunt of her hit. As quickly as this urred, Julian found his feet knocked out from under him as Lena took another swipe at him.
The force and Julian''s grip caused Lena to be pulled down with him. The princess however managed to maintain control of the situation. Shifting just enough to be able to point the gun at the other.
"What in the world were you thinking? Out of anyone, you should know most why that person shouldn''t be here." Lena didn''t even try to the paincing her voice as it cracked at the end of her sentence. Too far consumed by the anger that threatened to burn her and everyone else around here.
"Lena, that''s your uncle." Alonso tried once again to get the other''s attention only to have the other raise his hand to tell him to back off. Help wouldn''t be as helpful as they might imagine at the current moment in time.
"I know you''re upset." Julian took a steady deep breath when he felt gun the push further against his stomach.
"Does upset look as though it could ssify what I am feeling right now?" Lena hissed. The small rational part of her brain reminding her it was her uncle was the only thing keeping her from pulling the trigger.
"Out of anyone in the world that you could choose to bring here, you made one of the worst choices in your life." Julian only nodded his head slightly, keeping as still as possible to avoid the other pulling the trigger.
Until the trigger came back on, there was over an eight percent chance that Lena would shoot him. An uncle or not, he wasn''t her primary concern to keep safe. Anyone who threatened her father or immediate family would be seen as an obstacle in her current state of mind.
"Would you please just give me a minute to exin the situation to you? I think that once you hear what I Have to say, you might change your mind about the matter." Julian tried again. Voice low and steady as he could see the princess not nearing wanting to relent on her position.
"I don''t care what reason you brought him here for. I want him gone." Lena nced over when she noticed the other move out of the corner of her eye. The target under her wasn''t the one that she wanted but he was part of the problem.
"Why don''t you and I take a moment to take things through? If you don''t like anything I have to say, you can do as you please?" The older man offered.
He dared to take a step forward until the princess shifted her hand on the gun, a slight flex that warned she would fire if he got any closer.
"Why don''t you hear him out? Lena, you know out of anyone that I wouldn''t purposely do anything to put your father or you in any kind of danger." Julian''s eyes assured her of that but she couldn''t trust him. Not now. Not after thisst stunt.
"No. He either goes or I will force him to myself." The threat hung clearly in the air.
"Lena. I ¨C" a gunshot rang out the moment that the other tried to speak.
Chapter 316 Hes Scum
The gun missed its target, but the noise was more than enough to cause a fuss in the hospital. The staff and citizens there weren''t used to dealing with suchmotions very dear.
"GET OUT!" Lena snarled, cocking the gun a second time. The look in her eyes told the other that the next shot wouldn''t miss. If the first even missed the first time.
Collecting himself, the man cleared his throat, ncing between the devil princess and the man pinned under her.
"I understand. If you wish to talk with you me, I think that you know where you can find me. I apologize again that things couldn''t be worked differently." The man offered a small nod of his head before walking away.
The princess didn''t even rx once he was out of sight. Her small body trembled atop Julian as she struggled to regain her breath. She forgot how hard anger could make it to recollect herself."
"Lena, it''s okay now. You know that you can let him up." Samuel tried this time. Her fianc¨¦ too stiff and uncertain of the situation to react chose now to try and reach out to the princess.
"Out," Lena repeated. A calmer tone of voice but one that held just as much anger as her previous sentence. She didn''t even bother looking at Samuel as she gave the directive."
"Lena." Samuel tried once again. Not daring to move but determined to at least try and get her attention.
The moment her eyesnded on him, however, he could feel a cold chill sweep over his body. The expression on her face was unlike anything that he''d seen before.
He''d seen Lena angry on several asions. The most vivid is the ordeal that Jovani put them through. This look on her face was the first that he''d seen yet.
Her eyes zed with a red-hot fury that threatened to consume anyone that tried to stand in her way. Almost in a humanistic way. The bright red on her face from her barely contained anger only entuated this.
"Out." The princess repeated, her voice raising an octave here as she demanded everyone in the room to obey. The calmness was almost scarier than her anger from moments before.
Samuel opened his mouth to try and coax her again until she pointed the gun at him. He sucked in an apprehensive breath when her finger touched the trigger.
"Did you not hear me the first two times?" Lena''s voice came out low and rough leaving no room for argument.
Julian remained as still as possible even though the gun was no longer pointed at him. He could easily move the princess off if he wanted. However, that required more skill and speed than he possessed. His face still stung from where she had smacked him with the gun.
Samuel bit his bottom lip, it was hard to admit that he felt something akin to fear looking at the princess in her current state. How she could easily pull a gun on him despite knowing who he was.
He searched her eyes for any sign that the action was some kind of joke but couldn''t find what he was looking for.
"All right." He conceded when it became clear that she wasn''t going to remove the gun from his direction. The anger or recollection of what she was doing didn''t even reflect in her eyes.
only burning out hatred.
Samuel made a nudge for the nurses to leave the room ahead of him. Both of them couldn''t wait to be out of the room and away from the gun-wielding mariposa.
People had begun to crowd around outside of the hospital room until they were requested to leave the space. It wasn''t safe for normal people to be around. The situation would explode even further if anyone happened to get shot.
Despite their fear of gunshots, they were still foolish enough to gather around to watch and see what was taking ce.
Samuel wanted Alonso to go next but the other seemed more apprehensive, forcing the fianc¨¦ to leave the room first. The right-hand man was torn on how to move going forward. Jovani wasn''t there but he''d been tasked with making sure nothing out of sorts happened.
though this situation was probably not the kind that the other had been referencing.
"Lena you know that''s your uncle. Why don''t youy off a bit." Alonso tried to talk with her. The gun didn''t scare him as much as causing someone else to get shot. he could handle a little bullet. Wouldn''t be the first orst time someone shot him out of anger.
"The other already left so why don''t you let him be? He made a mistake but I''m sure that he more than realizes that by now." Lena''s eyes took a moment to reach the other but by the small raise of her eyebrow, it was evident she wondered if he meant what he said.
"Alonso, you''re talking about matters you know nothing about. I suggest that you keep your mouth shut." Julian even shot him a look that told him it would be better for him to stay quiet and leave.
"You know though that this isn''t something that you would normally do under these circumstances." Alonso continued to talk as he made his way toward the door.
"You hardly know what you''re talking about. That man who came here is hardly better than scum. The kind of person who doesn''t even deserve to exist in this world and my uncle of all people brought him here." Lena nced back at her uncle. Despite the gun no longer being pointed at him, that didn''t mean she still didn''t feel the urge to shoot the other.
Julian had crossed the line further than he''d done ever before. This wasn''t the kind of thing that could be swept under the rug. No, this was far more serious than an issue of that level.
"You''re better off keeping your mouth shut regarding issues that you know nothing about. Get out." Despite her words, Alonso tried to open his mouth again until another shot rang out, striking rather close to his shoulder and narrowly missing hitting the window and shattering.
Alonso didn''t flinch but, the princess made the point very clear. In fact, she was being far more generous than normal only due to them being people she knew.
Anyone else would have already been dead by.
Chapter 317 Something To Break
Once everyone else had left the room, Lena stared at her uncle for a hard second longer before getting off the other. She didn''t bother turning the safety back on to the gun as she turned her back on him.
"I want you to leave this room." The princes ordered without turning to look at the other.
"Do you have anything else that you want to say to me?" Julian asked, shifting slightly to a sitting-up position.
"I want you to leave is all I want right now," Lena repeated once again without even turning to face the other. She didn''t have anything that she wanted to say to the other at the current moment in time. The sooner everyone left, the more she would be able to breathe.
"Lena, won''t you at least hear me out on my reason for asking him toe here." The prince didn''t reply but her uncle could see the way that her hand clenched around the gun. A sign that she didn''t want to talk.
The girl in front of him wasn''t the same person he used to be able to calm down when she was younger. Nor the one who would explode but simmer out the moment that she came back to her family. This person was someone entirely different whom Julian hadn''t dealt with before.
"How many more people will make me repeat myself before they listen to what I''m telling them that I want?" The rhetorical question came as the princess shook her head.
It was always the same with everyone around her. No one paid attention to what she said or wanted. They did their own things and moved around her without consulting her as though she was just supposed to go along with everything that happened.
"I honestly don''t care whatever reason you had for bringing him. It won''t change the fact that you decide to act on your own without bringing me into the conversation. I understand that my father is no ce for you to talk about this with nor my brother. That doesn''t mean though that you can just gloss over me like I don''t have say. That is why I want you to leave. If you want that person to survive, I suggest you tell them to leave and go somewhere far enough that I won''t see them again."
Julian''s face fell at the other''s answer. In some respects, it felt very much so like history repeating itself. Some of the past conversations that he had with Zane went shing through his mind as she stood up after which he used his sleeve to wipe away the blood above his eye.
Most of the people had already dispersed, Alonso forcing the visitors and hospital staff out of the area. They couldn''t afford for anyone to get shot in the heat of the whole situation. The moment that happened, the hospital staff wouldn''t hesitate to involve the police in the whole matter.
"Very well. Do you want me to leave the hospital?" Julian asked, ncing towards the door when he heard someone move closer. Samuel''s face appeared from around the corner. Seemed as though the other didn''t quite want to leave the princess alone.
"I don''t care where you go, I just don''t want you around me right now and I don''t think that you want to remain in the same space as me either." Lena''s finger tapped against the side of the gun as she faced the window.
"If you''re nning on leaving the hospital, however, I want you to take Samuel with you." Julian raised an eyebrow at this. She wanted to send her fianc?? away even though he''d not done anything wrong? What in the world was she thinking by that.
Julian wanted to ask her until motioned for him to leave, likely aware that he wanted to go know what was going through her mind. That decision though wasn''t one of the ones that the princess wanted to have to justify.
There were several reasons that she didn''t want Samuel to say around any longer. The kind of reasons that weren''t easily verbalized in her current state of mind. Thus, it was easier to request that the other be sent away than to try and talk it over with him.
Whether Julian understood or not, he didn''t try and push the matter when the princess motioned once more with the gun for him to leave the room.
Her Uncle said a few words to Samuel before he shut the door behind him. He knew well enough that Lena wouldn''t do anything that would result in her brother getting hurt either. One of the reasons that the shots weren''t aimed so long as anyone was near the bed.
The princess didn''t break right after the door was closed. Lena couldn''t. She was knowing that there might be someone there who would still hear anymotioning from the room. She chose to dig her fingers instead of holding the gun in the palm of her hand until she knew that they would bleed. The only thing that she could do to stop the pain from feeling as though it would suffocate her.
Taking steady deep breaths while listening to the beeping of Leo''s heart monitor, the princess made her way over to the window. Breaking things would have been so much easier at the current moment in time rather than holding everything in. Except, there wasn''t anything to break into the room. Nothing that wasn''t attached to her brother and still beeping.
? She could have chosen to shoot off the gun until all the bullets were used in the cartridge, that wouldn''t have been satisfying though. The feeling wasn''t the same. The princess needed something that she could physically connect with, something she could hold, feel the temperature, the weight of. Something she could grip as tight as she wanted as though to strangle the life out of it before tossing it across the room or into the wall and watching it shatter into a million pieces. Only then would the torrent of the emotional storm raging instead of her begin to quail.
Failing that, what would the next best option be?
Chapter 318 You Or Him
Lena decided to take her issue up to the director of the hospital, an older portly man who didn''t seem thrilled by her presence.
Who could be med for not wanting to be in the presence of someone in such a foul mood? Lena didn''t have her gun drawn but she made sure to bring it with her. The man fidgeted as he sat at his desk.
"I don''t think that I quite understand what exactly it is that you''re asking of me. We do get quite arge donation from him." The man tried to reason with the princess who refused to take a seat, instead staying near the doorway of his room with the door closed.
"More than the amount of money that my family has been giving you for quite some time now? I find that rather hard to believe. Not to mention the fact that you''re getting quite a bit of protection from us as well." Had she known about this matter sooner, she wouldn''t have chosen to take her family to this hospital. Perhaps though it was something that had been kept from her to avoid this type of situation.
"No¡" The man trailed off, an obvious ''but'' hanging at the end of his sentence. One the princess expected him to finish when she raised an eyebrow, folding her arms across her chest as her head tilted slightly.
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation worsening the princess''s already bad mood. The direction opened his mouth to say that he was preupied but Lena dealt with the issue by giving the door a firm backward kick and requesting whoever was on the other side leave.
When a second knock didn''t follow, Lena motioned for the other to finish what he had been about to say.
"They aren''t an easy group to just cut off you see. I do greatly appreciate everything that you and your family do for us. You just have to understand that I am stuck in a rather bad position with this whole issue.
"One that I am sure you will be able to figure out how to deal with. I know that you don''t know me as well as my father, I can assure you though that I''m not someone you want to get on the bad side of." To make her point, Lena stepped away toe closer to the desk causing the man to shrink back in his chair.
"You see, I am trying to be nice in this matter. That man out there will be dead if you don''t cut off your ties with him. Don''t put it above me to give you the same fate if you chose to ignore my request. I don''t have much patience right now." Her warning came out in a low tone.
"Are we clear on this matter?" The man only nodded his head, too afraid to speak lest he identally angers the woman in front of him.
Lena''s phone rang but she chose to ignore it. Not quite finished with the situation at hand.
"Good, then I expect that this issue will be taken care ofe morning. Any longer and you won''t like what will happen next.
"Would it be possible for me to have a little more time? I don''t think that this is an issue that we can be dealt with that quickly." The director requested in a meek tone of voice.
"It''s up to you whether you want it to be you or him. I won''t give you much more time than what I already have. I think that I am being plenty generous enough." Lena stood up from the chair. Putting the gun on the table as she checked her phone.
"This is probably a far more serious issue than you realize. I hope that you deal with it with the correct amount of urgency that it deserves." The director once again looked as though he wanted to protest the time frame that she was making her request to be taken care of within.
Even if he wanted to, he didn''t know if it would be something that he could do quickly and be able to provide proof at the same time.
"I will do my best to see what I can do. I hope that you will take no offense however if the issue isn''t able to deal with as quickly as you might like it to be." Lena allowed a small cold smile to creep across her lips.
"As I said before, I will hardly be the one who is being positioned by this if you can''t finish the request on time. Other people are going to end up suffering far more than me." Seeing that the call wasn''t from anyone important, she chose to pocket her phone once more.
Nothing else mattered more to her than the current issue at hand. Anything else could wait so long as it didn''t have anything to do with her family.
"If you try to hide or skirt about this issue, it won''t take much for me to find out about it." Picking up the gun, Lena slowly ced the safety lock back on, keeping eye contact with the director who paled upon hearing the sound.
Though she would have preferred if he took care of the matter while she was still, his reaction would do for the time being. Fera could be a great motivator to get people to do what she wanted.
She tsked while turning away from the other''s desk. Thinking of fear made Samuel''s face pass through her mind. That was the one person she''d not been trying to make feel that way during this time. A great job she''d done thus far on preventing that from happening.
"I will leave you to it but if it isn''t done by nightfall tomorrow, I don''t think that I need to tell you what will be happening."
The director stammered out some kind of affirmative response before the prince left his office mming the door behind her.
If Samuel wasn''t going to be there with her for a while, that meant she would have more freedom to focus on some of the other things that she wanted to do.
She would figure out how to deal with her uncle at another point in time. If the director did what she needed him to do, that problematic man wouldn''t be a problem for much longer.
He wouldn''t be able to cause any more problems for her family.
Chapter 319 Taking Some Time Away
Alonso didn''t say anything about how quiet Samuel was. The usually talkative younger cousin remainedpletely silent as they went outside the hospital.
Whether or not Samuel agreed to it, Alonso felt that the best option would be to take him away for now. Lena might have wanted him to go to her estate, the right-hand man though felt that it would be more fitting for him to go and be with Jovani. The older cousin would be the best choice to know what they should do next.
"Don''t think too much about it right now, okay? Lena is dealing with her issues at the current moment." Out of habit, Alonso opened the car door for Samuel to get inside the same way he did it for Jovani. The younger cousin however stopped before he got into the car.
"You know that you don''t have to talk to me like that. I''m aware of what''s going on, it''s just taking me some time to process it." It was no wonder in consideration of the fact that only on two asions had the other been held at gunpoint. Never before had he thought the princess would be the one doing it though.
Alonso nodded his head slightly while motioning for the other to get inside the car. He nced back over at the hospital but already knew better than to think that the princess woulde running after him.
"Is Julian going to be leaving with us as well?" Samuel asked when Alonso got into the driver''s side. The right-hand man only scoffed at this question while starting up the car.
"I doubt that he would even think about leaving the princess alone despite the issues that they are having. He might have made a mistake but he''s not the kind to disappear to lick his wounds. The two of them will somehow figure out how to work it out." Alonso saw the way that Samuel frowned in the rearview mirror in response to this question
Unsure of what else he might be able to do to help the other, he decided that maybe putting on the radio would be the best option. There might be something on that he would like to listen to.
"Can you leave that off for the time being? There are a few questions that I want to ask you about now that we''re alone."
Something to do with the princess, your cousin, or both of them? The former isn''t something that I can speak much about. Your cousin however there are a lot of things that I wouldn''t mind telling you about." Samuel nodded his head as though to say his cousin was the one he wanted to know about.
"Ask away then and I will see what I might be able to answer for you."
"What has been going on between him and Lena? I don''t the exact details but it seems to me that they haven''t been getting along the best. Something to do with the reason why they left the other night." Alonso pressed on the break slightly, a reaction to the current mental state as he tried to figure out how to answer that question.
"I think that one might be better answered by your cousin. You''re not wrong to think that something is going on between them. That just isn''t my ce to talk about that kind of thing. It''s not on Lena''s side if that''s what you''re worried about." Samuel didn''t say anything right away as he turned to watch them drive away from the hospital.
He honestly didn''t want to leave the princess alone. Gun or not, it didn''t feel right to let her be while she was in her current frame of mind. Samuel liked his bottom lip, tasting the leftover salt from sweating earlier due to the adrenaline rush.
Samuel didn''t know though what state it would put him in once the adrenaline fully wore off. Process such a thing would be different once his mind was clear. Even if it was the world that he was now stuck in, that didn''t make it any less impactful for the person one is engaged to pull a gun on them in an argument.
"What else around that can you tell me about then? I want to least know what''s going on with my cousin. He''s hiding things and vanishing without saying a word to me which is different from how he usually is."
"That would have something to do with all of the lifeplications that are going on right now. Things that he doesn''t want you to be involved with yet because he doesn''t think you''re ready. Don''t worry though, it won''t take that long for him to change his mind about such things." Alonso knew that for a fact without even having to talk with Jovani.
The other was already nning how he would go about changing things in his favor soon. Some of that meant introducing his younger cousin to their family whom he hadn''t yet had the chance to meet. Not exactly the ones that Alonso liked all that much but still fell into having the obligation to serve due to them being rted to Jovani.
"You''ll still be being inducted eventually once all of this has calmed down. Jovani has been putting the pieces together to have that happen around everything else that has been going on."
"I have heard a lot about that but no one yet has told me what will be going on during that time." Something was better than nothing to discuss at the current moment in time. He wanted to keep his mind away from the current events just for a little longer.
"That''s more to do with the fact that we''re not allowed to talk about it more than anything. It''s something you''ll find out about on the night that it''s supposed to happen." Alonso turned on the blinker to turn left. He wanted to avoid taking the interstate today after what had been taking ce recently. The backroads would be slightly safer with their slower speeds and more people around. At least in a certain way.
"If you want to know more about it though, I can probably tell you a few small things." The other surprisingly seemed to perk up after hearing this.
Chapter 320 Unanticipated Visit
"What can you tell me about it that wouldn''t cause you problems? I''ve read about it before but I don''t think it''s the same as what happens." Alonso chuckled lightly at this. How right the kid was about that.
"It depends really. Not everything you read about it is going to be right nor is it going to be wrong. It''s different for each family though the basics of it remain the same. The most important part of it to know about it is that you''ll be around a lot of people when it happens."
Knowing Jovani, he would limit the number of people allowed to be around his younger cousin when everything took ce. A privilege that neither he nor Alonso got to have at the time of their induction.
"It''s mostly about remembering to keep your manners no matter who is talking to you at that time. Jovani will be taking charge of everything, but that doesn''t mean though that he will be the one fully in control there." Alonso paused for a second as he tried to think about everyone who might show up.
The families were getting toorge for him to keep track of anymore. He would need to start writing everything down in a book if everyone kept getting married and having so many kids and rtives.
"There will be people there from other families as well. Because it''s such a big deal for it to be happening. They''ll be there to oversee the process but only those who have blood ties to the Vedova Nera."
"Are they people that I should be learning to know about outside of the main family that Jovani told me to get used to?" Samuel bit the edge of his thumbnail. Thinking about that reminded him of the fact that he''d forgotten his phone back at the hospital. They''d already gone so far. Would Alonso be upset if he asked if they could get back and get it?
"There will be some people that you should take time to get to know. No one is that serious though. Most of them fall under listening to Jovani unless there is a reason for a power shift to happen. It''s just an act done in good faith."
Quite different from the reason that Alonso had so many people showing up when he took his vows. They were there to ensure he changed his mind about what he wanted to do with his life. Something that he wouldn''t have thought about doing if not for Jovani.
That would be something he owed him for quite some time yet. A debt that would be difficult to pay off even if the other told him it wasn''t anything that he needed to worry himself about.
"You''ll get briefed by Jovani as it gets closer though. He''s the one who will be fully deciding on everyone who will show up.
Speaking of the devil... Alonso''s phone began to ring as Jovani decided to suddenly call him. Likely done with whatever he''d been dealing with.
"Why don''t you take this call? You can use it to tell him what''s been going on and ask whatever questions you have to him directly."
Samuel hesitated a moment when the other suggested this to him. His mind was not quite clear enough to think about what the other was telling him to do.
"It''s unusual for you to take such a long time to answer the phone, Alonso. Is there something else going on that I should know about?" Though the tone was meant to be teasing, it came across as more exhausting than anything else.
"Jovani. The call took a moment longer to answer as Alonso isn''t the one picking up. He decided to pass me the phone at thest second to answer." Good thing Samuel was there. Alonso could put off having to talk with the other for a few minutes longer as well.
Jovani would likely want to bring up the one thing that Alonso wasn''t in the mood to be talking about.
"Oh? Little cousin? What are the two of you doing together? I thought that you were still back at the hospital with everyone else."
"Samuel will exin it but there has been a slight change in how the ns were set up." Alonso raised his voice to be heard from the driver''s seat. The response was met with a heavy silence. One that indicated that Jovani might''ve known what was going on.
"Samuel, is there something that you want to say about the matter?" Though, gentle, a stiff edge could be heard at the back of the other''s voice.
"Lena is dealing with some unexpected family issues. She doesn''t want a lot of people around right now so Alonso thought it would be better if I was away for the time being" Speaking of being away. It wasn''t until that moment that Samuel realized that they were heading in the opposite direction of where Lena''s estate was located.
"Family issues? I didn''t think that there was anyone awake for her to be having family issues with. Is she upset at you?"
"No. It''s something to do with Julian. Not anything that I did or that happened between the two of us. It just blew up a bit." Samuel bit his bottom lip listening to the noises that the other was making on the other end of the phone. It sounded almost as though he was crunching gravel or something simr underfoot. Jovani wasn''t inside somewhere.
"Where exactly are we going though?" Samuel asked as he moved the phone away from his face.
"We''re going to be going to visit Jovani. I think that it would be better for the time being." Though Samuel had the phone away from his face, Jovani could still hear what his right-hand man said.
"Coming to visit me? Well, that would certainly be a pleasant surprise. I suppose that if the two of you areing here. That there isn''t any reason for me to being back."
Chapter 321 Limited Liquor
Jovani would be happier to have Samuel there with him. Not exactly how he had nned for things to go, but he would make it work.
If Lena needed the space away from him, Jovani would just use it as a chance to go back and talk with herter. What kind of issue though could have set her off bad enough to send even Samuel away though? Surely it wasn''t the spat between the two of them.
"How long do you think it will be before you get here?" Jovani focused more on what was going on in the phone call than on changing his bandage. His little fianc¨¦ was still upset about things based on the way she rewrapped him. Limited care was given to the fact that she could''ve been hurting him with the alcohol swap.
"Why are you having theme here now?" Evalyn asked but Jovani only motioned for her to be quiet. She could listen but he didn''t want her to be heard on the other end.
"Probably another hour or two ording to Alonso. He''s not taken the route he normally does toe back here." A wise move on the part of his right-hand man.
"Very well then. I am certain by then that we should be able to have something put together for an unexpected lunch. Then we can talk about other things over that point in time." Jovani pressed the phone closer to his ear upon hearing Alonso saying something that he couldn''t quite understand.
"Sammy, you''re going to have to tell him that he needs to speak up if he expects me to hear what he''s trying to say." Jovani tilted his head slightly so that Evalyn could finish wrapping his shoulder.
No doctor is necessary with someone so proficient with first aid around. One of the best choices he could have made was to have a fianc¨¦.
"Who exactly are you thinking about getting the food ready on such short notice?" She reminded him as she put the bandage over the gauze. It would hold for the time being though she''d need to change in again in a few hours.
"I can worry about taking care of that even without the staff here. It isn''t like putting something together takes that much trouble." Jovani wanted to offer her a kiss but she pulled away before he got the chance. Closing the first aid box with purpose she turned away from the other.
"I don''t think that you''re making the best choice by doing this. You should be going about having someone else care for all this." Jovani only waved her off, focusing more on what Alonso was trying to tell him that Evalyn.
"You go back to work. I can make sure that everything else is taken care of." He told her once he''d heard what Laonso had been trying to say. It wasn''t like he was incapable of putting together a little bit of food despite his injury.
Perhaps Samuel could even help if everything wasn''t fully together by the time the two arrived.
"No. I am still here. I Was just taking a moment to speak with my fianc¨¦ about this. She''s getting ready to leave right now so she won''t be joining us. We can talk about other things once you get here." Samuel seemed to like that idea based on the tone of his voice.
Some of the things that he listed to talk about though were of the variety that Jovani would''ve preferred to put off for the time being. s though, if his younger cousin wanted to know about it, who was he to say no? They''d be getting to them eventually anyways.
"I am getting ready to leave but know that I put a lock on the alcohol. I don''t want you to be drinking any more as long as you take so many painkillers." Evalyn didn''t do much to change her outfit beyond putting a zer over the shirt she''d already been wearing and pulling back her hair.
"What is wrong with a little bit of drinking now and again? I am almost certain that it helps to make those painkillers more effective." Jovani slipped his shirt over his head, smirking as the other rolled her eyes at him.
"If you want something that will help while not killing you, go for coffee, or next time I''m not going to be the one who will be changing your bandages." Jovani made a mock sound of dismay at this threat. He knew well enough though that she would follow through on that.
Her not wrapping his bandages, though, meant he would have to find someone as efficient. Though good at his job, his on-hand doctor was someone that Jovani would prefer to avoid as much as possible.
"You know that if you don''t do it, I am not going to be letting anyone else near take care of this. He would probably kill me if he found out that I once again managed to hurt myself so quickly." Jovani pulled her in for a hug and managed to nt a gentle kiss on her lips despite Evalyn trying to pull away. The second time, she ced her fingers over his mouth.
"I suggest then that you avoid the liquor cab then and just have coffee or nothing at all until you''re doing better." Jovani huffed at her threat but begrudgingly agreed nheless.
Not touching the liquor cab after all didn''t mean that he couldn''t go about finding his source of alcohol. Something a little bit stronger that would meet his needs.
Alonso would being back soon enough. The other would surely not mind going back out on such an errand. If not, the Vedova Nera boss would find someone else.
"Make sure then that you at leaste back at a somewhat reasonable time." Jovani managed to sneak a quick kiss on her cheek the moment her fingers left his lips.
It would be enough for now.
Chapter 322 Law Of The World
Lena wanted to go back to her father''s room but chose to avoid it knowing that Julius hadn''t left yet. Her troublesome Uncle whom she''d rather not see chose to remain as stubborn as herself. Wanting to be by his brother''s side even if that meant his niece refused to upy the same space with him so soon after everything that took ce. She''d eventually have to be in the same space with him. Just not when she was uncertain whether that would involve pulling a gun on him again or not.
The princess instead found space away from everyone on a different floor. Having created enough chaos in Leo''s room, she didn''t want to go back there yet. Hence, the sixth floor would have to do for now. She would take some time to breathe and figure out what to do next.
Hester wouldn''t being back for a while. Not until he determined how best to utilize the information that they had gotten. Romeo needed to tend to the thing at the estate still. Him being the next inmand with Julius in no state to do it himself though Lena would''ve preferred that.
Eventually though she would have to ask Romeo toe back in order to help with other matters. Hester would need someone to help him sort through the data if something important came out of it. No to mention when Jovani came back, there would be a lot to do with that as well.
Thetter who still hadn''t been messaging het back after thest little scuffle the two of them had. Lena shot her phone a disinterested look. Jovani was the only one to me for the whole matter that took ce. Lena would have no issue with the other if he stopped trying to hide whatever was going on and just told her or someone else about it. He was worse than Richard in that respect. Staying close but not enough to let anyone really touch what exactly was going through his mind at any given moment.
Richard was off doing whatever he did when he wanted to avoid being around other people and the only other person who came around was Clive''s wife. But, was talking to someone about what the princess wanted at the current moment?
Not exactly. IT would just serve as a decent distraction until her emotions went back below the surface. Her trigger fingered wouldn''t stop twitching even if the urge to murder someone faded to a dull background buzz.
An indication that thest person in the world that she would want to talk to happened to still be around? A question she didn''t even know the answer to though she didn''t think that the director would be fool enough to make that move.
? If he were still around, the director would no longer have to worry about doing the task requested of him. Lena would take care of the matter herself without giving it a second thought. She very much so still wanted to be the one to deal with the problem.
One extra body on top of all the rest wouldn''t change much for her. Negatively at least. There would be a great number still toe even after she had taken care of his. The current attempt to settling things down came as a temporary solution. Eventually, she would be putting a bullet through his head. The princess couldn''t see any other way around the other whole matter. He wasn''t his father but that didn''t mean he didn''t deserve to die just as much as his old man did.
Her hand tapped idly on the side of the coffee cup. Another day of caffeine with nothing else. Another day that made it harder for her to find the high off the dark liquid.
The only thing that felt like it would work at the current moment was getting something in her hands that she could break. Hospitals weren''t very breakable though. At least not if one didn''t want to pay afterward or deal withplicated rtionships.
The princess looked from the cup upon hearing the gentle pitter-patter hitting the window. It seemed as though today even the sky wasn''t in the best of moods. Theck of thunder likely meant there would be limited worry of thunderstorms. The princess didn''t want to have one more thing to be worrying about.
The hospital might''ve been well built, that didn''t mean however that there wouldn''t be need to shift people around to safer locations.
"He''s going to be able toe home soon though right? Daddy even said it himself he would be fine!" the shrill voice and the sound of something ss hitting the floor caught Lena''s attention.
Turning away from the window, she took note of a mother trying to console her young child. The kid hardly registering anything his mother said as the crying kept up. The curse of being in a hospital; there would always be more than one person having a bad day at any given point in time. Sounded as though the kid was having a worse time of it than the princess.
She wasn''t the only taking notice of the situation either. Older patients wereing over to see if they could give the struggling mother some help. With a deep breath and slight huff Lena turned away.
She finished the rest of the coffee before crushing the cup and tossing it away. One time or another the kid would realize that parents didn''tst forever. If it didn''t happen now, then at someter point in time his parents weren''t going to be there for him.
The cruelty of living. Even if nothing horrible ever happened to someone, they would still end dying at the end of the day. Thus was thew of the world. Aw that Lena hated with her very being.
For so many reasons it was one of those that should''ve ceased to exist a long time ago.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 323 Not On His Side
Jovani didn''t wait for the car to even pull up beforeing out and meeting the duo who''de to visit. The Vedova Nera boss felt fairly confident in the fact that his cousin would choose to side with him on his current dilemma.
"What exactly do you think that you''re doinging out in your current state? You''re supposed to be resting?" Alonso''s window rolled down as he scolded the other. Jovani simply smiled with a shrug moving towards the back passenger side where Samuel sat.
"Come now, don''t waste time ining in. There''s some food we can bother ourselves with inside. Once we get one tiny thing out of the way first." Jovani didn''t seem to care about being mindful of his injured arm as he pulled his younger cousin into a hug. Samuel hesitantly returned it, ncing over at Alonso who''d not yet stepped out.
"What issue? I don''t want to have to deal with one more serious thing on top of what already took ce today." Alonso ran a hand through his hair. Shutting the car off before rolling the window up and opening the door. If his boss managed to get himself into any kind of trouble, he could figure out how to deal with it on his own. Bringing Samuel all the way out and avoiding getting shot felt like more than enough for one day. Despite knowing the afternoon held a number of other things to attend to.
"It isn''t anything that serious. I just need a little favor. Tiny honestly. I currently am deprived of alcohol around this ce so I was hoping Alonso you could go and fetch me something to drink." Alonso''s expression dropped at thisment. Blinking rapidly, he fixed the other with a look of disbelief.
Surely his boss didn''t expect him to go about driving just after being stuck in the car for thest few hours.
"Is not better for you to stop drinking right now? For whatever reason you don''t have ess, I think that it should remain that way." Alonso appreciated the other voicing his opinion. It meant that he did not have to go about arguing with his boss. The man who seemed astonished at the words that came out of Samuel''s mouth.
"Cousin! I didn''t think that you out of all people would be siding opposite of me. Can''t you understand the situation enough to know how much I need this?" Jovani''s appeal to ethos by appearance didn''t seem to sway Samuel all that much.
"Don''t you think that it would better help you recover if you avoided stuff like that right now? Pain pills and alcohol from what I know don''t make a great match in heaven." Samuel tried to pull away only to find Jovani didn''t want to let go quite yet.
"Do you think that I look like someone who belongs in heaven?" Samuel looked in the direction of Alonso as though the other might be able to help him out. A shing space indicated where the right-hand man had been mere moments indicating he left.
"If he''s not interested ining with us, we could just go about it ourselves. Maybe even get you a little something that might help whatever is going on." Jovani nudged his cousin gently. The younger only pulled a face at him. The typical vibrant kid cousin no longer seemed to be as vibrant as before. Whatever took ce between him, and Lena must''ve been serious business.
"Just say yes and let us use this time to bond. Even if you decide that you don''t want to get anything to drink, I need someone to carry items out with me." Jovani tried to plead with the other. Evalyn wouldn''t find out if they left soon enough. Just a little drip of alcohol would make the world so much a better ce.
"I think that it would be better if we just stayed here rather than going out to do that. If it is that bad and you need something to drink, won''t your fianc¨¦ be understanding of that?" When Samuel did manage to get the other to let him go, he made his way toward the estate''s entrance.
"My fianc¨¦ would not be understanding in the slightest. While I would by no meanspare her to Lena, Evy is very certain in regarding how she feels. No means no unless life is on the line."
Stepping inside, Samuel found himself surrounded by servants who quickly took the few things he had off his hands. Without a word, they fussed about taking care of the task even going as far as to remove Samuel''s overshirt and hang it up.
"Come now. Stop fussing so much about him. He only just got here and needs some space. Jovani shooed the staff. Despite being employed by the Vedova Nera boss, they knew better than to try and do the same with Jovani despite his current state.
"I am sure in light of this, you can understand why it would be so important for me to get alcohol from another source. My fianc¨¦ can''t say much if I don''t touch what she forbid." Jovani followed after the other into the dining room.
The food had already beenid out for them. Carefully covered in order to ensure it didn''t go cold before they could touch it.
"Why not asking someone else around here to do it then? Aren''t there enough people who''d be willing?'' Samuel could tell right away none of the servants would object to fulfilling such a request. Plus there likely were a few family members from hisst visit who would pitch in. Jovani let out a strainedugh before licking his bottom lip.
"It doesn''t work like that Sammy. It has to be you or Alonso. The people who I know wouldn''t dare to breath a word about this matter."
Despite appreciating the faith that Jovani put in him, that didn''t move Samuel to feel anymore inclined to fulfil his cousin''s request.
Chapter 324 That Isnt How This Works
"Can''t it be something that happenster then? We''ve already got the food here though I don''t know where Alonso went. I think for now it would be better if we just focused on eating." Samuel gave a quick look around the room. Only three ces were seat, the rest of the chairs being taken away likely meant they would be eating alone.
"If you would prefer to focus on eating first. That is something that we can do. Whatever you think would be best." Not what Jovani would choose, but then again, his cousin didn''t sound exactly like he''d been having the best day so far.
"Alonso can catch up with us when he is done. He''s likely not going to be in as great a mood to go about eating as the two of us." Jovani pulled one of the chairs at the table out, taking the seat without touching the food.
In fact, the other would likely being back at any moment to yell at him for what he did. The tiny ticking of his wrist watch entuated eating passing second as the Vedova Nera boss waited for what he would soone.
"What do you mean by that?" Samuel hardly finished asking the question before he heard purposeful foot stepsing down the hall. Jovani raised one finger while watching the door.
"Ah ah. I know what you''re going to say but,e and eat with us first. We can deal with that as well after this." If Alonso''s expression back at the hospital indicated frustration, the current look in his face made him look absolutely livid.
Samuel quietly took his seat while watching the silent interaction between his cousin and the right-hand man.
"Are you out of your mind or is that something that I need to even be asking at this point?" Alonso''s hand mmed down on the back of the vacant chair in the kitchen. Face red and chest rising heavy, as he barely kept his emotions contained.
"I am absolutely bonkers. I think that both of us know that well enough by now. To address your frustration though, no. I know exactly what I am doing." Jovani picked the tea cup up and put it against his lips his action of one who didn''t seem to care of the impending explosion getting ready to take ce.
"I know you weren''t going to do anything about the matter, so I thought it better to take it upon myself to handle it." Alonso''s mouth opened and rose repeatedly. Eyes darting back and forth between Jovani and the room the other just came from. Completely at a loss on how to express his anger.
"This is not the kind of matter that we should be putting off untilter to talk about. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with right now. An issue that you put us into." The right hand man shook his head, cursing before knocking the chair against the table with this hand.
Alonso briefly cast a nce in Samuel''s direction. The younger cousin appeared more inquisitive than concerned about whatever Alonso was raging about. Lena would likely murder someone, namely Jovani and himself if she knew about the current state of things.
"Before I brought him here would have been a great time to say something about this as well." The right-hand man began to pace. The idea of eating not even on his mind despite the food being before him. The opposite of his boss who didn''t wait for anyone else before starting to tuck in. He did motion for Samuel to join him. The younger cousin however seemed more interested in understanding the current matter at hand than eating.
"There''s nothing wrong with him being here right now. It isn''t like they would do anything to him in the first ce. You should know that all of them respect you more than enough to do anything that might lead to you getting upset." Alonso shot the other a dark look. Wordless disagreeing with what the words that came out of his boss''s mouth.
That wasn''t something that the other could assure him of without a speck of doubt. Jovani obviously did not understand how little he knew about the matter he spoke of. Certainly, there was arge amount of respect from some of those men. Not however from the one person that Alonso felt most concerned about.
"You really don''t know what you are talking about. You could have brought most all of them here, but not him. I don''t want to have to deal with him after what just happened." Alonso loosened the tie around his neck. The room suddenly felt rather stifling and difficult to breathe in.
Did Jovani intend to try and kill him this year? If so, it certainly felt that he was well on his way in that direction after everything thus far in the year.
"Now now. I don''t think you have to worry about that. The two of us had a rather nice talk earlier. I believe we came to a few understandings while you were away." Jovani waved the other''s concerns off, finishing the rest of his tea before reaching the cup that had been put out of Alonso. The right-hand man snatched it up though before Jovani could even put one finger on it. Alonso drained it in one go hoping it would somehow help him feel better.
"Is this another one of those issues I shouldn''t be worrying about putting myself in the middle of?" Both heads turned to look at Samuel at the same moment. The younger cousin''s question diffused a certain amount of tension in the room.
For all of five seconds before an unexpected third voice decided to pipe up and answer that question causing the hair to raise on the back of Alonso''s neck.
"I don''t really think that this is something that requires that much assistance, eh Alonso? I think that the two of us just need a little time together to talk a few things over."
Chapter 325 Overstayed His Welcome
Alonso''s hand gripped the tea cup tightly enough to almost break it. A small crack sound broke the silence.
"Alonso, I thought that we had gotten over the hard feelings just the other day when we met. Why did you suddenly scurry away as though you saw a ghost." The right-hand man jerked away before the other could ce a hand on his shoulder. Turning to face the mercenary who wore a taunting smirk despite his broken nose and rather swollen face.
"I know Jovani said you would being back, I didn''t expect though that you would be bringing a guest along with you. Based on his face, I would guess the two of you are rted. Kane pointed between the two cousins. Samuel kept his mouth shut despite watching the neer.
"Cat got your tongue or do you just need this one over here to answer you." Alonso ced a firm hand on the merch''s shoulder when the other took a step towards the younger cousin. In no way would he allow Kane anywhere near the other.
"Rx Alonso. He might have caused you a few problems earlier. I don''t think he''s going to be doing that here though. Isn''t that right?" Jovani gave Kane a polite smile. He received one in return though not quite as polite.
"Not at all. I didn''te here with any such intention of causing problems." Kane''s confirmation came as he moved around the side of the table until Jovani stopped him.
"Kane, that doesn''t mean I''m fine with you getting that close to my cousin." The edge to the other''s voice made the mercenary pause, head cocking to one side.
"You don''t want me to introduce my self to your younger cousin? I thought that would be the polite thing to do." Jovani''s head shook slightly, mouth too full to be able to answer properly with words. Kane understood well enough though as he chose to go back to eying Alonso.
"Are the two of us going to have a proper talk?" The right-hand man''s lip curled back as he gritted his teeth. The answer was an obvious no. No thought wouldn''t get the mercenary to leave though. Jovani meddled far more than he should have in such matters.
"Who is he?" Kane lit up in response to the question, whipping back around to face the younger cousin, eyes sparking as he put a hand on the table. Unlike the other two, the young cousin didn''t give off such dangerous vibes. To Kane, it felt more like he was a wolf pup or kitten, a fresh, young little thing that hadn''t been trained properly yet.
"Great question. Now someone with a littlemon sense that makes it easier for me to introduce myself." Except, Kane didn''t get the chance. Alonso made his move with purpose, grabbing ahold of the other''s cor to drag him away from the table. The quick strike movement caught even the mercenary off guard.
"He''s someone who has already managed to overstay his wee. It''s time for him to be leaving already as there isn''t anything that I have to say to him." The right-hand man also shot Jovani a narrow-eyed look. The Vedova Nera boss might''ve feigned ignorance, but he knew well enough why Alonso made that.
"I don''t think that right here is quite the right ce to be starting a fight." Kane got ahold of the other''s hand gripping his shirt cor only to realize the iron grip wouldn''t be easy to remove. Alonso meant business.
"You''re the one who hase here looking to cause problems. The kind that I have no interest in being any part of. As I said before, you''ve overstayed your wee. It''s time for you and the rest of them to leave." Alonso jerked the other in the direction of the room door, only letting go to shove the other''s back to get him out of the room. Jovani would be getting an earful from himter about this whole ordeal.
"Come now, I don''t think that it is fair to have him leave after he came all of this way to be able to talk to you. Why don''t you two take a few minutes to get that out of the way first." Jovani pressed once more for the two of them to talk. Having finished his food meant that he could invest more into the situation at hand. Too bad the painkillers hadn''t started to take effect already. He would be able to invest more into the situation if they had.
That didn''t stop him from getting up to get between the two arguing men. Kane rxed more than Alonso did. The right-hand man looked almost as though he was almost at the edge of his rope. Not willing to relent on letting Kane stay any longer than he already had been.
"If you want him to stay, that''s up to you. You get to decide which of the two of us you want around here though. I didn''t agree to any of this and I certainly won''t be staying in the same room so long as he is here." Jovani let out a low whistle, the harsh tone very much unlike the Alonso he''d known for so many years. Did Kane have that impact on him? If so, he honestly must''ve disliked the mercenary and his crew as much if not more than he''d told Jovani.
"Jovani, you know that I will work with whatever you want me to do in most instances. There were some limitations to that, however. This happens to be one of those." Alonso took a deep breath before straightening his back to fully face his boss.
"It''s up to you what will happen, but I will not be a part of this right now." Kane leaned against the door frame, a Cheshire cat smile on his lips as he took in the events ying. The supposedly loyal guard dog didn''t seem so loyal at the current moment in time.
"Come now Alonso, you shouldn''t be thinking about leaving so quickly. I already told you what I think you should do about this matter. Kane can go elsewhere but I think the two of you need to talk." Jovani stood up from his seat after stealing a biscuit from the te in the middle of the table.
"Kane can excuse himself for the time being. You should take a few moments to breathe, eat and we can talk this over." Jovani held out the biscuit as some form of a peace offering as he got closer to Alonso. The right-hand man didn''t have any kind of appetite at the current moment in time. Refusing to take it from the other, he chose instead to turn his back.
"I''m in no mood for this right now. There are other things that I need to be taking care of. I told you what my boundaries around this are. You can choose to do whatever you want about them." His gaze locked with that of Kane, thetter who while still obviously enjoying the show, wore a slightly different expression on his features.
"Where is the loyalty you told me about before that you supposedly held on to? I don''t think you would have been so rash as to shed it this quickly." Alonso''s right hand twitched in response to the taunt. He was not so considerate as to not punch a wounded man in the face a second. Good thing he''d put the teacup down earlier. It would''ve shattered into a million pieces under his current barely restrained temper.
"Kane, it isn''t your ce to be asking those types of questions right now. This hardly has anything to do with you." The mercenary being the kind of person he was wouldn''t be able to fathom what Alonso felt. Kane only ever held loyalty for money. Everything else around him was moving pieces at his disposal to sacrifice to get what he desired most.
"I think that I have the right to be asking a few questions if I am going to be finding myself working between the two of you. Helping with a little problem that needs to be solved." Problem? The only problem that existed at the current moment in time came in the form of the mercenary himself.
"Isn''t it better if we drop this matter for now? Although I don''t exactly know who he is, I think that Kane should leave, not Alonso." Samuel spoke up before things could be even more heated than they already were.
"I don''t know about the rest of you but I would rather not be dealing with another problem like this considering what already took ce earlier." Jovani cast a curious look into Samuel''s question. Alonso knew immediately what the other meant.
"I will stay but he has to escort himself out of here if that is going to happen." Alonso pointed in the direction of the mercenary who bore a slight pout on his rough features.
Chapter 326 Different Modes For Different People
Kane''s reaction didn''te as a surprise to Alonso. Even if they''d not been close in years, that didn''t mean he forgot the mercenary''s behavior pattern. Different modes for different the other would always say.
Out of most of them, the current mode was the one Alonso disliked the most. The pity appeal. Pity for what exactly? The mercenary never gave anyone pity so why should he be granted any? The right-hand many only shook his head, turning away from the used-to-be friend and facing Jovani. The troublesome boss whom he hoped would make the right decision.
"Come now? Can''t we all just decide to be friends and go back to how things were before? Share a few drinks and talk about what the next best ns would be. I havee all this way after all." Glossing over Alonso, Kane''s gaze stuck to Jovani. A potentially squishy target who might take his pitiful expression to heart seeing as the Vedova Nera boss brought him over.
"As much as I appreciate the appeal that you''re trying to make, I think you would be better off leaving for the time being." Jovani waved as though to shoo the other out of the door. The somewhat amused yet na?ve expression not leaving his face.
"We can consider having a drink and a chat another day. Right now I would much rather keep my right-hand man around. A little bit more valuable to me than a mercenary that I haven''t yet gotten the chance to know." The unanticipated response left one feeling relieved and the other with an expression that fell nearly two inches on his face. A miscalction on the mercenary''s part? Or did they often y people in such a manner? Kane''s gaze shifted over to the quiet younger cousin. Ever observant while eating but silent as a dormouse.
"You can look at him as much as you like but he won''t be saying anything contrary to myself. Even if Sammy did, he''s not quite in the position of authority yet. So, shoo off now and go back with the rest of yours." Jovani once more gave a wave of his hand to motion the other to leave." With no attempt to hide his displeasure, the Mercenary did end up leaving. A small huff and grumble as he vanished from the doorway. The Vedova Nera boss''s expression shifted over to Alonso as one eyebrow rose ever so slightly. A silent question of whether the situation was good enough for him to stick around. A small nod came as the other''s expression flickered over to the doorway before returning.
"Alonso. I think you should know me better than to do something unreasonable. Bringing them around is hardly a reason to raise the rm bell." Alonso''s expression didn''t shift but something in his eyes did. His boss still didn''t quite understand the situation.
"I think that this is something that the two of us need to talk about at ater point in time." The right-hand man stifled a sigh. He didn''t want to admit it openly, but today hadn''t been his day. Bouncing from one thing to the next took far too much energy out of him.
"If it is something that needs to be dealt with, why don''t the two of you just talk about it now? I hardly doubt that my presence will impact the conversation much." Both pairs of eyes turned to look at the
younger cousin as spoke. Not quite done with this food but a thoughtful expression on his face while looking at the door.
"The issue isn''t whether you''re here or not. It just isn''t something I want to deal with at the moment." At all really. He''d deal with Kane already more than he ever hoped to have to in the decade since they parted ways. Seeing the other twice in such a short period made him feel as though he''d aged far over thest week than in ten years.
"We can talk about the situation without really having to deal with it though, can''t we? I mean it reallyes down to whether or not they are useful people to keep around with the current situation." Jovani pointed at the empty chair for Alonso to take a seat. The right-hand man didn''t want to sit. He knew though that the moment the servants began toe around after Kane left that if he didn''t eat now, they would take the food away without saving it.
The thought that they might give it to the mercenary didn''t bode well with him. The only factor that drove him to eat despite having no appetite.
"Could you at least avoid spoiling the food? I would rather wait to talk about this until after I am done eating." Alonso would make sure to take as long as possible to eat every small morsel if it meant not dealing with the situation at hand.
"Very well. If you''re going to be like that, I am sure there are other conversations we can discuss instead." Jovani gave a mild rose of his eyes, handing up to hold his head. No alcohol to keep his mood up and all food was gone except what Alonso ate leaving him with no distractions.
"There are some questions that I am curious about you might be willing to answer. Even though I know it isn''t something that will be taking ce right now, I want to know more about what the induction will look like." The older cousin''s indifferent expression made its way over to Samuel. Thetter whose eyes had begun to show the curiosity Jovani was used to rather than the previous dull look he came back with.
The induction though¡ Jovani almost forgot about that with everything else going on. Regardless, it would still be taking ce. It couldn''t hurt to answer any questions his younger cousin might have so long as they weren''t about the n. Jovani didn''t yet have anything solid nailed down.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 327 Dont Do It Too Late
By the time Lena did decide to make her way back to the room, Julian no longer seemed to be there. Temporary departure based upon the fact that all of his items still seemed to have been left behind. The princess snorted at this. Could she hold grudges? Absolutely. She''d not forgiven Jovani for everything after all. Even less so after recent events. When it came to family? Maybe not so much as others. Her uncle didn''t actually get anyone killed even if she almost did it herself.
"Father. I wonder what you would have to say if you knew what was going on out here while you''re away inside your head." Lena spoke softly, sweeping the hair out of her father''s face.
The doctor hade by earlier to remove some of the tubes but there were fair too many for the Princess''s liking not to mention he still couldn''t breathe on his own. It would be another week. Maybe two before anything would change. Lena tsked as she took a seat next to his bed.
As much as she would''ve loved to have been able to stay by her father''s side, no way could she stay away from everything for two weeks. Unless Julian wanted to step up and be the one to do it, Lean would eventually have to go back to taking everything over. At least until her father got into better shape.
"I know that you probably don''t want to but-"
"Don''t say anything. I think we can both agree right now isn''t the time to discuss this. I made a mistake. One we can go about discussing once my father has woken up. I don''t want anything to eat if you''re trying to offer me food." Lena knew her uncle had entered the room before he even spoke. Her sixth sense told her as much the moment she could sense that someone stood in the doorway.
"I didn''te to tell you that you made any mistake. I don''t think that you did in the slightest. I know where you''reing from, my decision was based upon something else entirely." Julian kept his tone level with the soft way that the princess had spoken to him as he entered the room. He set down the two cups of soup on the table before turning to face the princess.
"I don''t think there is any reason for us to bring up this matterter. You did what you thought you needed to do today. Honestly, I am the one who should apologize for not having discussed this matter with you sooner." Julian wanted to give his niece a hug but refrained as he could tell by her stiff bodynguage right now wasn''t the time for any type of physical contact.
"We do need to talk about this at ater point in time, just not the way that you think the conversation should go. This is one situation where I made the mistake and this matter should be addressed from that perspective. I do wish though that you would consider eating something. Even I know that my brother wouldn''t be happy to know you''re not touching anything during this time." Lena pulled a face at her uncle''sment, a rather sour one.
She knew that to be a fact. It wasn''t enough of one however to encourage her to get the storm brewing inside herself to eat and keep it down. Not after the build-up of everything that took ce over the past few days. The biggest of all so far being that she sent Samuel away.
"Jovani will likely be returningter tonight or tomorrow. I think however that it will be a few days before Sammy decides to join us back here. It might be best if you decide to take the other bed for the night." The princess spoke without facing her uncle. Choosing to instead continue tending to her father in a uncharacteristically soft way.
They might not have gotten along in regards to the whole marriage thing that he''d wanted to put her through, that didn''t mean she cared any less for him than she did prior to that event. Lena just didn''t always like to have to deal with what other people wanted her to do. Knowing that certain family members didn''t understand such things despite knowing the underlying reason why made it harder for her.
People who went through loss should understand best why someone would want to avoid going through loss a second time if at all possible. In fact, today proved more than ever that Lena had been right to consider that avoiding getting into any kind of rtionship would''ve been the right choice for her. Sammy might even think the same thing after what happened between them. Lena had to fight back the lump that wanted to form in her throat at the mere thought of that. Right now, wasn''t the time to be having such feelings.
"Eat the soup. I will figure out something to eatter. I''m not in the right mood for it right now." Lena turned away from her father but instead of going toward her uncle, she went back over to the window.
She would''ve considered heading back outside for some fresh air if not for the fact that the wind seemed to be about as dead as she currently felt inside. There wouldn''t be anything enjoyable about going out in that. Unless she managed to spot the one person that she wanted to do something about. Pity that Jovani changed things up so that she couldn''t go back to the prisoner containment space without him. It wasn''t like she''d really done that much damage without him being there. At least nothing that he wouldn''t be able to take care of with minimal loss.
"Suit yourself. I still think though that you should consider getting something sooner rather thanter. After everything that took ce, it would be better before it gets dark." Lena knew what her uncle was trying to tell her without him directly saying it.
The hospital staff wouldn''t want her wandering around at night on her own after what took ce.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 328 So Much Like Your Father
Why should Lena care about such things? The people who worked in the hospital were in the wrong after all. They''d been part of the reason this whole issue urred in the first ce.
"If they have any issue with what I do, they cane and talk with me about it. I already had a discussion with the director about how to handle things moving forward. He seemed to be a smart enough man to understand what I requested from him." The princess at least hoped he turned out to be as smart as he looked. If not, things would still not end up well for him at the end of the day. Julian simply shook his head at her as he picked up one of the bowls of soup.
"Really, you are so much like your father I sometimes don''t know what to do with you." More like all the time. Lena turned out to be so much like the female version of her father that Julian often wondered if she were not the sister he''d always wished he''d been able to grow up with. Eight-teen years apart and different circumstances between them growing up and yet, Lena still turned out just like Zane.
"I would rmend that you don''t say that kind of thing around my father. I believe that he would take it as far less of apliment than I do."
The princess knew well enough that her father didn''t want her to turn out like him. Not in the slightest. Fate on the other handheld different ns for her. The connection being that both of them lost their mothers. Lena just suffered the lost at a more fragile age where Zane at least got his mother until near adulthood. Julian''s features softened as he looked in the direction of his brother.
"I think that is something that you would actually be wrong about. I think that your father is proud of what you turned out to be. He''d say that like him, you need to learn to soften your edges. Over all though, you turned out to be the kind of person who watches out for those who need it most." Lena became overtaken by the urge tough at thisment. Watch out for the people who need it most? Did her uncle understand what exactly he just said after what took ce earlier that morning?
Lena pointed a gun at her own fianc??, no way in any world would that be considered ''watching out for the people who needed it most''. Two more seconds and she might''ve actually shot the other if he didn''t watch himself!
"That would be where you''re wrong. I''m not the kind of person who is good at watching those who need it most. I pick and choose but there isn''t any pattern as to who they are and why." A lie? Maybe she''d have thought so before. After today though, Lena couldn''t help but think that it was true.
After all, her softness towards Samuel ended up only extending so far that when something else caught her attention, it overrode anything else.
"Lena, your father often ended up doing the same type of thing growing up. Sometimes the best intentions we have as people turn out badly. That doesn''t mean we don''t care about the people that we''re supposed to be watching out for. It just means we sometimes don''t always do the best job of it." Lena didn''t respond to what her uncle said. Partly due to feeling as though he tried to make empty excuses for her that would easy to hold onto and partly because her phone chose to ring at that moment in time.
"Lena?" She didn''t even think to look at her before she answered but the princess froze the moment that she heard the voice on the other end of the phone. A brief pause followed theck of response on her end.
"Erm. I will take that to mean that you''re still not quite in the mood to talk. I honestly don''t know what to say myself. I just kind of felt the need to call you." Lena let out a heavy breath in response to thesements. Stupid Sam. How could he want that after what just look ce between the of them.
"I''m thest person that you should be thinking about calling right now after what happened. You should think about talking to your family instead." Lena wanted to end the call before the other could say anything but Samuel wasn''t about to let that happen.
"No! I mean. Yes, I do need to call my family and let them know about this. But really, I want to talk to you right now." Lena''s hand shook as she fought the urge to pull the phone away from her ear. Eyes narrowed as she bore a hole into the wall that she faced. This wasn''t right. Samuel shouldn''t have been on the other end of the phone saying those types of things to her.
"I''m not the person that you should want to be talking to right now. I''m telling you that you should be calling your family instead. We can talk another time. Make sure you eat something as well and avoid doing anything reckless with that cousin of yours."
"Wait-!" The princess didn''t wait though and ended the call before Samuel could finish speaking. Breathing heavily through her nose, she muted the phone before putting it back into her pocket.
Stupid boy. Could he honestly not understand that she should''ve been thest person he wanted to talk with after what took ce? The anger on his behalf only ended up making her feel worse.
On top of that, she could tell without looking at her uncle what he was thinking by the way that he stared at her tense back.
She did turn out to be so much more like her father than Zane expected and she would want to admit.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 329 Someone Upset Her More Than Me?
"Shit!" The curse word slipped out of Samuel''s mouth before he could even realize it. That call hardly went how he''d hoped it would. Lena shut him down the moment he tried to talk to her. Only a few words out and she pushed him away without a second thought.
He ran an agitated hand through his hair. Perhapsing out here hadn''t been the best decision after all. How could he fix things with her if he couldn''t even get her to talk to him? Samuel flopped back down on the bed forcing a creaking groan from the box springs. Just his luck that he would be having to deal with this.
He could hope at least he''d not said anything loud that Jovani would''ve heard it. Their rooms might''ve been a few doors down, but his older cousin seemed to have magical ears that allowed for him to hear anything. Not to mention, the room itself was rather smallpared to the one that Samuel had gotten used to being with Lena.
Samuel kept one eye fixed on the door as he picked up his phone once more. Not even one text had been sent back. Lena never kept the read receipt option active on her phone which made it difficult to tell if she''d even looked at what he sent her.
He stared down at the background photo on his phone until he began to feel sick again. That look in Lena''s eyes¡ He still couldn''t believe that she fixed him with that stare. Pointing the gun at him as though she''d have been willing to fire without a second thought. Samuel shut his eyes and took a deep breath to ground himself as the sound of the gunshot echoed in his head. So loud as though it just flew past his head mere moments ago rather than the actual hours that passed since the situation.
He gripped theforter on the bed to help ground himself. He discovered rather quickly that touching something physical he could feel and focus on helped him to get past the strange feelings that rushed through his body. The ustrophobia and fear mixed with something else he couldn''t quite put his finger.
It would take him some time to get over that. If he could actually manage to get over it. Having never been in this type of situation before, Samuel couldn''t be certain of how this type of thing worked out. Did one normally manage to get over the fact that their fianc¨¦ shot at them and fixed them with a look that promised the next bullet wouldn''t miss if they fired again.
Samuel didn''t know if anyone even actually had the answer to that kind of question. He certainly didn''t think that Jovani would be the right person to ask. He seemed quite happy with his current fianc¨¦. Despite the fact that Eve seemed somewhat intimidating and more than capable of handling her own, she didn''te across as the kind of person that would''ve pointed a gun at Jovani''s head or even tried to shoot him in the first ce.
"Oy, you''re still looking like you''re feeling a bit green around the gills. Are you sure that there isn''t anything about the situation you want to talk with me about?" The voice followed a hard rap on the door. Jovani didn''t even bother to ask before he opened the door and began to talk. He''d at least changed shirts and fixed his arm up once more to get rid of the blood that had begun to seep through by the time they''d finished eating.
"Do you really intend to try and stay in here the whole time and sulk about the matter until it somehow magically manages to resolve itself?" The older cousin leaned against the door frame as he watched the other. Samuel didn''t look himself. In fact,pared to his expression during lunch, it seemed he lost even more of himself in just the short time since Jovani saw him.
"I don''t think that there is anything for us to talk about. This isn''t the kind of question that you would be able to do anything to help with. I don''t think that I need to remind you that you and Lena aren''t exactly on the best of terms right now." Jovani made a sound of protest at thisment. He stepped further into the room before kicking the door shut behind him.
"I am probably one of the few people around here who would be able to help you with this situation. The question is whether you want to give me the chance to help or not. Certainly, the princess and I aren''t on the bed of terms right now. That doesn''t mean that there isn''t anything that I can do to help you out." The Vedova Nera boss chose to take a seat on the bed next to his younger cousin, throwing his good arm around the other.
"Try me with whatever it is you''re dealing with right now and I will see what I can do to help. If it turns out there isn''t anything, I won''t have any problem admitting that and maybe instead I can direct you to someone who could resolve this issue. Julian seems kind of enough and we do have a bit of a business partnership background." Samuel offered his older cousin a wry smile in response to his suggestion. Alonso must''ve not told him what took ce between Lena and her uncle.
"I don''t think that Julian would the right person to ask right now. I wasn''t the only one there that Lena ended up having an issue with. Her uncle might perhaps be higher up on the list of people she isn''t feeling very kindly towards than you are right now." Jovani''s mouth feel open at thisment as he leaned back to see if the other might''ve been joking.
"Well shit. I didn''t think that there would be anyone else capable of putting her into a worse mood than myself. It seems as though I was mistaken in that regard."
Could it be that he might actually be able to catch an unexpected break if this were to be the case.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 330 Rejecting The Request
Lena sneezed not once but twice. The rough sound and intensity made her nose and head hurt. Allergies or could someone she didn''t know about have been talking about her? The princess shook her head with a huff. If it turned out to be thetter, whoever the person responsible for talking about her better have been willing to say anything to her faceter on.
"You''re going to end up making yourself sick if you don''t think about slowing down at some point in time. You can''t keep going about and doing things like this." Jovani tried twice without much luck to at least get the princess to eat something. Except for coffee, she refused to touch anything he brought her. Coffee though couldn''t be considered sustenance.
"I already told you earlier that you need to stop worrying about me. You should know that I have been through worse before. Something like this isn''t enough to get me down and make me sick." Despite the gruff response, the princess chose to her wrap herself in a nket being acutely aware of the chill beginning to take over the room.
The doctors somehow believed that keeping the temperature colder than necessary would help to kill any germs living in the hospital rooms. Lena didn''t understand why they would worry about such things. Germs hardly seemed to be the thing that they should''ve been worried about at the current moment in time.
Lena would be the devil they needed to worry about if something bad happened. Not just the director or the doctors and nurses who failed to make sure her father came back to her. Everyone in the hospital would be at her mercy if even one small thing went wrong. Regardless of if it happened to Leo, Clive, or her father.
"I think that it would honestly be better at this point if you were the one to think about getting some rest. Not knowing when father is going to wake up will leave us being the two who have to figure out what to do next." Her pushed would be for her uncle to take over. The one thing he would probably argue on despite it making the most sense.
"Romeo and Hester are more than capable of handling things while we stay here. I don''t think that it would be wise for either one of us to leave here until we have solid answers about what will happen next." Lena tsked at this. Everyone wanted answers about what to expect. Her more than anyone else. However, they weren''t going toe to them any sooner just because they sat around staring and waiting to hear what would happen. It wasn''t like Zane or anyone else had secret abilities that would allow for them to heal any faster than they currently were.
"I know that already. I am thinking about the bigger picture in this situation. I think that we can both agree everyone is going to start getting restless soon if there isn''t someone put into ce to watch over everything with my father going on. Romeo and Hester are good at their jobs. The people wouldn''t ept them being in charge so long as you and I are able capable to do it."
Lena might''ve been a child, but she still remembered the arguments and issues that took ce when Zane took time off following the death of her mother. A lot of people were displeased about putting members who were not blood-rted in charge until Zane could pick up all of his scattered pieces and take the role back over.
"In that case, I think that person who should then be taking over is you Lena. I know that right now it isn''t the answer you want to hear but it is the one that makes most sense. Take into consideration the fact that when your father retires, you''re going to be the one to take over after him." Lena let out a muted sound noise in response to this. The princess buried herself further into the nket, eyes shifting from her uncle over to her father.
Julian wasn''t wrong. But¡ that wasn''t the kind of thing that she wanted to be told right now. This situation made her skin crawl and chest tight enough without the reminder that one day she would be taking over for Zane.
A day that she hoped wouldn''t being for quite some years yet. After what took ce now, she didn''t think that she would be ready any time soon to be taking over that role.
"I would rather not be thinking about that. Regardless of what you believe makes the most sense, I am wanting you to do it. While I don''t think that I am in the position of being able to give such an order. If I were, it would a decision that I would make as a directive not a request." It might not have been a fair card to y, but Lena didn''t care if it meant her uncle would do as she requested. If Lena did be the next person to take over, Julian would have to listen to her requests to a certain degree anyways.
He might''ve been an elder to her, but the line of session trumped age. Julian would be required to fulfill whatever Lena requested of him. Unless there was a genuine reason for him to object to a requestion. In such a situation as the current one facing them, Julian wouldn''t have a viable reason to reject her request. Lena would have the right to be the one to stay with her father while her uncle ensured that everything remained running the way that it should have.
"Lena. I would normally agree with what you have to say in this situation. Right now, however, I have to reject this request and offer. I believe that there are a number of things that you need to focus on fixing that requires you to take some time out of this hospital room once it has been deemed safe."
Those weren''t the words that Lena needed to hear at the current moment in time.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 331 Straight To The Point
Lena leaned back on the bed and stretched her legs out underneath the nket as she took a moment to consider what her uncle said. She''d hoped he would''ve agreed immediately without bantering with her regarding the best overall decision. She didn''t need to be told it made sense to know that. However, Lena didn''t want to be in charge of everything. So, she would y one more card to push things in the direction she wanted them to go.
"That rejection isn''t one that I can ept. I understand what you''re saying, uncle, and the position it puts you in. We can both agree that it could be considered fair for you to take that position after what took ce today." The Princess watched as her uncle''s eyes darted back between her and Zane; his lids fluttered for a moment as though filtering through myriad thoughts before his expression settled on a half-smile.
"Okay, fine. With that in mind, you can win this round, and I will ept the position, though it is hardly one that I will take pleasure in. In exchange, there will be one thing that I am going to request you to do while I''m in this role." Lena gave the other a half-titled expression, tucking the nket under her chin while waiting for the request. Something about the whole situation felt oddly nostalgic, making her chest and stomach flutter ufortably. Nostalgia was one of thest things she wanted to feel at the current moment.
"I want you to talk with Samuel. Because this is a request, I don''t want you to argue with me about it, regardless of what is going through your head. You know that your father would tell you to do the same. The boy reached out to you despite what took ce today. You should at least make an effort to return that gesture." Lena didn''t object immediately, although her expression remained a mix of nk contemtion.
That wasn''t the kind of request she expected from her uncle, though, in retrospect, she knew that she should have seen iting. Why did those closest to her seem so keen on her making amends so quickly after what happened? It didn''t feel right to the princess.
"I will not reject the request you''re making. I can''t promise the result or when exactly I will fulfill it." Julian let a low tsk, leaning forward as he fixed his niece with a determined stare. Much like her and her father, her uncle had be the kind of person who wouldn''t ept such answers. Being nonmittal wasn''t an option in this type of situation. He wanted a straight answer from her.
"I''m making a request of you that I anticipate will be done promptly. I''m not going to put an exact time frame on it, but I don''t think doing it in two or three days would be out of line." Two or three days? What made him think that would be a suitable time frame for an event of this magnitude?
Lena didn''t get a chance to respond or reject that request before someone knocked roughly against the door.
"State your name first and then enter?" Julianmanded. They weren''t expecting anyone to being back unless it was Hester who hadn''t given any update.
"Romeo. I apologize for the unexpected intrusion. I assumed it would be best for me toe here and give an update as they came." The bulky bodyguard seemed a bit unusually out of sorts. He stood rigid as a board, more so than usual, as he waited for an indication that he was safe to speak further.
"Well? I don''t think you need one of us to tell you what to do to know to go better than wasting any more time if it is something serious." Lena nodded in agreement as she observed the guard like a hawk. She didn''t know what was wrong yet but knew the other would likely divulge the information.
"I know it hasn''t been very long since everything took ce, but some unexpected events have urred. People who normally wouldn''t bother our territory have been causing problems. The issues seemed small; however, not all of our men have been getting away unscathed." The fingers on Romeo''s left hand began to twitch as he continued, hand balling into a fist to stop the tick.
"Be straight about it already. You''re trying to indicate that something more serious took ce than what you want to admit. Be in about it so we can decide the next best course of action." Lena sat further up on the bed as the nket dropped from her shoulders to pool around herp. No longer tired, her annoyance shifted to focus totally on the man in front of her beating around the bush. They no longer had time for such things. With the risk that more issues could pop up, she didn''t want to waste time mincing words or fussing about the delicacy of exining the matter. Romeo cleared his throat before straightening his back even further, if possible.
"Among the casualties, while not all of them have been confirmed, some of the men are among those who work directly at the estate. Based upon the damage left behind and the way the event urred, it doesn''t seem a mistake to say that whoever was responsible for this purposely chose to target them." A loud thud echoed in the room, causing Julian and Romeo to jolt.
"Fucking hell Romeo. Names! I just told you to be straight about this. I want to know whom you''re talking about and who you think is responsible for this." Lena mmed her hand against the wall a second time; the devil had returned as she stared the bulky bodyguard down with such a stern look that made even arge man as himself shrink back in a way that made him look half his size.
The Princess wasn''t one to be trifled with.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 332 Not This
"Try one more time." Lena didn''t shift her gaze off the other as she waited to hear what he would say.
Romeo took a moment topose himself. He raised an arm to wipe the sweat off his brow as an excuse to take a moment longer before speaking again.
"There were a total of fifteen thus far. Five of those are the ones who worked closely with us. Nick is one of them. Andro as well. Both of these seemed to be done in some execution-styled manner. He was leaving no mistake that it was done intentionally and well-nned. Two of the others we are still waiting for confirmation on. The details I don''t think we should discuss this here. As for the other." Romeo''s speech halted for a second as though the words caught in his throat.
"The brother of the bodyguard you assigned to Samuel. We haven''t informed him of this event yet as he is still in recovery, and we don''t know the exact extent of that attack, whether it was intentional or not." Julian couldn''t hold back the sound of disbelief that escaped the back of his throat. So many people in such a short period even though they had not been gone for that long?
Whoever had been responsible for this must''ve nned everything out perfectly. How else would they know to strike at this time, considering how tightly under wraps they had kept the information?
"Whom all knows about the attack that took ce? How many people are dealing with that, and who is left here and back at the estate?" If the information impacted Lena, her face gave nothing away as her expression remained stone-still. Only her eyes looked between her uncle and the bodyguard standing before her.
"We still have more than enough men covering both locations and those working cleanup and contacting everyone else to keep an eye out for further incidents. I am not sure if that this point in time it would be wise to involve Jovani and his men in this potentially-"
"No. I don''t want him to have anything to do with this. Not right now. It would be better if this stayed between us, and we worked to clean up the damage before this news spreads. Ensure that you let the respective families know what happened and that they will still be taken care of andpensated for by us. As for thest one you mentioned, I will be the one to take care of informing him. I think it would be wise to wait a little longer before he finds out." The kid was still recovering and not yet out of the hospital made it one of the worst possible times to have to tell him something of this magnitude. Shit. Why now?
"I want you to change things up. If there are people who usually follow a certain route or routine, get them to stop. Put more people on jobs that they wouldn''t normally need them. Everyone else who isn''t necessary, make sure you go where they know it will be safe." The calm evening Lena anticipated she would no longer hold what she''d hoped it would. A ghost of a small spread over Julian''s face. Despite not wanting the role, his niece immediately took charge without thinking about it. If he stayed quiet, would she continue to do so without needing a nudge?
"I can take care of that. I already informed some of the men to do something simr. Most of those who aren''t experienced enough and don''t have the training I have pulled from most ces. Some want answers and not just in the form of pleasant words." Romeo appeared to have rxed a fraction as his broad shoulders dropped slightly as if they were relieved to be discussing this with the princess. Lena tossed the nket to the side as she stood up.
"They are not the only ones expecting answers toe from this. I want you to find out what you can. Do you have any hints about who might''ve been behind this?" Romeo gave a stiff shake of his head, sweat dripping down the side of his face despite him having wiped his brow clean once already.
"We don''t. Whoever did it did a good job of cleaning up their tracks after the fact. They didn''t even leave any weapon behind that could be traced. We are looking into the bullets, but that might take a while." Not the kind of answer that Lena hoped to hear. Even people who didn''t want to be found left marks behind to show off their handiwork. Akin to a ''gotcha'' move to indicate the first steps of a bloody game of cat and mouse. If they didn''t leave anything behind, The princess would have to think why that would be.
"If you don''t know who it is, I want you to focus on finding someone for me. Jenson. I want to know where his current whereabouts are." Lena grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair. If this was the kind of night it would turn out, she would need pipe and more than a bit of coffee to help her get through the night.
"Jenson? Do you think that he might have had something to do with this? He doesn''t strike me as the kind of person who would get his hands dirty with this thing?" Julian piped up. He''d know the man longer than Lena had. A man who certainly didn''t mind getting his hands dirty in various ways. Death, however, wasn''t something that the other usually touched unless someone tried to touch his money first.
"I don''t think that he would do it himself. Selling information, however, wouldn''t be out of the question. That reminds me, I also need to get in touch with Richard. I want him toe here so we can discuss that deal that was supposed to take ce."
A deal that could lead her to one of the missing pieces.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 333 Natural Leader
Lena ensured the pipe was still in her jacket pocket before she zipped it up. The hospital wasn''t cold enough for her to need it, but she knew stepping outside would be a different story.
"The deal that Richard spoke of? I thought that was one of them that Samuel would take care of." Did she need to be reminded of that right then and there? Absolutely not. Her uncle bringing it up didn''t make it any better.
"That was in the past before all of this took ce. Right now, it would be a fool move to let someone without experience try to take on something like that." Lena''s tone held a sharp edge one could take as condescension or annoyance at being questioned. However, neither of these was why she spoke in such a manner.
"I want as few extra people dealing with this as possible. That includes Samuel. If he''s currently with his cousin, that''s the best ce for him to remain for the time being." Lena gave her uncle a knowing look. Not the best excuse but a viable one for putting off trying to talk with her fianc?? and reconcile things. The loss of human life too precedence over trying to fix a rtionship.
"I don''t mean to question your choices, princess. Do you truly believe, though, that it would be a bad idea to involve Jovani? At this point, more allies would make handling this situation easier." Allies, huh? Could Jovani honestly be considered one of their allies? Her expression once more reflected her feelings regarding this matter. The dark shadow and downturned features let Romeo know he''d asked something that should''ve been left alone. For now, at least.
"I still stand by what I said before; I don''t want him or anyone else outside of who already knows about this incident involved. If therees a timeter on that we do need more people, we cane back and visit this topic. For now, I want you to focus on dealing with what I told you." If Lena enjoyed alcohol more, she''d likely have a few drinks tonight to go along with the pipe and coffee to help her get through the next few hours. Things were turning out to be more troublesome without anything started yet.
"We can wait until we get a few answers to figure out what to do next. I do, however, agree with Romeo on this, Lena. Jovani would be a good ally to have in this type of situation. We could rely on some resources from his side that others might not know about." Julian interjected himself into the conversation once more. What was it about Jovani that only Lena could see that there were reasons that he shouldn''t be so involved with everything?
She refused at the current point to believe that it was her personal bias getting in the way at the current point. Guilty until proven innocent was the verdict that she would be sticking with. But, she could concede without giving if that''s what everyone else thought.
"We can leave it at a standing topic to get back to. Do as I asked for now and we wille back this." They could talk the matter over at another point in time. Right now, the princess wanted results. Sitting around and discussing irrelevant matters wouldn''t lead to that.
Romeo agreed toply with Lena''s request. Something about his response indicated hesitation to the princess. She couldn''t ce exactly what it was, but she could feel it regardless. Lena gave the other a look over once more.
Chalkyplexion, stiff as a board, his face looked fine though there was a shadow of something in his eyes. Exhaustion? No, Romeo never let hat kind of thing impact his behavior. The man spent more a few days working back-to-back twenty-hour days, sometimes more when he first worked with Zane. No. It had to be something else. Lena''s eyes widened a fraction as a thought shed through her head.
The princess moved to walk past the bodyguard, blocking the door before the man could turn and leave. She used her small frame as a barrier to prevent Romeo from getting past. Despite standing at least a good foot above her, she knew the bodyguard would never try and push his way past her. Not if he valued her life and role.
"Take off your shirt." Romeo''s eyes widened as he stalled in response to the request.
"Princes, I-" He stopped mid-sentence when the other folded her arms as she stared the body guard down. Her expression and stanch told him that she would take them off herself it came down to it. She would actually manage to do it too. Size didn''t matter when it came to the princess doing as she pleased. She would get what she wanted one way or another. Romeo''s eyes made their way over to Julian as to silently request assistance from the other man. The grim expression on the bodyguard''s didn''t garner him any pity from the other man. Julian simply nodded his head in Lena''s direction as though ordering the other to listen to the order.
"Princess. I would much rather not. There are far too many things going on right now that any more wasted time could cause extra trouble." Romeo straightened himself out, his gaze directed at the princess without looking her directly in the eye. Romeo knew that he moment he did, he would cave to whatever she wanted. Lena''s eyes brewed with a special kind od fire when she wanted something. The kind that most people struggled to resist. Some out of fear, others out of a desire to please and not lose her respect.
"Romeo. I gave you an order. I am well aware of the kind of situation we are in. The sooner you do as I say, the sooner we can get to other matters. Take off your shirt." The princess pressed once more. If he didn''t listen in five minutes, she would go about doing it herself.
If he couldn''t follow a simple order, that meant he had something to hide. Something he knew that the princess wouldn''t like.
"As you request, Princess." The words came with no small amount of hesitation.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 334 Similar To Being Initiated Into A Club Except With Blood
"What kind of person could be capable of upsetting her more than me? I thought I still held the top spot for that." The half-joke brought a brief small smile to Samuel''s face. That was more like it! If only Jovani could keep that smile there for longer, it would make everything feel closer to normal than it currently did.
"I don''t know the whole story but something to do with her past. I don''t think I should give you the exact details as I don''t think Lena would approve. I know it was bad enough that she wanted to kill him, not just think about wanting to do it." Samuel''s expression fell as something shed through his eyes. Dejection hmm?
Jovani couldn''t quite understand how someone like Lena managed to impact him so much. She hardly seemed like the ideal fianc¨¦. Yet, they''d somehow grown on each other to the point that his kid cousin would be like this. What a pitiful gloomy kid he''d be.
"I see. That is certainly some interesting news. He sounds like someone I should take the chance to meet in the future. Lena killing someone else right now wouldn''t create the ideal situation. I take it at least that she didn''t kill him." Jovani cocked his head to the side as he watched the other''s expression for any hints.
"Not before I left. I don''t know what happened. Lena let him leave at the time because Julian got involved." There was the second piece to the puzzle that Jovani was curious about. His younger cousin mentioned it might not be a good idea to reach out to Julian. Would the little princess go so far as even to point the gun at her uncle? Interesting¡
"I see. So the plot thickens and turns into something far more troublesome than it seems on the surface. If the princess kills someone while everyone is at the hospital, that is certainly worth knowing about." The Red Scorpions could handle dealing with their bodies. Still, such things could impact the ns that Jovani had. Big ns that he still needed more time before they would be ready to enact.
"You don''t know the name of this person? A description or something that might make it easy to find out who they are?" Samuel shrugged his shoulders before he fell back to lie on the bed with his arms stretched above his head. The exhaustion was beginning to set in for him.
"You could also, Alonso. You should know out of anyone, I don''t have enough connections with this side of stuff to know what to look for or who anyone is. I know that they were someone who set Lena off without even saying anything bad." Did they have to keep talking about that? Right now, it was the one thing that Samuel wanted to forget about most. AT least until he figured out the best way to process everything he felt.
Would that be easy to do if the princess didn''t want to talk to him? Maybe he would try to call her againter and see if she would hang up again or at least hear him out.
"Alonso likely won''t want to talk with me right now. You know, with the whole situation that just took ce and all of that. He''s not terribly thrilled with my decisions. Everyone makes mistakes now and again." This could hardly be called a ''mistake.'' A purposeful lousy decision would be more urate. One in which Jovani hoped everything would y out differently than it did.
"Speaking mistakes and stuff going on. When will you tell me about this initiation thing that I will have to do? You agreed to talk about it when we were on our way back here, but we haven''t had a chance to get into that decision." And there it was. One of the things that Jovani wanted to put off talking about for a while. Pity his cousin ad such a good memory he wouldn''t forget about such things.
"I can''t go about talking about the exact details of everything. That will cause problems if you knew too much before the event takes ce. Rules and such that need to be followed leading up to this." Jovani waved his hand as he spoke. A hint of annoyance over the regtions of everything.
"If you had grown up on this side of the world, it wouldn''t be anything you need to worry about. However, since your mother left and we have had no contact before now, we need to jump through all of the silly hoops to get you epted as an official family member." Hoops that Jovani still needed to finish setting. With what time? He had no idea, but he would somehow figure out how to pull it out of his hat.
"It''s very much like an initiation to any club except if you could never leave that club alive and you had to sign your life away with a little bit of blood to be epted." Jovani absently rubbed the scar on his hand. All that stuff had been far more fun to mess about, and pretend when he was younger and didn''t understand the gravity of everything.
s, everything always turned out to be easier when one was a kid. No lives to be responsible for or heavy duties that couldn''t be brushed off to other people.
"Is it like the movies? I have seen a few things growing up but never knew what to believe." Jovani let out a forced, strainedugh at Samuel''s question. He gently ced hand on the other''s knee and patted it softly.
"I would highly rmend you refrain from asking such questions in the future. Movies aren''t bad things to learn from, but you''re absolutely right not to believe everything you see. Even though it''s quite harmless to ask such things, some people don''t take kindly to suchparisons.
The kind of people that Jovani wanted to keep away from Samuel. They would use anything they could against his younger cousin.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 335 Cant I Play With Your Guests?
Jovani''s answer wasn''t wrong, but it didn''t give Samuel what he hoped for. It gave him even more questions he wanted to ask the other. Questions he didn''t want to keep be putting off for one reason or another.
"How long until this will happen? I know the current situation creates a dilemma, but I imagine there are timeframes and rules to this type of thing." Jovani nodded his head thoughtfully before he stopped from the bed, cracking his neck before shifting his injured arm to prevent it from getting stiff.
"You''re right; a few rules around this need to be followed. They don''t quite apply to you as much as they do to other random people who want in. As you''re the younger cousin of the boss over the Vedova Nera, more grace is given. Not to mention your ties with the Red Scorpions help as well." Sammy was lucky to be sandwiched between two of the most vital mafia families. Other people wouldn''t have nearly as much protection as he did.
"It''ll all happen in due time when it needs to. Considering everyone else hasn''t arrived yet, we also have time to put some stuff off. I also need to ask Emily if she would be willing to help with this. We could use a few family members involved." The thought of nning everything gave him such a headache that Jovani decided once more to ignore it.
"Do you have a list of everyone that will be there? Like I asked before, people I should know or worry about offending. People like at the engagement party who are close to the family, and I wouldn''t want to offend identally." Jovani got ready to answer a question when a set of sharp knocks broke the conversation.
"Hellooooo. I was told that I could find the two of you in here and was wondering if I might be able to intrude?" And the angel appeared. To Jovani, at least she was the angle at the current point in time.
"Emily! Perfect timing. You''re more than wee toe in and join us. I had just been talking about you." The door creaked open slowly as the amber-haired woman poked her head around the side.
"Whatever you were saying or thinking, I am already going to tell you that the answer is no. I''m done doing any more favors for you this month." Jovani offered her his best innocent smile as he motioned for her to enter the room.
"This favor wouldn''t be for me. Instead, I would be asking if it would be possible for you to do something for Sammy here. We know we still haven''t gotten to do that whole thing where we need to make him an official family member." Emily bobbed her head cautiously as she entered the room and shut the door behind herself.
"He''s got quite a few questions I think you would be better at answering than me. All the same, rules don''t apply to you the way they do to me. You''re also going to be a necessary part of all this. Thus, I think it would be a great time for the two of you to get some bonding in, or whatever you want to call it." Maybe Emily would be able to go about nning everything for Jovani so he could take the time to breathe and focus on other things.
"And what am I going to be getting out of this deal? I don''t mind helping your adorable cousin. I would love the opportunity to get to know him better. I still want something out of this, though." The petite woman crossed her arms as she fixed Jovani with a determined stare. She didn''t want the Vedova Nera boss to offer her anything; she already had something she wanted.
"What do you want then? I can tell by that look you already have something in mind?" Jovani sighed and silently prayed that whatever the girl wanted this time wouldn''t cause him to break the bank or make Alonso throw a more oversized fit than the right-hand man already had.
"Welllllllllll." Emily drawled the word out as a cute, yful smile spread across her face. Oh, dear.
"You see, I heard you brought some mercenaries to the estate. I haven''t gotten the chance to see them yet, but I was hoping that there might be a chance I could have a little bit of fun. You know it has been quite some time since west had some fun guests I could y with." ''y with'' made it sound far more innocent than what the woman meant. She must''ve been keeping it clear, for Samuel''s sake.
"Are you trying to get me in trouble? You realize if you do something like that, you''re going to be inviting a whole bucket of problems that I will have to clean up." Jovani would''ve crossed his arms if not for his injury. Emily pouted like a child being denied the right to the one toy she wanted.
"Oh, but you know that I wouldn''t hurt anyone. Would it be just a bit of fun and games? They might even enjoy it if I ask them nicely. I heard one of them at least seems to have a sense of humor and enjoys a bit of fun." Had word already started to travel? Jovani shouldn''t have been all that surprised since the estate was filled with nothing but gossip hounds.
"Can''t you find something else to do that doesn''t involve antagonizing my already unwee guests? You could ask for any other favor, and I would happily grant it in exchange for this." Emily''s pout grew, her gaze shifting to Samuel, whose attention had been caught by their conversation.
"What if we ask Sammy what he thinks, and he can decide to y with your guests or not?"
Jovani could feel his head return full force when the other asked this question. This was starting to be too much.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 336 What About Me Instead?
Jovani fixed the woman with a stern look.
"Absolutely not. Samuel won''t even know what you''re trying to ask him about, and I''m not having you put in that kind of situation." The woman paid him no need as she marched past him toe over to the side of the bed Samuel was closest to him.
"Oh, please. You don''t need to treat him like a child. I''m sure he''s plenty old enough to answer a few questions and make a decision if I were to ask him about it. He seems intrigued anyways, isn''t that right?" Samuel didn''t care much for the charm that Emily tried to use on him. She was right. However, he had be intrigued by what she asked.
"You realize that this isn''t an issue of whether someone is old enough but instead about messing with other people''s lives? The lives of those I would rather ensure don''t stay safe?" As Emily continued to ignore him, exasperation began to seep into Jovani''s voice.
"Can''t I at least hear her out on what she wants to ask? Even if your decision stands, there shouldn''t be any reason I can''t at least hear, right?" Jovani could feel his left eye begin to twitch. That became a little bit more difficult. Saying no to Emily was one matter, but saying no to his cousin wasn''t so easy.
"Seeee? I told you that he''s plenty old enough to understand such things. What do you think? Shouldn''t I be allowed to y with the new guests that Jovani brings around? At least so long as they agree to want to y with me?" Emily invaded Samuel''s personal space as she used her hands and leaned forward on the bed eagerly, waiting for the other''s reply. She certainly had a lot more pep about her than Jovani did. Samuel had almost forgotten about that after having only interacted with her for a short while.
"I don''t exactly know what you mean by y. From what I have seen of those men you''re referring to, I don''t take them to the types who would want to engage in anything fun." Who knew that such na?ve innocence could look so cute on a man? Emily couldn''t help the coo that escaped; she even went so far as to pinch Samuel''s cheek.
"Oh, dear Sammy. I don''t exactly mean the fun, let''s y some games type of y. I mean something a little less harmless and potentially more painful for the losing party." Jovani wanted to facepalm as he watched the gears begin to turn in his younger cousin''s head. Couldn''t the girl leave him alone already? Thest thing the Vedova Nera boss needed at the current moment would be for his cousin to decide he wanted to ''y'' as well.
"Sparring would be the more appropriate term for it. I prefer to call it ying because most matches don''tst long enough to be called any kind of challenge." Emily exined further when Samuel remained thoughtfully quiet while seeming to stare at a point directly to Emily''s left rather than at the other''s face.
"I might have to agree with Jovani on this. They''re mercenaries. Outside of this family, they might not be the best type of partners to pick for what you want to do. Isn''t there someone else?" Ah, there came the someone else question. The only that brought Emily''s pout back full force. It became worse when she caught the smug look on Jovani''s face from the corner of her eye. Hmph, how dare the cute younger cousin side with the evil older one.
"I would pick someone around here if anyone was worth the time. Most here aren''t much of a challenge for me, or we''ve already sparred so many times they no longer want to do it with me." Emily sighed dramatically as her head dropped forward.
"I''m just looking for someone I might be able to have a little bit of fun with. It wouldn''t go so far as starting a war. Wouldn''t a few minutes of fun bepletely harmless? I already said that I would ask them first?" Emily wouldn''t give up so quickly as she fixed Samuel with her puppy dog eyes. The kind that most people couldn''t resist without feeling that deep twang of guilt from denying someone their one wish.
"I still don''t think that would be the best idea. Maybe you could find something else to do then if no one wants to spar with you?" Samuel faltered slightly with his weak suggestion. Wouldn''t now have been the right time for Jovani to step in and say something to put the situation to an end? Samuel wouldn''t be able to keep saying no forever if Emily kept giving him such looks.
"Jovani, can you at least agree to give me a few minutes with them? I''m not going to do anything bad. I really want to have a little bit of fun while the chance presents itself." Emily whined in the direction of Jovani, who hardly seemed amused by how much she kept pushing.
"Sammy gave you an answer already, didn''t he? I think that it would be best to stick with that one. You should go and find something else to entertain yourself with. I will give you something else if you agree to help me with the favor I asked for. You can ask me for another thing, and I will dly give it to you." Especially if it would stop her from whining for the foreseeable future; he would have never invited her into the room if he knew that she would be asking something of that magnitude. Sometimes that girl could be more trouble than she was worth. Jovani couldn''t get rid of her, seeing as the two of them were family.
"If you''re really wanting someone to spare with, why don''t you do it with me then?" All three heads turned in the direction of the door simultaneously.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 337 Stubborn Fools
Lena''s jaw clenched. No matter how much she puffed on the pipe, the tension didn''t decrease.
Why did everyone have to be such stubborn fools? Common sense seemed to be in short supply around her recently and that only served to make her mood that much worse. Far worse than it was on most days.
The princess took a deep drag from the pipe. She didn''t even care that the wind blew the smoke back into her face when she exhaled. In fact, she actually found the smell of tobo to be somewhatforting.
Damn it.... Couldn''t anyone wake up already?
The doctor never wanted to give a straight answer for when it might happen. He just kept an eye on their progress and confirmed they were still alive. Humph, as if Lena didn''t know that by the noise the life supports machines kept making. She didn''t some useless doctoring in and telling her such meaningless information.
On top of dealing with this, she had to struggle with the men he worked for her family.
Lena''s eyes scanned the crowd of people walking past. Not many came to stop by the hospital today. They only seemed to use it as part of their route to get wherever they were heading. She took another puff from the pipe, her finger tapping the side impatiently.
Not only did none of her family seem on the verge of waking up, but more were also about to join them at the rate events were moving. Without Romeo, matters were only going to get harder moving forward. Two of the best men her family had currently were out ofmission. The third didn''t have anything yet that would be able to help them out. What was she supposed to do now?
"We go years without seeing each other and now it seems as though I can''t keep away even if I wanted to." Lena''s gaze didn''t shift away from the crowd even as the newer came to stand next to her. They kept a short distance between them, seemingly aware of the Princess''s less-than-ster current mood.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of the call this time? It doesn''t seem that anything eventful has taken ce in thest few hours since I wasst here. Your father seems to be stubborn even when ites to waking up in a decent time frame." Lena didn''t respond to thisment, only moving when the other pulled a box of cigarettes out. Her hand came up to snatch them away from the other before he could light them up.
"Cigarettes are nasty. If you''re going to smoke around here, I would prefer if you would choose to use a pipe, Richard." Richard only resisted slightly when the smaller hand manged to pull the carton of his muchrger one. His eyes trailed after hand as she put the carton in her coat pocket furthest away from him.
"Come now, we both know that there really isn''t that much difference between cigarettes and pipes. CIgarettes are just convenient to use than going to the hassle of putting a pipe together." Richard stashed his lighter pack in his pocket before the other decided to steal that as well. Good lighters were harder to rece than a cheap packet of cigarettes. He could just pick up another box on his way home.
"The smell of cigarettes are horrible. I would prefer not to be around them right now." The princess retorted. Despite herints against the white cancer sticks, she didn''t offer the other her pipe. It was too precious to part ways with at the current moment in time.
"What I need you for is information. I know that information tends to reach your ears before it does many others. I assume you already know what has been going on." Richard made a nonmital noise as he turned his back to the other to sit on the only bench in front of the hospital.
"I have heard about a lot of things going on. If there''s something specific you''re expecting me to know, you''re going to have to give me a hint or something else." Lena cast a nce in his direction that told him not to push his luck. She knew what he meant without him being straight about it. Richard found the power dynamic between the two of them to be rather interesting. Almost as if the Princess didn''t care that he technically held a position above hers simply based upon his experience and years in their side of the world.
"It can never hurt to try and bargain even if the obvious answer is going toe back as a no. Still, I do need you to give me something to work with to know what you''re talking about. I''ve been hearing about a lot of things going on recently. What''s hearsay and what''s real is a bit hard to weed out." A lot of things going on? What else did he know about that hadn''t crossed Lena''s ears yet?
"I think that right now it would be beneficial if you could tell me everything that you''ve been hearing. Anything that is rted to my family. One of my men though tells me that there has been an unexpected set of events going on recently. There are a few specific names that I am looking for." Lena moved closer to the other as she spoke. She didn''t want to risk anyone overhearing this conversation.
She dared anyone to approach her in her current mood. She would shoot to kill the moment that she recognized anyone to be an enemy. Lena knew that the director would clean up any problems without a fuss due to the current precarious rtionship with the Red Scorpion Family. One wrong move would put him in a worse position than fearing a loss of funds and protection.
"If you''re looking for names, I can think of a few off the top of my head you might find interesting. One for certain I believe I''ve been hearing has managed to shift towards the top of the hit list."
Those words were exactly what Lena wanted to hear.
"Tell me everything you know."
Chapter 338 Both Cousins
Richard leaned back as he tilted his head back to look at the Princess. Soft eyes met hard ones as the two silently stared at each other for a moment.
"Would you like to go back inside first and get some of the horrible food this hospital offers? I''m pretty sure that the two of us could do with something to eat, and I''m still not above a free meal." He didn''t feel the need to wait for Lena to reply as he stood up from the bench after sitting there for a few moments.
"I think it would serve us well to have some food after everything going on. I''m sure you''ve not been eating that well either." Lena didn''t quite understand Richard''s sudden pushiness as he put a hand on her lower back to try and direct her back to the hospital. The manneres out as more friendly than urgent though the hand on her lower back pushed with a firm strength.
"I would honestly rather we talk first and figure out foodter. I want answers to the question that I asked you." The Princess wanted to move away from the other but found Richard not to relent in his actions so quickly. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he moved closer to the hospital doors.
"And I would prefer to eat something first. If I''m not allowed to smoke, I think it is only fair that I should be allowed to get some food. Not to mention it would be remiss of me as your father''s friend not to ensure you''re eating as well." He bumped the automatic door button on his elbow and stepped to the side, allowing the Princess to enter ahead of him.
Except she didn''t.
Lena stood outside the hospital door as she fixed Richard with a hard-to-read expression. The wind began to pick up again, causing her hair to whip around her face as her eyes became harder with each passing second. The silent war between them painted a dangerous picture for those considering leaving the hospital. Neither mafioso cared about anyone beyond the person in front of them. Lena wasn''t about ready to relent. Not until Richard gave her something to work with.
"Can we not agree on this one thing for now? Food is important, and I would like to think about getting inside and having something to eat before the weather picks up. Surely I''m not the only one who realizes that there will be a storming this way soon." Richard raised only one eyebrow as he waited to see if the Princess wouldply with what he wanted. Surely she couldn''t continue to be stubborn for such a long period? It would be quite a hassle for him if he pegged her wrong.
Zane would always give up after a short while once the two of them actually became decent friends. Richard quickly learned to push the slightly older man into doing what he wanted, even if it dide with a great deal of grumbling and curses from the side of the Red Scorpion Boss.
"Fine, but what you''re going to tell me better be worth putting up with the food here and forgoing being able to smoke my pipe anymore." Lena would have to dump it before they went inside. She knew that the hospital wouldn''t attempt to force such policies on her; she obeyed the rule only out of respect for the sick patients there. They hadn''t done anything deserving exposure to her second-hand smoke or being reminded of what they couldn''t have. At least not yet, that hadn''t.
"Trust me; I think you will find it quite worth your time. I''ll get you some extra coffee to make up for the table." Richard waited to turn his back to the door only after the Princess hade in after him. A few guests in the hospital rushed out the moment he indicated that they were safe to pass.
"For the name on the top of the list you''re looking for, I have heard some mixed information about them. A little noise about them no longer being around and others indicating that someone is protecting them that no one wants to mess with." Richard hardly waited for them to be in the hospital cafeteria before he started talking. His demeanor rxed slightly as he picked up one of the food trays.
"If it''s true that someone is protecting him, it sounds like no one wants to touch whoever this person is. They won''t say if he''s with the mafia, mercenaries, or a third party. I''ve even asked a few other people I know, and they can''t say much about the matter. I do have my guess, however." Richard asked the food server to fill his tray as full as possible. He didn''t care what they had to eat; he would take a little of everything to get rid of the annoying gnawing in his stomach.
"Did they tell you the name that I''m looking for? I asked Romeo to be very specific about that information." Lena grabbed a tray of her own despite not being hungry. She felt that Richard would refuse to tell her anything else if she didn''t at least attempt to eat.
"Yes. I did hear about that. I also heard a rumor beforeing here that maybe he''s not in such good health. I''m sure that''s something you can confirmter or not. Back to the name, though, it isn''t one that I''ve heard tossed around." He, of course, asked anyone he passed by about it. It seemed, however, that it wasn''t one anyone wanted to touch. At least those who valued their lives.
"Tell me, though, why would you think someone like Marcus would be involved with this? I haven''t heard much circting about him recently, plus I thought that the other cousin who doesn''t like me was the one who took over."
"Because I think both cousins have something to do with this matter."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 339 Other Ideas
Richard paused as he got ready to take away his tray, his head cocked slightly to one side as he processed what Lena said.
"You honestly believe that to be the case? Wouldn''t we have heard some rumor of that going around? The man has enough of a reputation no one would hesitate to call it if he came back around." Surely Richard of all people would''ve heard something considering he used to work with the Vedova Nera man. Unless...
"Or are you implying that Jovani''s mood about me has something to do with that?" Lena cast him a sideways nce as she requested her own food but didn''t give amittal answer. If she meant what he thought she did, it would put a few more pieces of the puzzle together. The ones that didn''t quite properly together, however. What a softie Jovani could be.
Richard directed them towards an empty table towards the back of the room. Lena would''ve preferred to eaten in the hospital room but doing that would invite her uncle into the conversation. The less people right now, the better.
"We can just leave it at the fact that there have been a few interesting events I''ve seen recently that have brought the possibility to my attention." Lena went for the coffee without even taking one bite of her food unlike herpanion who didn''t wait to start eating. Richard always managed to keep his manners about him even when eating at a hurried pace. Spilled food was wasted and wasted food was a horrible thing.
"Why don''t you tell me about what''s been going on closer to home first? Maybe the two incidents are connected, and we can create a trail starting from there?" Richard took a drink to clean his palette before he spoke. He only paused in the devouring the food in front of him to decide what to start with first before he resumed. Lena lowered her voice as she answered the question, keeping one eye on few others eating in the room in case anyone seemed to be paying a little too much attention to them.
"Romeo is out ofmission right now. He wouldn''t confirm with me what happened but the injury could hardly be called a scratch. He insisted on maintain his post despite his injuries, something I couldn''t allow." Lena put her hands on the table before leaning forward.
"Richard, this is starting to move towards a turf more than I amfortable with. People are dying and we don''t have any leads as to who is responsible. I need something to work with and all the men I need most are unavable at the current moment in time." Her voice came out low and harsh as she spoke through near gritted teeth.
"I can''t throw knives at the wall until something sticks or stops moving. I need solids that I can work with to find out what is going on behind the scenes." Lena hated not being in control and once again, this situation put her exactly in the one position that she wanted to avoid more than anything else. Richard knew that by the mere fact that she was making an unspoken demand for his help. More than he''d already been giving her.
"You''re not out of options though. Surely there are people you''ve taken with or dealt with involved in this situation who have something you can work with?" Richard offered, wiping his mouth with a napkin, his eyes not leaving the other''s face. The princess''s expression however didn''t hold much to answer his questions. The slowly building anger was the only thing that reflected back in her eyes no matter how long Richard kept staring at her.
"You tell me if you can work with this and I think that will give you more than enough information regarding the question that you''re asking." Lena sat back down. She pulled her phone out and opened it to the information that Jovani had sent before she slid it across the table.
"You tell me what you would do with this and who you would put this at the feet of to manage something like this?" Richard pulled the phone closer using his a clean napkin and looked over the information that the Princess had pulled out.
He didn''t stare at it for long before he let out a low whistle. His eyes scanned both and forth rapidly as he scrolled through the list.
"I think that there is actually someone in mind who would be able to do this. I don''t rmend that you cross paths with them. Where did you get ahold of this from?" Richard hesitantly handed the phone back over to the other. His hand lingered on it a second longer, the few seconds were hardly enough for him to take in all of the information in front of him. The list was like a treat anyone within the underworld would want to have a bite of. Just a small piece would be worth a fortune if people were willing to pay for it.
"Jovani got it. Made a im that it came from one of the people that we picked up the other rted to the incident going on right now." Lena put the phone away before anyone could potentially catch sight of what she was showing off. She began to pick at her food as Richard mused over her words.
"Your tone tells me that you think he lied about that. Then tell me where you believe it came from? If your thoughts algin with mine, We might have the answer that we''re looking for already. Also, do you have the master copy? It would be easier to look through in arger format."
"Jovani either paid a pretty penny for it or worked with someone else to get it on a case unrted to this. This just wound up being a convenient cover to bring it up. We do have the information in another format. It isn''t avable for anyone else to look at right now. Not even you."
Damn it. He couldn''t be med for inquiring about it.
What price though would Jovani have been willing to pay to get a hold of it and why hand it over to Lena instead of keeping it for himself?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 340 Like Noisy Children
"You said you''re looking for someone to have fun with, so why not engage with me? It has been pretty boring since I came here anyways. Something fun could help to take away the boredom." Jovani''s sour expression only turned more so at the sight of the mercenary standing in the doorway. He dared to lounge against the door frame as though he owned the ce.
"Cain, you were instructed to stay in the lodging space until I came to talk with youter." Jovani snipped at the mercenary. Neither Emily nor Samuel made a noise as he looked at the unexpected guest. A few hours did nothing to take away the swelling on his face or the nasty bruise covering his broken nose. The mercenary offered Jovani a coy smile.
"Can you me me for getting bored? I hade here expecting to be able to get involved in something interesting. Not be stuck in a room with my crew like some fugitive." Cain sighed in a rather dramatic manner.
"I had only beening in search of someone who could provide me with a little food to fill our stomach but couldn''t help overhearing the conversation taking ce in this room. As someone who loves being in the middle of the fun, I couldn''t resist the opportunity to engage." Bullshit. Jovani knew the other''s words were lies by the shimmer in his eyes. The man hade in search of trouble.
"Oh, ho. So you''re one of the unexpected guests that we have staying here. I had honestly expected you to look a little different. Still, I think you could be someone worth having fun with." Emily bolted to the mercenary''s side in a matter of seconds to give the other man a good look-over. Cain didn''t look thrilled to be manhandled but didn''t protest as the woman gave him a twice-over.
"You look a little worse for wear before I''ve even had a chance to do anything with you. Surely as a mercenary, you can''t possibly be that weak, can you?" The shimmer in Cain''s eyes dimmed slightly as he let out a mirthless chuckle that turned into a full-out humorlessugh. Emily''s question had wounded his pride.
"Oh, dear girl. No one who knows me would call me ''harmless.'' These are simply from an unexpected situation. I never have a problem watching out for myself when I expect an attack to being. It''s not the slightest bit strange to get caught off-guard now and again." Emily''s expression told him she wasn''t exactly convinced by his answer. She went back to probing and prodding him once.
"If you want to find out if I''m strong, why don''t you stop with the poking, and we can go about having a quick spar? Five minutes, one match. If you cannd a hand on me, we might be able to agree that I''m not as strong as you think." Emily paused her inspection at the other''s suggestion. Five minutes? Who exactly did this mercenary take her for?
"Rather than five minutes, why don''t we make it three? If you cannd a hit on me or keep me to the ground in that time, I''ll agree to a longer spar with you and maybe even convince Jovani here not to keep me confined." Emily smirked in a predatory manner. Even if he couldn''t put much of a challenge against her, he might still be able to make himself into a temporary amusement to keep her preupied for a short time.
"You two can''t seriously be nning on going forward with this. I don''t want you to make a mess of my estate after I''ve only recently gotten everything back in order." Jovani sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with this good hand.
"I''m forbidding the both of you from doing this." The words hardly left his mouth before the mercenary and his cousin immediately began to protest, at the same time sounding very much like a whiny pair of children.
"Surely you can''t mean to deprive us of a little fun? We don''t even have to do it inside. I''m sure the weather outside is fine enough for us to spare out there."
"Jovani, you brought me here promising that there might be something interesting to do. Why not agree to this? It''ll make sure my men and I don''t cause you any unnecessary trouble. I''ll even drop my grudge against Alonso if I can find something more entertaining to put my energy towards." The two voices rose as they each tried to speak over the other to ensure Jovani heard their arguments and protests. Themotion would surely not go amiss by anyone else in the house at the current moment in time. Jovani''s headache confirmed as much for him as a dull ache burst into a full-on throbbing as the ruckus only served to anger it further.
"Why don''t we just let it happen and have someone outside to help moderate it so that nothing gets out of hand? I''m not in favor of this type of thing, but neither of them seems intent on dropping it." Samuel had moved from his position on the bed toe over and speak to his cousin at a distance he knew the Vedova Nera boss would be able to hear him from.
Jovani couldn''t deny his cousin was right. It wasn''t ideal, but the two children in front of him didn''t seem like they would let the matter go quickly. Both were overly excited over the idea of being able to shed blood.
And blood they would shed indeed if either one of them got a chance.
"Fine!" Jovani boomed above the ovepping voices. The sharp, deep tone immediately brought silence to the room.
"You have your three minutes. I won''t allow for anything beyond that. I don''t care what the two of you agreed to afterward. Three minutes or the first time someone is down, it ends there." Jovani knew he would regret agreeing to this situation even if it was the more straightforward solution to his problem.
He could only hope the regret would be kept to a minimum once everything was said and done.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 341 Not Tonight
Jovani somehow managed to keep the noise down in the room after his announcement. The next time he had the chance, he would take a vacation far away from other people. Alonso might not be invited. He shouldn''t be. The man needed to take his break away from the Vedova Nera boss and far away from anything that could resemble anything work-rted.
"If you two want to go through with this, you will do it by my rules since this is my residence." Jovani kept a level tone as he looked between Emily and Cain. They didn''t try to hide their tense excitement as they listened, impatiently waiting for Jovani to finish so that they could get to more exciting matters.
"What that means is nothing will be happening today. Knowing both of you, this isn''t going to happen at thest minute when nothing is in proper order. We''ll n to do it tomorrow when a ce can be put aside from it, and others can know what to expect." Emily looked as though she wanted to protest but shut her mouth when Jovani red. He wasn''t about to drop his tough father persona now that he held their attention. Maintaining strictness would be the only way to keep them quiet.
"Cain, you will get your food also for you and your men, but you''re not going to be leaving your room again. You have a phone, if there is anything else you need, you can contact me, and I will make sure it is taken care of. Thest thing I need on top of everything else is a bunch of little headaches popping up."
"What kind of timeframe are we talking about, though? Early morning? Afternoon? I do need some time to prepare before everything happens." Emily cracked her knuckles as she spoke. Her bloodlust had hardly died down, but she could shove it back longer if the fight was guaranteed.
"You can wait until tomorrow morning to find out. It will depend on a lot of other matters." Jovani replied as he motioned for her to keep her mouth zipped.
The Vedova Nera boss would''ve scrapped the whole matter if he could have gotten away with it, but he knew neither party would drop it or allow him to forget his agreement so quickly.
"Emily, you''re going to stay with us, but Cain, I want you to return. If I find out you don''t, I swear there will be a lot of hell to pay if I have to deal with one more unexpected problem tonight." The mercenary shot Jovani a mildly offended look.
"Me a problem? Surely you''re getting me confused with someone else. I hardly think everything I''ve done for you could ssify me as a problem." Jovani only fixed the other with an unimpressed look. Cain''s words only supported Jovani''s belief of the other being a problem.
"I don''t care about that right now. If you keep doing what you''re currently doing, that will cause a problem, and I don''t take kindly to problems that give me a headache. Go back to your space, and I don''t expect to see you again until the next day." Like scolding a badly behaved dog, Jovani snapped his fingers and pointed for the other to leave the room with a hard stare.
Cain dawdled and grumbled about the matter but ceded to the Vedova Nera boss and left the room without further protest. The mercenary stopped inside the door to let his eyes linger on the younger cousin for a few seconds before he left upon noticing the look that Jovani gave him.
"I hope you''re happy with all of the trouble you''re going about causing me." Jovani let out a deep sigh before flopping back down on the bed. The whole situation had taken far too much energy out of him. NO painkillers or alcohol left him with far too little good humor to deal with such matterspared to normal.
"You still think that I''m going about causing you problems? I think everyone will get a little bit of fun out of this once we get it all together. Surely that man must have some other information we want from him." Emily argued as she moved over to the door to ensure the other had left as agreed. She wasn''t the kind of person to take eavesdroppers lightly--especially not when it happened in their own house.
"There''s always information that I want to get out of people. The methods you choose to implement often be more troublesome than they are worth. I would much rather work at it from how I like to do things." Jovani could quickly think of ten different times off the top of his head where Emily''s ideas had backfired despite the heaps of assurances she''d given him that everything would work out the way it needed to.
"So this isn''t just about setting something up for entertainment; there''s something else I haven''t heard about?" Jovani had forgotten that Samuel was in his room for a brief second. Damn it; they''d gone about speaking a little too honest about the matter.
"Not really. I tend tobine fun with other matters when I get the chance. Prizes or promises are set between the winner and loser, so I try to think of something that would make it more worthwhile for the family when I have the chance." Emily replied smoothly. Her posture spoke of confidence. Like many other times, she didn''t believe she would lose this challenge either.
"One of these times, it''s not going to turn out the way you expect it to, and I don''t want to have to be the one to clean up after you." Now would not be the time for Jovani to clean up after one more person. There were still too many other problems that hadn''t been dealt with.
The princess fit at the top of the list of things he didn''t want to deal with moving forward, yet he wouldn''t vanish even if he wanted it to.
"If you don''t want to have to deal with one more thing, why don''t you let me take care of this?"
Did Samuel suggest what Jovani thought he did?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 342 Call Her Again
Jovani tried to cover theugh that wanted to burst out behind a rough cough. He couldn''t honestly believe what Sammy suggested. His dear younger cousin wouldn''t quite understand what he was volunteering for.
"Why not? He''s a Vedova Nera. It would be a good experience for him to gain now before he has to deal with simr situations in the future." Emily approved without a second thought. First-hand experience was the best kind of experience, after all. The amber-haired girl grabbed Samuel''s hand and pulled him upright.
"Of course, I wouldn''t expect you to involve yourself in this without understanding how the family rules worked in this situation." Family rules? Samuel had heard them mentioned before, but Jovani always acted as though they didn''t apply to him. Being a member of the main family exemption sort of thing.
"Can''t I be the one to show him how everything works? I don''t think that you would be the best person in your current mood to go through with it." Jovani took umbridge, to his cousin''s words. He huffed under his breath as he cradled his injured arm. His bad mood didn''t have anything to do with his ability to exin the rules to Sammy. He could do that thing in his sleep if he wanted to.
"I don''t care how we go about it. You''re not dragging Sammy off tonight, though. You''re also not going to do this until you agree to help me out with what I asked you about before. This must be taken care of before we drag him further into family matters." Jovani''s desire to do as he pleased could only extend so far. There were still shitty rules he had to follow, even if he disagreed with them. Otherwise, people would be breathing down his neck in no time t for bending the wrong rules and causing problems.
Too many old men still ruled the world in ces where they didn''t belong. Pity they couldn''t go about dying sooner so that a newer generation could take over and give the mafia world the much-needed makeover it was far overdue for.
"I can tell you''re already thinking too hard about matters that aren''t important right now. Don''t stress yourself out; I will agree to help with whatever you need. It''s part of what I signed up for in my role within this family anyways." Emily gave Jovani a thumb''s up. The slight motion did little to clear his head of all the thoughts swimming around.
"Good, because if you didn''t, I might have to consider disowning you if I were to be stuck doing the whole ceremony on my own again. We still need a few more people before we have enough. I''m putting that in yourp as well." Jovani felt the strong urge to swear when his pocket began to vibrate, indicating that someone was trying to call him. Really? Couldn''t they leave him alone for a little while?
Jovani scowled down at his legs. He would leave his phone on the wrong side of his pants. Damn, and st everything. Jovani turned his attention to Emily rather than trying to struggle with this phone.
"Do you think we could step outside for a quick chat? I have one more favor for you." For once, Emily caught on rather quickly when he shot a nce in Samuel''s direction.
"Since the two of us have to discuss a few matters, why don''t you take the chance to try and call the princess again? I''m sure you''ll have more sess talking to her now that it has been a few hours." The suggestion made his cousin''s face drop, but Jovani hardly had time to think about it. The Vedova Nera boss could only encourage his cousin to do the right thing even if the princess didn''t want to talk with her fianc??.
"Can''t you talk about it here?" Samuel offered despite the room''s other two upants already making their way over to the door. Surely after everything they''d already discussed around him, this couldn''t be too different, could it? The shifting nces between the two told him otherwise.
Jovani mostly ignored the fact that he didn''t want to discuss it. The man had his reasons, and that was supposed to be enough for his younger based on the nk expression on his older cousin''s face.
Samuel didn''t want to admit it, but Jovani''s mood had been all over the ce since he''d shown up with Jovani. Jovani couldn''t be called anything other than irritable, but Samuel didn''t notice any twitches or other indicators of withdrawal. Did it have something to do with the fact that the other hadn''t had any alcohol to drink? Indeed his cousin didn''t drink enough to be that impacted when he went a few hours without liquor in his system.
"Later, we cane back to talk about it. A few matters are still left in the dark for the time being. Once we get you firmly into the family, it won''t matter what we talk about around you anymore. Seriously though, you should take this chance to try and talk with your girl. Even if she hangs up on you again, leave her a message." Jovani would''ve ruffled his younger cousin''s hair if they were closer but stepping across the room to do it in his current state felt like too much trouble.
He settled for a brief two-finger salute to the forward with his good hand before leaving the room with Emily in tow. The amber-haired girl didn''t leave the room without turning around to mouth a quick ''don''t worry about it'' to Samuel and an assurance that she woulde back to talk with himter.
Samuel''s eyes drifted towards his phone, but his hands remained on hisp. Lena suggested calling his family, but that felt like a lot. Surely his mother would know about the events taking ce but his father? He''d still not getting his head wrapped around the secondary identity that his wife had kept from him.
He somehow thought it to be worse in some respects than selling their son into the underworld life.
Samuel lost track of how long he stared at the phone in deep thought, his hands rubbing his jeans absently in an anxious manner that wore away at the fabric. The lump in his throat didn''t decrease in size, no matter how long he tried to figure out what to do. If anything, it only worsened the longer he went without making a decision.
Surely one more call wouldn''t hurt. Lena would have to pick up the phone and answer him if he kept trying long enough.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 343 That Doesnt Concern You
Lena almost dropped her phone on the table when it unexpectedly began to vibrate. She''d been far too focused on Richard that the unexpected sensation caught her off-guard.
"That would seem like an important call you might want to think about taking." Richard nodded his head in the direction of the phone as he continued to eat. He''d likely go back to get seconds before he left. Too bad they didn''t allow takeaway in hospitals. Despite theck of quality, the food would keep him well through the weekend if he could take it with him.
"Oh? That''s quite the expression you''re wearing right now. Aren''t you going to answer that call?" Richard couldn''t remember thest time that he''d seen such a conflicted expression on someone''s face. It certainly didn''t seem like the kind of expression that crossed the Princess''s face based upon their reaction interactions.
Her brows were furrowed to match the deep frown on her face. The dark cloud covering her expression didn''t appear to be one of anger from what Richard read. No, it seemed troubled. Anxious maybe even.
"Do you want me to take it for you instead? It would be better to answer the call then have someone leave a message you have to deal withtter." Richard held his phone out as he gave the other. Lena didn''t budge to put the device in his hand.
Tilting his head up just enough, he could read half the name shing across the ID disy. Samuel? Hmm. Come to think of it, he couldn''t remember thest time that he''d seen the other kid around the hospital. Was it that morning? His inquisitive nature started to get the better of him as Lena''s expression darkened with each passing second.
"It doesn''t need to be dealt with right now. I will send him a message to let him know I will call him backter." Lena chose to wait until the ringing stopped rather than rejecting the call. Only then did she bother with unlocking her phone to send the other a quick message.
Lena didn''t even wait five seconds after she made sure it sent before shutting her phone off. No more calls coulde through if she kept the device off. Surely then Samuel would understand she was busy and not try to call her again.
"You think it''s a good idea to go about ignoring that call? I know that I would answering a call from my fianc¨¦ ahead of anything else I was dealing with if I actually had one." Richard led the single life by choice and found it to be a rather fulfilling on most days. Less people hemitted himself to, the lessplicated his life would be in the future.
"I''ll call him backter. This isn''t something you need to worry yourself about." The corner of Richard''s lips pulled tight at the other''s words. He ced the silverware done now that he''d finished the food on his tray and shoved the stic away.
"I think that is where you might be wrong Lena. So many years ago I did promise your father I would help to keep an eye on you and your brother should anything happen. I haven''t only beening around to check up on the health of an old friend." It was Lena''s turn to have a shift in her expression. Her eyes narrowed slightly, as her lips drew into a tight line. Her father had never mentioned anything of the sort to her before.
"I already know what you''re thinking. Your father never told you anything because I''ve been trying for years to leave this side of the world. As I''m sitting here with you right now, I''m sure you can surmise that that venture hasn''t been sessful. Zane didn''t feel the need to tell you about something that might not happen in the first ce." The Princess''s expression didn''t rx at this exnation.
It made sense why her father wouldn''t mention something that might not happen when she was younger. Now however, she could hardly be considered a child too young to understand such matters. In these situations, having all the information and cards in front of her would help the Princess to make better decisions.
"As friend, my opinion doesn''t change. I don''t know what happened between the two of you but you shouldn''t ignore your fianc¨¦''s call. Talk to him, sort it out and thene back to whatever else there is you need to do." Lena wouldn''t however, it wasn''t in her nature to do that kind of thing. Her family still came first.
Only after or if they got married would Lena shift to thinking about Samuel in that manner. Jovani could take care of him in the meantime and deal with whatever fallouts urred. It was the least the Vedova Nera boss could do after all the additional trouble he''d been causing her thest few days.
"I already told you that I will deal with that matterter. I don''t need to be lectured about matters rted to rtionships right now. There are more important matters we need to be dealing with." Lena pushed away her hardly touched tray of food. The current mood spoiled what little appetite she had.
"Suit yourself, Princess. I know though that I''m not the only one giving you this advice. A word to the wise, when more than on person tells you something, it''s fair better to listen to the advice to avoid further problems in the future." With those words, Richard kept his mouth shut. Lena could do whatever she wanted with his advice.
Lena opened her mouth to give a retort in response to the other''s words and scold him for still pushing something she told him to drop once when a hand suddenly gently tapped her on the shoulder.
"Ms. Scarlet, I''m terribly sorry to bother you right now. We tried to contact your phone, but we couldn''t reach you. We thought that you''d want to know however that your brother regained consciousness."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 344 Blind
Lena felt the world shift around her at those words as her full attention turned to the nurse. The woman started somewhat when Lena grabbed her hand.
"Can you repeat that once more?" The words came out harsher than she intended as they tried to stick in her throat. Leo? Waking up? The nurse cleared her throat and offered a gentle smile to the princess.
"I said that your brother, Leo Scarlet, has begun to regain consciousness. We tried to call you to let you know but-" She ignored the rest of the woman''s words as she practically jumped up from the chair.
"Wa-wait, there''s-" Lena didn''t wait. She moved in a purposeful and swift manner towards the elevators without waiting to see if anyone would follow after her.
"There''s something else that you wanted to inform her of?" Richard''s words and gentle tone brought the nurse''s attention over to the table''s remaining upant.
"Yes. I thought that she might want to know¡" The woman''s voice dropped as Richard listened intently to what the other had to say.
Lena cursed herself for taking the elevator. The few seconds between the lifting up and taking her down felt like an eternity that would''ve been better spent taking the stairs. She mmed her hand against the elevator side as it took it''s time taking her down to the floor where her brother''s bedroom was rted. Damn her for shutting her phone off and damn her for leaving. Lena''s stomach became tighter with each passing second as the anticipating of what sight would greet her built up to an ufortable level.
She barely waited for the hospital doors to open before she burst out, not caring that she almost knocked over an elderly gentleman waiting to board after she left. She didn''t have time to worry about such things. She needed to make it to her brother''s room as quickly as possible.
"Well, it might take some time to get understand the results for sure. It''s definitely a good sign that he''s awake now. Please understand however that he needs to be kept in a calm sate until we can run some tests to determine how well he is or not doing." Lena skid to a stop outside the hospital room. Her uncle and the doctor blocked the doorway as they spoke. The conversation came to a stop as both pairs of eyes turned to Lena.
Lena brushed past the doctor, ignoring the fact that he tried to exin to her what he''d just told her uncle. Julian put his hand on the doctor''s shoulder to stop him from trying to talk to the other. Right now wasn''t the time.
Lena felt her heart sink somewhat she stared at Leo resting in the bed with his eyes closed. Had he already fallen back asleep before she got the opportunity to see how he was doing for herself? Tsk, the damn elevator took too long in getting her here.
"Staring at people like that makes it awfully difficult for them to catch up on some sleep with such an intense gaze boring into their skin." Lena''s eyes widened as Leo spoke. The voice came out low and cracked, indicating a dry throat as he cough roughly after speaking.
"Nice to see you as well even though it doesn''t sound like you have a lot to say to me. I had certainly thought you''d have more to say but it seems like even during this asion you speak about as much as you did back when I was still in Ennd." Lena felt her heart tug at the familiar teasing though it did little to draw out any words or her own voice easily. Leo waking up wasn''t enough. Not yet. He still needed to fully recover before she''d know that he was okay for a sure fact.
"What do you expect me to say in this kind of situation? You''re not even looking at me yet." Lena''s voice came out softer than even she expected. The noise of surprise her brother made didn''t escape.
"Lena, there''s something the doctor needs to discuss with us." Julian gently pulled the princess in the direction of the doctor. She didn''t move immediately, her gaze glued to her sibling as her eyes swam with a mixture of emotions. Would it turn out to be a dream if she took her eyes off him? If it did, she would murder the doctor for forcing her attention away from her brother.
"What is it?" Lena couldn''t keep her eyes away from the other side of the room as she impatiently waited to hear what the doctor wanted to tell her.
"First I want to see what a good sign it is that your brother has woken up. The concussion doesn''t appear on the surface to be as bad as expected. We won''t know for certain until we do some tests to what level his brain or skull has been impacted. However¡" The doctor''s voice trailed off as he nced back over to the hospital bed. Lena turned a harsh gaze in the direction when he didn''t finish the sentence.
"What?" She asked only to be find herself and her uncle being shuffled outside of the hospital room, a nurse took their ce to give Leo a quick check over and offer him a ss of water. Lena couldn''t see how her brother reacted as doctor closed the door the moment the nurse began tending to Leo.
"It''s not all that umon for someplications to ur from concussions. Depending on what part of the head is impacted, theseplications can show up in different ways." Lena felt her frustration grow as the doctor continued his seemingly meaningless ramble. The Princess didn''t miss the way Julian listened with a slightly averted gaze. He must''ve already know what the doctor was going to say.
"Cut to the chase. I''m not a child you need to mince your words with. If there''s something wrong, tell me what it is so we can move onto how to handle it." The doctor paused, seeming taken aback by Lena''s demand. The older man cleared his throat while adjusting his sses.
"As of right now, your brother is blind."
Chapter 345 Not You
"So what are you wanting to ask me now?" Emily hardly waited for them to be out of the room before popping the question to Jovani whose exasperation remained at a high level.
"You''ve been asking me a lot more favors than normal recently." The Vedova Nera boss didn''t respond as he lead her further away from the bedroom''s door as he fumbled to get his phone out.
"I keep asking for so many favors because there''s a lot going on right now. This one is a little bigger than some of the others but at a more personal level. Please tell me that you still have some of your stash leftover? I''m dying for a fix right now and alcohol is off the table." Emily didn''t miss the desperation thatced the other''s voice as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"You''re asking me of all people for something to help sort you out? Damn, you must be desperate since you already know my policy about that type of thing." Emily worked for the stash she got. Sharing wasn''t caring in her world either, not even when it came to family. If anyone wanted something, they had to work for it the same way that she did.
"Come now. Don''t be such a hard case about it. We both know that I''ve done more than enough for you recently that you could afford to share." Jovani pushed back. He lost track long ago how many favors he''d done for so surely she could afford to this one for him just this once?
"No, no. You know that it doesn''t work that way. I want something extra. You''ve been asking a lot of favors from me recently to. In fact, you''ve already asked a handful today and I don''t think that will be the end of them. What do you have that you''re willing to give me if I let you have something." Emily crossed her arms over her chest in a rather defiant manner. Were she a man, Jovani would''ve already begun to cuss her out for that kind of attitude long ago.
"If you''re going to be like that, why not just tell me what you want. We''ve done this came more than enough times I know you''ll reject anything that I try to offer you. You have horribly high and unfair prices that should be illegal." Emily let out a rather maniacal chuckle in response to her cousin''s words.
"I think that''s a little too harshing from you. The price I put forward is in fair consideration of what is being requested from you. I know you well enough to know that you''re going to want something strong. Stronges with a higher price." She was right, Jovani knew that much from all the years he''d been involved with drugs. When it came to family, there should''ve at least been some kind of discount deal that he could strike up with her.
"Just, just give it to me now and I''ll pay you back with whatever it is you wantter. I swear to god everyone here and on the other side is going to drive me crazy before I even have a chance to get old." Jovani smacked his head into the wall startling one of the maids who had been tasked with cleaning the area. She jumped and almost knocked over one of the expensive vases. Jovani shot her a warning re that quickly softened the moment he realized that the girl happened to be one of the younger ones.
"Today isn''t a good day so why don''t you leave for now and you cane backter or have someone else take over your shift. You won''t be in trouble for it." Perhaps breathing would be easier if there were less people around.
"Fine. I''ll agree to that but because you''re asking me before you''ve even paid, you know that the price is going to be higherter." Jovani shot a scowl in her direction. Evil woman. How in the world could the two of them be rted when he always was the nicer one out of the two of them.
Jovani huffed and scuffed his feet on the floor, shifting the vase slightly away from the edge to prevent it from potentially falling over after the maid had left. Didn''t anyone know better than to put the new workers around the expensive items? Breaking one thing the house would take more than two lifetimes for the workers to pay it back even with the generous amount of money that Jovani paid them. Not to mention most were invaluable family heirlooms.
Rather than continuing his mental rant, Jovani decided to turn his attention to his phone. There was no telling how long it would take for Emily toe back. Her stash wasn''t that hard to find but she could easily get distracted on her way there. Jovani wouldn''t put it past her either to purposely take longer than necessary toe back in order to make his life that much harder.
Jovani scrolled through his phone to check his voicemail. He didn''t know the number but whoever called left a message. Before he could click to listen however, another phone call came through with from a contact less number.
"I don''t know who is calling but whatever you''re bothering me for better be good. I don''t have much patience to deal with any more problems today." Jovani''s brusque response earned him a chuckle from the caller. A rather familiar sounding chuckle that only aided in further souring his made and making his headache soar to an unimagineable level of pain.
"How nice to be talking with you as well. I honestly didn''t expect that you would answer my call but now that we are here, hopefully have a nice conversation." No. Absolutely not. Jovani couldn''t handle this on a good day but today when he''d not had anything in his system to help his mood? Impossible.
"Not you. You''re thest person that I want to be talking with right now."
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 346 Youre A Pain
Jovani wanted to end the call the moment he realized who the person was. Except, they wouldn''t let him. Or rather, they said enough to keep his attention just as his finger hovered over the button to end the call.
"Now, don''t be so tetchy. I know that we don''t exactly have the best past between us but I did call for a specific reason. A few things that I think you will be interested in. The princess''s brother woke up, I''m sure you''d like to know that."
Richard made sure to draw the other in carefully. Jovani wouldn''t willingly talk to him unless he would benefit from the conversation. Richard bit down on the fork to catch the rest of the mashed potatoes before they could fall back down on the tray as he waited to see if the other would take the bait. The nurse gave him some useful information. All of which he wouldn''t be so quickly to divulge to the Vedova Nera boss. At least not without getting something out of it in return.
"While that is good news I''ll be certain to tell Samuel about, I highly doubt that is the only reason you called me." Richard could hear the other''s bitter tone through the other end of the phone. One would think Jovani would''ve given up on his grudge after so many years. Everything should''ve been cleared up between the two of them by now.
"For someone who hasn''t talked to me all that much, you certainly know me quite well already. There are a few other things that I did want to bring to your attention while we''re talking. Some from Lena, a few from my own observations. Primarily I would love to know what''s going on between her and your kid cousin. I seemed to have missed something important in a few hours away. Second, I''m wondering if you''re keeping a certain someone on your side of the world safe? One that I would very much like to reconnect with." By the heavy breath that followed his words, Richard knew the other wouldn''t be so quick to bite onto that mouthful.
"I''m not around anyone else important right now so you can see whatever it is you want to without concern. I also don''t intend to give away whatever you tell me either. Call it selfish curiosity born out of self-interest. One that might end up benefiting you as well." As long as Lena didn''t suddenlye back, Richard would keep the conversation going as long as he could. Just a little bit of time would be all it would take for him to get ahold of what he was really after.
Jovani however didn''t intend to y ball that easily with the other man. He didn''t have the time or patience nor did he think the other deserved anything from him. Emily needed to hurry up before he lost himself any further than he already had.
"Whatever is going on on my side of the world isn''t anything that concerns you. Even if I did know something or have someone, I wouldn''t tell you. Not now or ever. If you want to know what''s going on between the two, I would suggest you ask Lena because your guess is as good as mine beyond the fact that there was a gun involved somewhere. I''m sure you''re smart enough to put the pieces together yourself." Jovani shot Emily a quick text as he made his way towards his office. He didn''t want Samuel or anyone else to overhear his conversation. It wasn''t exactly his ce to tell anyone else their business. Family friend or not, Richard could figure out what he wanted to know on his own. Nosy man could be good at doing that when he wanted to be. Right now would be the perfect time for him to put all of those skills under his belt to good use rather than bothering the Vedova Nera boss.
Jovani muted the phone as he dismissed anyone else who he passed on his way to his office. The less people in the house tonight, the better it would be for him. Having guests over made it too crowded as it was. One day without cleaning wouldn''t cause the whole ce to burn down. Even if it did, that was exactly what the insurance for the ce was for.
"Ah. You see though, I do need this information from you for a number of reasons. You should know that I have quite a few reliable sources that work with me. Some who wouldn''t mind finding out the information in ways I don''t think you would like and that would push too many other people into your business." Jovani gritted his teeth. Damn Richard for going straight for the one thing that he wouldn''t want to have to deal with. Could a bullet not be put through at least that man''s head so he longer had to deal with him? Just one little bullet and the problem would be taken care of for the forever future.
"You know, you''re a real pain I honestly don''t have the time or patience to deal with right now." Jovani left the door to his office own as he entered it and closed the blinds.
"Whatever you''re thinking or wanting to know, the information won''te from. ckmail doesn''t work anymore and you should know that." Jovani would call Richard''s bluff any day he got the chance. The Vedova Nera boss didn''t believe for one second the other could what he said in the first ce.
"Suit yourself then. You should be aware though that if I find out on my own, I''ll be more likely to spread they information around than if you told me yourself." Jovani paused for a second to think this threat over.
Did Richard think he had the upper hand? For what reason would that be?
To push so hard meant he must''ve been hiding a, trump card but what kind would that be?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 347 This Isnt Your Space
Jovani listened as the other continued to speak. Taking a seat at the desk, he picked up one of his favorite knives and examined it closely.
"Richard, this isn''t your space to be messing around in. I''m not quite sure what you want to aplish but what you''re doing won''t work." A low, unamused chuckle met Jovani''s word.
Richard shouldn''t have found it so surprising that the Vedova Nera boss still refused to take him serious. Why should he? Jovani didn''t know how much changed since thest time they talked.
Bitter determination could bring out the best in people at times. At least those that it didn''t consume.
"Jovi." Richard reverted to calling the other a pet nickname the Vedova Nera hadn''t heard in years.
"You''re free to believe what you want. You should know though that ying with fire can be very dangerous at times. A lot has changed since thest time the two of us met. What you think you still know likely isn''t what it used to be anymore." Richard paused so that the other could take in his words. He leaned back in the chair and observed everyone who came and left the cafeteria. He couldn''t see anyone interesting enough to catch his attention.
"If your answer is going to remain the same, I won''t bother you again. Keep in mind however that whatever takes ce, the end result will be based on your decision and you won''t have anyone to me but yourself." Richard waited until it sounded as though Jovani was going to reply before he ended the call.
The other mafioso would have to work for it now if he wanted Richard to pause his ns. He''d been more than generous with Jovani despite not owing the other. The kindness gas run out now and all that remained was Richard''s burning desire to get to the bottom of the whole situation.
"Excuse me dear nurse, could you tell me if Ms. Lena Scarlet is still with her family?" Richard grabbed the first nurse he spotted after picking up his lunch tray.
"I''m a family friend and would very much like to have a word with her and know what''s going on with her family." Richard could tell right away the warm smile he offered the nurse flustered her. Her cheeks turned beet red and she fumbled for a second to give him a proper reply.
"I''m sorry, you would have to ask at the main counter to get a response to that question. That floor is assigned to someone else." Right, hospitals worked that.
"Thank you for time dear, I''ll go seek out the front desk then." He offered her another warm smile before departing with his food tray in what he believed to be the right direction.
How long would it take before he''d hear from Jovani again? Out of generosity, Richard would give it three days before his phone would start ringing again.
Jovani would''ve hurled the phone across the room in his current piss poor mood if the device wasn''t so important. What was taking Emily so damn long toe back? Jovani''s body felt like he was about to burst into mes at any moment. His head hit the desk with a resounding thud. The vibrations unsettled the messy stacks of papers atop the desk shifting them to fill the remaining few uncovered spaces.
Jovani sorely hoped the cool surface would help him to think better as he waited for Emily. In no world would he be so quick to give into whatever Richard wanted from him. The Vedova Nera would sooner risk all his dirty secrets than give into the other. Jovi. Jovani''s face twisted into a scowl as the nickname went through his head. How dare Richard think he held any right to use that name.
"I didn''t think I''d been gone for that long but it seems like you deteriorated more than I expected you would." Emily hesitated in the door way of the office upon noticing the other''s expression. It didn''t feel like the right time to being back and engaging the other.
"You took far too long toe back and you know it. I don''t care how much you brought, hand it over already before my head decides to split open." Jovani didn''t even attempt to raise his head as he patted the space on the desk he expected her to put the bounty down on. Five more minutes and he would''ve given in to indulging in the liquor cab even if Eve followed through on her threat to kick him out of the bedroom.
"Do you want to tell me why you look as though someone murdered your favorite cat." Emily cautiously approached the desk and ced the bag containing the white powder in the messy surface Jovani indicated for her to. Ugh how could the man deal with working in so much clutter."
"You''re not the only headache that I''m having to deal with today. Someone else has decided this would be a fabulous time to make my life harder than necessary. I''m sure you remember Richard." A deep down etched its way across Emily''s face as her features dropped at the mention of the other''s name.
"Richard? Weren''t we supposed to be done dealing with him a long time ago? Why in the world is he suddenly deciding to reach out to now?" Jovani made no motion to reply, too fixed on the life giving white powder in front of his face. A few minutes would be all it would take before he''d begin to feel like a million bucks again.
Jovani coughed and cleared his throat as he lifted his head. He shook his head back and forth a few times to get rid of the excess powder in his nose as he sealed the bag back up.
"He''se back to fish around for information due to unexpected rumors floating around that I didn''t expect would be getting out so quickly." Far too quickly than they should''ve given which begged the question- who was the one responsible for letting the information get out?
Chapter 348 Someone Better Than You
Lena nced back over at her brother as she half-listened to what the doctor had to say. She didn''t care much after hearing that Leo couldn''t see. Whether he could get his sight back or not sounded as though it were all based on spection. Once again, doctors didn''t exactly know what they were talking about.
"There are a number of things that we can do to help, it would just make it easier of the family could let us know how they would like to proceed." The Princess''s attention turned back to the doctor at these words.
"Proceed? It isn''t it your job to tell us what the best options would be moving forward? You''re the one who got a professional degree in this field to help people out. Why don''t you start putting it to good use by telling us what the best option would be?" Lena''s harsh tone cut down anything that Julian wanted to say. Her uncle wouldn''t have chosen such a harsh approach but their end goal was the same so why scold her for the way she went about getting there?
The doctor shifted from one foot to the next, visibly ufortable as he cleared his throat and nced around at the various people who likely overheard the harsh exchange. Did he care more about his reputation than putting his heart into truly helping people out? Lena would have no problem ensuring he got reced if such became the case.
"As I mentioned before, in order to tell what the best n would be moving forward, we would have to do some scans to determine where the best damage is located. Today, it would best to let your brother rest before we make any decision and assess how he is doing in the morning." The doctor''s gaze shifted down the hall. He secretly hoped that someone else mighte down the hall who could save him from the current ufortable situation he created for himself. The hospital never should''ve agreed to help out the mafia family. These type of were always far tooplicated to deal with in a typical manner.
"Are there any risks associated with taking the time to wait and see how he is doing in the morning? Permanent damage orplications that could ur?" The princess pressed as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared the man in the white coat down. Half-assed answers weren''t eptable when it came to her family.
"Generally speaking, no. In fact for some patients, it can be better to wait and see rather than putting them through the stress of additional tests and what not. Rest is one of the best cures for the body after all. If you don''t want to take my word for it, there''s another professional here I can introduce you to who might be a better fit to answer the questions you have." The doctor turned to leave but didn''t get very far before Lena grabbed ahold of his sleeve and jerked him back in their direction rather roughly.
"If there is someone who would be a better fit to answer these questions than you, I don''t want you to give us that person to talk to, I want whoever is above them. Aren''t there better doctors in this hospital than the ones we have currently been dealing with? Surely the director wouldn''t saddle us with someone who isn''tpetent enough to do their job." The malice hidden behind the level tone make the doctor gulp audible as his eyes shoot over to Julian who made no move to help him out.
He only nodded his head for the doctor to turn his attention back to Lena. Maybe it would be better at this point to end his own life after today and get it over with.
"The director takes his job with patient quite seriously. Doctors aren''t assigned by him but based on the concern level of each case." The doctor''s tongue swiped across his bottom as sweat began to form on his forehead. He needed to think about his next words very carefully.
"I can see however Ms. Scarlet where the need to bring in more experts can be warranted in this situation with this unexpected change of events. If you would grant me a few minutes, I''ll go and call over the best experts we have and they''ll do their up most to assist." It wasn''t enough but Lena would ept it for now. She jerked her chin to one side telling the other to get on it. She didn''t a minute more wasted if she could potentially talk to someone morepetent.
Lena red at the doctor''s back as he rushed down the hall, white gown flowing behind him as though something evil were chasing after him.
Lena would make sure that he was thoroughly investigated. In the Princess''s eyes, he hardly seemed fit to hold the title of doctor. One more issue to bring up to the director when she saw him the next morning.
Hmm. Maybe it was time for a change of leadership in this hospital. Lena may not have known much about the medical world but even to her unprofessional eyes, it was painfully evident changes needed to be made.
"It''s not something that requires the doctor to be put into such a state." Julian wanted to put his hand on Lena''s shoulder but she had already moved out of the way and back towards the hospital room.
"Uncle, you should know that fear is one of the world''s best motivators. Whether it is necessary or not remains to be seen but it can never hurt." Julian clicked his tongue in response to the other''s words. Goodness how much that girl had gone and taken after her father. It should have been her brother but it appeared the universe had two different sets of ns for them.
Julian watched the princess before turning to look in the direction of Zane''s hospital room. It couldn''t hurt to give the siblings a little bit of time alone together.
"Julian, I hope I haven''t caught you at a bad time. I vaguely heard about what was going on and came over to see for myself." Richard casually prowled down the hall way, gaze focused on Julian as he saluted with his hand.
"You didn''t catch me at a bad time but it would probably be better if you came back here at ater point. We''ll have more information about what''s going on at ater." Julian shook hands with the other who ended up pulling him into a warm hug. It had been some time since he''d gotten to speak alone to the gentle younger brother.
"Do you think instead then you''d like to help me out with something while waiting?" Richard whispered the question in the other''s ear as he kept his eyes focused past the other''s shoulder.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 349 Potential Problems
Julian listed without taking his eyes of Zane. A tiny part of him hoped that somehow his brother would magically wake up now that Leo had. A very unlikely event consider Zane''s condition but it never hurt one to hope. The mafioso tapped his fingers on the edge of the seat between his legs as he considered what the other told him.
"What exactly are you intending to aplish by exin all of this to me? I highly doubt you''re only looking for a listening ear." Richard remained leaning against the door frame but made a noise of approval at the other''s guess. Romeo''s presence made him feel as though it would''ve been wrong to step past the room''s threshold to enter the space within. The bodyguard looked more than a little green around the gills but Richard knew better than to underestimate the men that worked for Zane.
Everyone single one of them always turned out to be more than they appeared even on their worst days.
"You''re quite perceptive. Different from the person I used to know so many ears ago. You''re right to think that I''m not just looking for a open ear to ry this information to. I''m looking for someone who might be able to help me figure out what to do or how crazy I sound regarding my theory." The bed creaked as Romeo shifted his head. He didn''t move to stand up but shifted as best he could to his full height in the bed.
"I appreciate the concern that you''re trying to bring forward to my boss but right now is not a good time to consider this on top of everything else. We are dealing with far too many other problems to adequately be able to take on another." Romeo''s voice still boomed in throughout the room despite the waver in it. Richard didn''t recall the other being a easy to take out man. Whatever took ce, it must''ve been rather serious to put the big man out ofmission. Not though enough though to force him to keep his mouth shut.
"I would have to agree with Julian on this one. We are three men down that are still alive. More than have been killed and only one part of our family is currently awake. We are still trying to put all the pieces back together and thest thing I want to deal with on top of that is making an enemy out of a man who seems like he could be a much better ally." Julian would bring it up to Lena despite his feelings but didn''t think it mattered if Richard were to know his intentions. He would hopefully have enoughmon sense to not continue to push matters further than he already tried.
"I respect the decision you''re wanting to make. I must put out however that my intention is not to make him your enemy, but rather to take of a potential problem before it could ur." Richard shifted out of the way to allow the nurse to enter the room past him. It was that time of the day when they would being back and forth for some time to ensure that everything was still stable with Zane.
"I know that none of you are as familiar with Marcus as I am. You don''t know that much about the Vedova Nera family and the history behind them to understand what the other is potentially capable of." Richard stepped into one of the corners while ensuring he kept a good distance from Romeo. He didn''t want to do anything that might trigger the unwell man by being as pushy as he was.
"Marcus is not someone who hase on our radar before this year. We do know a lot of the history behind the Vedova Nera family but my brother never saw it as anything that we needed to worry about or intervene in. What makes you think differently from that opinion." Richard''s eyes followed the nurse as he continued to tend to the two men in the room. She didn''t seem like the kind of person that they would''ve set up to be a spy. Women were good at what they did but Richard could sniff out something foul from over a mile away.
"Richard likely knows something for the same reason I do. He''s likely seen who Jovani has been having hang around him." Lena''s unexpected presence caused even the nurse to jump slightly as the Princess pushed her way into the room.
Lena aura wasn''t nearly as hostile as it had been before but aspects of her previous sour mood lingered.
"I''m not wrong in what I am saying, am I? Richard, you need to get better a being straight to the point regarding such matters instead of hinting at them." Julian''s mouth shifted as though he wanted to ask a question but the princess shut her uncle down before he got the chance.
"Outside of here isn''t the only one that has been dealing with issues. The first day after everything took ce, I saw something as well. Or thought I did at least but Jovani hasn''t been willing to confirm or deny it for me." The Vedova Nera boss did a good job of avoiding anything that he didn''t want t have to deal with. Jovani held the great ability of being either a wet sponge that sopped up problems and trouble or a slick surface that repelled anything he didn''t want toe near him.
Much to the Princess''s chagrin, she hadn''t been able to find a way to put him somewhere in the middle that made him easier to deal with.
Jovani sneezed violently causing the pill bag to fly out of his hand as he shook his head. Good job the bag had been closed. Such preciousmodities couldn''t be wasted at such a point in time.
"Are you sure that you should be going about taking that much? I don''t think it can be that healthy if even I can''t handle it." Emily stood with her arms crossed and frown on her face that only increased when the Vedova Nera boss brushed her off.
"You don''t need to worry about how much I''m taking. I''ve done more than this before. It''s hardly enough to kill or even mess up my line of thought." If anything, thinking would be far easier with the decrease in pain. With potential problems lingering around every corner, he couldn''t afford to be out of his clear mindset moving forward.
"Why don''t you then at least take a minute to exin to me what is going? I thought that we agreed afterst time we wouldn''t be keeping any secrets." Jovani only rolled his eyes as GE ced the bag in one of his desk draws. That would be staying there forter.
"We did but that was before all of this started happening. With Sammy here, it isn''t as easy to discuss important matters." Emily shot her cousin an ''are you serious look?''. First drugs, now things such as this. Even for her, it was starting to be a little too much.
The girl who tended to make everything harder struggled to handle her peevish cousin.
"Don''t give me that look. You''re part of the problem right now that I''m struggling to deal with. We can talk about this allter. Right now it''s only important that you know he''s looking around for information." Jovani leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. A content sigh escaped as he felt the drug begin to take effect. Oh how those few hours prior to now felt like hell.
"Why are you telling me though? Do you expect that there is something I can do to help?"she could understand him wanting to keep things from Sam, the kid hadn''t been around long enough to understand everything. Emily locked the office door when she heard footsteps from the other side.
"I''m telling you because I trust that you can keep a secret and know not to make matters worse. Plus, there is still a lot that I need you for." Jovani spoke without opening his eyes for he knew the moment he did, the delightful floating sensation would go away. Shit, did the injury even hurt anymore? It certainly didn''t feel like it at the current moment in time. Emily bit her bottom lip to stop the growl that wanted to escape. Vague answers weren''t making the matter anymore clear to her.
"Why don''t you at least tell me what you''re doing so I know to handle it." Her hands mmed hard on the desk but Jovani simply twirled the chair to face away from her.
p¨¤§ád¨¢-¨¾?¦Í¨º¦É.§ã¨®§® "You''ll find out who our guest is soon enough. Right now, you should be spending more time figuring out how you want to spend the five minutes of fighting that I''m giving." Jovani only had to wave his hand for Emily to understand their conversation was over.
Fine, she would find out the answers without him.
Chapter 350 Dice
Samuel paused as he looked down both sides of the hall. This wasn''t as easy as knocking on every door until he found the right one. Samuel didn''t know how enough people at the estate to do that, and the wrong one might tell Jovani what he was up to. Everyone was admirably loyal to the Vedova Nera boss from what Samuel saw thus far.
The younger cousin itched for something to do. Why not find out more about the mercenaries Jovani invited in? Emily would spar against them soon enough anyway. Samuel was better off getting acquainted with them before him being in charge of said match. Jovani would have to ept that Samuel wanted to do this on his terms.
"I know what everyone wants, and I already told y''all that Jovani would take care of it. Be patient; it isn''t like this is the first time going a little while without anything to eat." A loud crashing from the other side of the hall made Samuel pause. All the doors were closed, but the sound rang out loudly down the hall. That certainly sounded like the right kind of sound.
"It''ll happen. He''s not going to keep us here for long anyways. Alonso''s boss man only wants the information that we have. After that and a little fun, we''ll be on our way somewhere else."
Thick silence overtook the room the moment that the door opened. Cain''s eyes narrowed as his hand cupped the gun on his holster.
"You guys sure don''t take well to others crashing your space. I guess it''s only eptable when you''re the ones crashing, huh?" The mercenary''s red lit up the moment he saw who was standing in the doorway. Damn unexpected this was.
"Well, well well now, I certainly wasn''t expecting this little one toe along and crash our space. What a pleasant surprise, "Cain offered the younger Vedova Nera cousin a wide, toothy grin as his arms opened wide. Everyone else slowly began to rx as they watched how warmly their boss responded to the unexpected intruder.
"To what pleasure do I owe this? Did Jovani send you a message. Maybe to let us know food is on the way." Indeed the overly green, unknown mafioso wouldn''t have made this kind of move on his own.
"Jovani didn''t send me. I didn''t expect he would know I''d choose toe here by myself. I didn''te with any messages either." Samuel closed the door with the back of his heel before strolling toward the middle of the room. It wasn''t easy to keep in mind everything that Jovani had taught. Right now, though, was the best time to put it into practice without anyone else being around.
Cain didn''t try to hide the noise of delight that escaped his mouth. He wrapped one arm around the other''s shoulders and pulled him in close.
"I''m highly thrilled to find out how much you''re defying my initial expectations of you. Tell me, what are you hoping to aplish bying here? A hello, how are you won''t do now that you''re here? "Samuel didn''t respond behind a ghost of a smirk on his face. Could it be that easy to make it work?
"I didn''te here with just that in mind. You have a match tomorrow, and I''ll be the one in charge of what. I wanted to find out more about you before that and potentially have some fun." Samuel avoided turning his head to face the other upon smelling the pungent odor of liquor on Cain''s breath.
"Fun? What kind do you have in mind? I can''t say I enjoy childish games, so I hope you''vee up with something surprising." A firm elbow to the side made the mercenary release Samuel who moved toward the middle of the room.
"I don''t know what you consider childish games. I have a few ideas in mind I don''t think you''d find dull. In exchange, you''ll answer some of the questions I have for you if I win." The answer came in the form of a freshly opened beer bottle being thrust into Samuel''s face.
"If you want to talk about games and having fun, I insist you drink with us. Considering your position, I don''t think you should find that a request worthy of rejection." Samuel''s eyes shifted from the other''s cocky grin to the brown ss bottle. He snatched the bottle before the other could take it back. Don''t breathe and the smell won''t be bad. Samuel tipped his head back and downed the bottle in one go.
"What do you think?" Samuel handed the bottle back over and forced back the grimace as the bitter taste lingered in his mouth and throat. The beer was obviously much lower quality than anything he''d tried at the club a few weeks back. Did Mercenaries have no taste or money?
"Keep going. You''re turning out to be a bucket of surprises." Cain let out a deepugh as he reached behind himself to put the bottle back on the table before grabbing another.
"You said you had some ideas of fun? Anything in the realm that would be fitting of your status?" Whether the bottle was meant for him or not, Samuel took the beer from Cain anyways.
"I have a few ideas in mind if you don''t mind ying with dice. Only a few games, as it likely won''t take Jovani long to realize where I vanished."
If Samuel knew the current state that Jovani was in, he''d understand that it would take much longer for the Vedova Nera boss to tag his younger cousin missing than the other anticipated.
Who knew that tiles could feel so good? Jovani couldn''t remember how he slipped out of the chair or how long he''d been lying on the cool tiled floor. He didn''t care as long as the feeling remained as intensely pleasant as it currently did. His eyes practically rolled back into his head as he pressed back against the cold marble. God, it felt better than anything that could''ve been described.
Like a cat overindulging in catnip, Jovani indulged in all the sensations that the drug made him. Pure cocaine was absolutely superior to anything that could''ve been cut or mixed. He''d have taken the whole bag if he could''ve gotten away with it but overdosing wasn''t currently an option. He still needed at least part of his mind working should anything happen.
Speaking of something happening. A harsh knock sounded on the office door. Jovani slurred out a group of words that were supposed to indicate the person could enter but instead came outpletely unintelligible.
"Jovani, sorry to bother you. I just wanted toe back and address the matter with.." Alonso stalled in the doorway. The sight of Jovani half-dressed on the floor in evident euphoria caught the right-hand man off-guard as his jaw wentpletely ck.
"Carry on." Jovani waved a limp hand as he spoke in an overly rxed tone.
"Best time to tell me whatever is on your mind before this stuff wears off and I have to return to the real world." Alonso roughly shut the office door before anyone walking by saw the boss''s current state. Jovani might not care at the current moment, too drugged out of his head to realize, butter, he surely would.
"Boss, Jovani. I don''t think this is the right ce to do this. Shouldn''t you have decided to return to your room beforehand?" Alonso''s face twitched as he couldn''t decide what expression to settle on as he stared down at his ssy-eyed boss.
"Why wait? I was in so much pain already that I couldn''t stand taking the time to get back to my room. Keep the office locked, and it''ll wear off in just a little bit." Jovani shifted his stomach and moved as though to stand up but gave up after a few seconds deciding to remain on the floor.
"What did you want to talk with me about? You better make it quick if you want me to remember our conversationter." Alonso cleared his throat and tried rather unsessfully to organize his thoughts.
"I wanted to talk with you regarding the matter of Cain. While I''m still not in agreement with what you chose to do, I can understand where I may have overstepped my position in what I said and wanted to apologize." Jovani didn''t wait for the other to finish before he startedughing.
"That isn''t anything to apologize for. I expected you would react that way. Part of the whole reason that I brought them here. Not the whole one, though. I need their help with something else. You, too, actually.
Regarding Marcus and getting a few people around. I''m sure you won''t mind participating in that and being of service." Alonso froze, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.
What exactly had Jovani just said?
Chapter 351 Youre An Absolute Idiot
Alonso swallowed thickly as he let the words sink in, considering how he could''ve misheard what the other had just said. His lips moved silently as he worked to form the words that he wanted to say.
"Jovani. I must''ve misheard what you just said right now. It sounded as though Marcus''s name slipped out, and I didn''t think we had anything to do with him anymore." Alonso felt his skin be ice cold. The emotion that overtook him wasn''t fear but rather something close to cold, hot anger. Hadn''t they already cleared their hands of this matter? Marcus wasn''t something they were supposed to get involved with again! Jovani had said it himself after what the other had done.
"You didn''t hear me wrong. I did say Marcus''s name and you''ll hear ite out more a few times moving forward. You and I haven''t had a chance to catch up with everything. I decided to take a few matters into my own hands, and the results have turned into something interesting. One of the reasons I had you go off to go and fetch Cain. I knew how you would react." Jovani raised his voice so the right-hand ma could hear him around, his face pressed against the tiles.
"Two for two, I have been doing a few things that I knew you would hardly approve of. Not that I care, seeing as I''m the boss, and this is my family that I''m dealing with." Alonso balled his fist up as he listened to the Vedova Nera boss''s drugged rambling.
"What I''m doing isn''t anything bad. At least, that''s not my intention with this. I''m good at knowing when we need additional yers to join the team, and this is one of those times." Jovani waited for the next wave of euphoria to pass before forcing himself to a half-raised position to see the face of his right-hand man. Jovani wasn''t in the least bit surprised by the expression Alonso fixed him with.
"You truly thought that it would be a good idea to bring him here with everyone else? Including Samuel being here? Have you truly gone out of your mind that much?" Alonso couldn''t believe what wasing from Jovani''s mouth. The man knew his cousin better than anyone and thought he''de to the correct conclusion.
"That saga is done and over with. Sammy isn''t in danger with the other being here and doesn''t care to touch our younger cousin. If he does decide that he wants to kill someone, it would be. Fair and square weren''t enough to get that psycho to back off, though. He''d find a way to take what he wanted regardless of what needed to be done. I won fair and square, after all."
"Besides, I never said that he was here. Don''t think me enough of a fool to do something like that. I had somewhere very special put together for him. I don''t think he likes it very much, but it works for now." Jovani pointed his head toward his desk in a way that Alonso couldn''t quite understand, with the other being in such an odd state.
"There are so many people here you should have considered discussing this before you decided to do anything. Drugs aren''t the right answer at this moment in time. It would be best if you worked on getting yourself sober so we can deal with this. Really, look at you! You''ve been moving around so much that the injury on your shoulder is starting to reopen itself." A flurry of swear words punctuated the end of the sentence as Alonso took note of the speckles of blood beginning to cover the otherwise spotless marble as Jovani moved around.
"Let it be. I''m not doing so. It isn''t anything that you need to fuss about. It''ll stop a little bit, and I will be perfectly fine." Jovani made a noise of frustration. The euphoria was starting to lose its magic, and the inability to move was beginning to get on the Vedova Nera boss''s nerves. Damn it. Even after not taking them for so long, they didn''tst anywhere as long as he''d hoped. That or the current conflict was working against him to dull the pleasure he desired to drown himself.
"There are times that I think you''re just crazy insane, and there are times that I believe you''re an absolute idiot. This situation right here falls into the second category. I''m sure you can see why without me having to tell you." Alonso leaned over to help the other up, only to have his hand smacked away.
"You''ve hardly heard why I''m doing this, and you''re making assumptions quickly. For once, I''m doing this for an excellent reason; otherwise, I wouldn''t don''t have anything to do with my older cousin, considering the problems that he caused in the past. Not to mention it''s a risk with Richard being around. I didn''t know, though, that he would suddenly be showing up. I wouldn''t have even epted this arrangement between Sammy and Lena if I knew how tight Zane was with that Bastard." Jovani shook his head, carding his hand through his hair as he looked around the office. Where did his clothes go exactly? They should''ve been right there next to him since he''d not traveled that far from the chair at his desk. Did they somehow managed to grow a pair of legs and scuttle over to the other side? Ugh. How troublesome that would be if it turned out to be the case. Jovani took a moment to weigh out of the hassle of picking his clothes up before flopping back onto the cold tile. Indulging in the current pleasure for a while longer was the right choice. Work could wait untilter if Alonso were upset at him.
"Rather than fussing about me and this whole situation, I needed you to go and check on Samuel. See if he managed to get in touch with that little devil princess. I don''t want my younger cousin to spend his entire time here sulking because of her." Once Samuel had seen a few more things and been around the Vedova Nera estate for longer, Jovani wouldn''t care what state his younger cousin saw him in. Right now, though, the kid wouldn''t likely understand the rtionship Jovani had with them.
"If you''re worried about your cousin finding out or getting into trouble, you should''ve better nned all of this before you asked me to bring him back with me. I would''ve considered having Julian take him instead. Back at their estate, things would have been safer than this." Jovani tsked at the other and made a noise of disagreement.
"I wouldn''t be too sure of that If I were you. Do some digging around, and you''re likely to find that being there isn''t any safer than me keeping him here. This whole hospital fiasco isn''t the only issue that they''d been dealing with." It paid to have people on both sides consistently know about every little thing. Lena or anyone else on her side of the family didn''t need to know about that, though. They could discuss it at ater point in time once he managed to sort out his current contentious rtionship with the Princess.
The Princess currently had bigger fish to fry if the doctors didn''t do a good job with Leo. First, however, she needed to fully exin the situation she experienced to those in the room with her.
"I didn''t get injured, so I didn''t care to say anything at the time. However, Jovani, from the little I put together, is ying a dangerous game I''m not sure he even realizes." Lena kept her gaze fixed on her father as she continued.
"I wouldn''t be surprised if it turned out that he wasn''t always the person here either. I don''t know, however, if he''s aware of certain matters." Richard took the initiative to put a hand on Lena''s shoulder and petition her to exin further.
"I havee to a simr conclusion, but depending on what you saw or know, that might change how I handle this situation. Jovani, from the little we''ve talked, doesn''t seem interested in being open about the situation. At least not at the current moment." What a not surprise on that matter. Lena didn''t have to think twice to know why that would be.
"Jovani wouldn''t say anything due to the slew of issues that have taken ce so closely together. Whether they are connected or not remains to be seen. It would exin why he wouldn''t want to make a fuss if they weren''t. Richard, if you know whom I am talking about, you might be better suited to borate on this situation''s issues moving forward." Richard''s lips drew into a thin line.
Was he the right person to take on exining the current situation? How many years had it been since thest time he''d talked with the other?
Chapter 352 They Arent The Same
Richard shook his head, quickly rejecting Lena''s unspoken suggestion.
"Marcus and Jovani are too different. I don''t know what you dealt with, Lena, but I don''t think you could''ve mistaken one for the other." Richard couldn''t readily recall Jovani''s face before the past week. Marcus''s, though... that was one he wouldn''t be able to forget. No matter how much time passed, he could easily recall the other Vedova Nera cousin''s face. For once, Richardmented being at the hospital. Hard conversations were better had over drinks. Hard Liquor that would void any emotions.
"How certain of that can you be? The person I saw looked as near a copy of Jovani." Except for his eyes. Unhinged and crazy were not words Lena would''ve associated when she looked at Jovani. Even if he obviously had more than a few screws missing, the Vedova Nera boss kept tight control of what he expressed to others.
"Marcus used to do a lot in the name of wanting to win, altering his appearance or taking after Jovani doesn''t fit within that mold. Any time he worked with me, he only used to repeat one thing as his goal: to get Jovani to join him again." Richard gazed down at his left hand as his fingers rubbed against the palm of his hand. The scar could be felt even if it were no longer visible.
"Jovani and he were going to take over the family together; they pledged that much until Marcus''s father fell out of grace, and the whole family structure got tipped upside down." He tried not to let the deafening silence get to him as everyone focused on him.
"I don''t know the exact history, only that one side of the family turned out crazy. I don''t recall the man''s name, but it started before Marcus''s father. They just did a better job of keeping everything quiet back then." More like they didn''t care about crazy so long as it served the right purpose. Senseless murder wasn''t so frowned upon back then especially if the end goal meant that the party responsible aided their family in rising to a higher power.
"Are you trying to tell me whomever I saw was someone else? Who then? I count for certain that it wasn''t Jovani. I contacted him before everything happened, and Alonso confirmed he was offsite from the hospital." Lena''s piercing gaze remained on Richard. She didn''t take her father''s friend for a liar, but she couldn''t take anything for granted, could she? Richard''s gaze snapped up from his hand to meet Lena''s.
"Your guess is as good as mine. If Jovani didn''t give up any information, he either doesn''t know or is attempting to keep it secret. I presume that you didn''t manage to tag him. Otherwise, we wouldn''t be having this conversation?" Lena''s gaze dropped slightly, providing more than enough of an answer for the other mafioso.
"You may not have gotten hurt, but why is this the first time anything is being mentioned? Lena, you know that is part of why I''m here to ensure nothing happens to you while my brother cannot." Julian''s thick tone wasced with displeasure bordering anger. Lena paid him no heed. After what took ce earlier, he didn''t hold any right to be getting upset with them. She hadn''t been the only one to do something without prior discussion.
"At least I didn''t almost result in a rift within our family." Julian let out a muted noise of hurt at thisment, seeming to understand the princess expected him to back off.
"Stop the bickering, would the two of you? You two might as well both be at the level of children when left alone. Wouldn''t right now be the time to put such matters aside to focus on what''s important? Lena, shouldn''t you know better than to lower yourself to the standards of those you dislike so much?" Richard didn''t miss a beat and quickly caught a punch thrown at him. How predictable for her to be so easily set off. Richard found it hard to pull his gaze away from the princess. Such intense anger. The intensity burning in her eyes was enough to melt anyone who didn''t know her well.
"I suggest you watch what you say, Richard. Even my lowest standards remain high above those you''re referencing." Lena looked ready tosh out at Richard again, but Julian learned fromst time and refrained from getting involved. Lena would surely know better than to start a fight when in her father''s hospital room. Too much damage could ur.
"Prove it to me then. If you''re serious about me being involved in all of this and want to get ces, we need to forget about what happened before and focus on what we are doing right now." Richard didn''t the other''s hand go until he felt certain Lena wouldn''t take after him again. He masked his relief before a slight huff as he turned his gaze away. If he''d not predicted that punch, he would''ve been in a great deal of pain at the current moment.
"Continue telling me what you now then before I lose my patience to keep listening. I want solid facts and information that will be useful right now. Not just spection." Lena shoved her hand into her jacket pocket, gripping the soft fabric to give herself something else to focus to avoidshing out again.
"if you want solid facts that will help you, why don''t you get your focus back on that list handed over to you? The best information you''re wanting to find would be located there." Richard shifted back towards the hospital room door put some space between him and the princess as well as the oversized body guard who had be more on edge after what happened moments ago.
"Either give it to me and I can get through it quickly or tell your person to hurry up and finish getting it sorted out. If there is something else going on, I would imagine you don''t have that much time to figure it out."
In fact. Richard predicted that time was already running out quicker than they expected. Especially if the mystery person was a nice piece being put into y on the chess board.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 353 If Necessary, Another Name For The Growing List
Did Richard take her for an idiot by asking such questions? She let out a harsh ''tsk'' sound as she turned away from the other.
"I would''ve already done that if it was possible. Hester doesn''t have all the right equipment needed to go through all the information. He''s working the best he can around everything else that has been taking ce." Lena''s response didn''t surprise Richard. He knew Hester. A clever, highly skilled professional but not the best person when it came to thinking outside of the box. Richard could think of a dozen other who could do a better job than the other man.
"Why don''t you work with someone else then? Doesn''t Jovani have someone you could borrow? That woman I''ve seen him with before, the one who is temporarily working for yourpany for example." Lena''s eyes narrowed once more as Richard rattled off several suggestions. How much did the man know or had he heard over time from her father?
"If you''ve listened to half of what I just said, you would know that Eva isn''t an option. She does her work well at thepany but I would be taking a muchrger risk to give her this information." Lena felt her hackles raise when Richard let low chuckle and shook his head.
"Princess, you need to stop and breath for a second. Think back to who you told me gave you the list. If you got it from him, why wouldn''t he have kept a copy for himself?" Lena bit her tongue to hold back the rebuke she wanted to give the other. Richard was right. She didn''t like it one bit that someone else realized this before she did. Damn it, bias had clouded her thought process too much.
"If you can see the train of thought that I''m going down, I''m sure you understand why it would be a better idea to work with them together." Julian didn''t hesitate to show his support for the other''s suggestion. He''d been wanting them to work with Jovani in the first ce, why wouldn''t he jump at an opportunity that proved why they would benefit from doing that?
"You could call her away from her work at the office, couldn''t you? There''s already a strong lead on where the missing money is, even if the initial person behind it died." Lena''s hand tapped against the phone of her pocket. She could if she wanted to right then and there call up Eva and ask her for assistance. Lena hesitated. A lingering feeling at the back of her mind told to stop and think.
"Richard, what will you get out of this if I bring her in? I may not know you that well since my father only introduced us on a few asions when I was younger. I can tell however that you''re suggestion doesn''te without some benefit or goal for out of this." The nk expression on Richard''s face following this question didn''t fool Lena for a second. Richard didn''t seem to care to even try and do a proper poker face.
"Do you want me to tell you here and now or wait and see what mighte of it? I do have my own reasons for wanting to go through with this. My allegiance and intentions I can assure you align with you regardless of what my end goal is. Nothing will be done that could cause problems for you or your family. You should at least be aware of that much with how close Zane and I are." Another fact that the princess couldn''t dispute.please visit
Richard didn''t appear to do genuine emotions well, but her father appeared to bring them out in the other mafioso. If not verbally, Lena could see each time the other stole a nce in the direction of the hospital bed. Could he be trusted?
"Fine. Keep in mind that I won''t hesitate to put you on my hit list with everyone else if it turns out you''re lying to me on any level. You may be close with my father but you have yet to prove how reliable and trustworthy to me." Richard paused with his hand on the door handle to offer her a indulgent smile and bow of his head.
"I wouldn''t have it any other way, Princess. I''m fairly certain that I have already overstayed my wee and will take my leave for now. If you need me or any other ideas I have, you know where you can find me or how to contact me. Please also send my regards to your brother as I hopefor his quick recovery." Richard''s eyes once again shed over to the other hospital bed. Other warm regards would have to wait until the upant of the other hospital bed decided toe back to thend of the living. Damn stubborn mafioso. Zane better not make them wait too much longer to rejoin them.
Lena had more questions that she wanted to ask the other, but Richard left before she had a chance to stop him. Despitementing on his overstay, it appeared as though he had his own reasons for wanting to leave as well.
"What are you going to do now? I don''t think that Richard is wrong in his suggestion. If Jovani did provide the list we have, what does it hurt to work with someone who already has ess it to?" Technically¡ nothing. Lena couldn''t think up one reason why it would be wrong to work with Eva despite a linger bad feeling at the back of her mind. Genuine intuition or fueled by paranoia? It was hard to discern between the two. The more Lena thought about it, the more it felt as though it were still her own bias getting in the way rather than a solid reason to reject.
Lena''s gaze softened as her eyesnded on her father. Zane trusted Richard, right? Couldn''t or rather shouldn''t she do the same?
After all, if Richard turned out to be anything less than he said he was, Lena could just kill him. Wasn''t that how all this worked?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 354 - 354 Potential Soluation
354 Potential Soluation
Lena tried to eat that evening but anything she put in her mouth was tasteless. She might as well have been eating nothing. She set the brown paper bag down on the roof¡¯s t surface, standing up to look over the top of the hospital. Maybe Leo could eat itter. If she couldn¡¯t enjoy it, it would be far better than letting the money to go to waste. What now? Nighttime brought far less distractions allowing for the Princess¡¯ mind to wander much further than it should¡¯ve been allowed to.
Lena leaned over the edge of the roof to peer down at the entrance below. Why had no onee? Invisible security had been tight around the hospital but surely this would be the best time for anyone to make their move. Why did they only seem keen on attacking those who were away from her family? Lena shut her eyes as the night breeze brushed across her cheeks and pushed her hair into her face. It would need to be tied back before tomorrow. All the recent trouble had made it be a hassle to properly take care of the long, ruby, red strands that had begun to get tangled due tock of attention.
Lena gather up many of the lose strands, her eyes lingered on them for a few seconds. You look really nice with your hair pulled back. Samuel¡¯sment floated through her mind. Lena gritted her teeth before roughly bundling the hair up and tucking into the hoody of her jacket. Now was no time for her mind to go wandering on to such things. Sentimental feelings had no space in this type of life.
Despite thinking this, the princess found herself having pulled out her phone to look down at his contact information. Julian, Richard both of them told her to call him. What good would it do though? This wasn¡¯t some kind of typical romantic spat they had.
Normal, healthy rtionships didn¡¯t involve one half of the couple pulling a gun on another. In the legal world, that kind problems ended with a breakup or being greeted by the inside of a jail cell. Neither of which Lena appealed to Lena. Their rtionship and world were hardly normal by any means but that didn¡¯t mean she could get away with such things without there being some form of repercussion. What should she do then?
Lena stared down at the phone until her eyes became dry from not blinking and being unable to look away. One more thing that she couldn¡¯te up with a satisfactory answer to. This really needed to stop bing a habit. With a low growl, she shifted away from Samuel¡¯s contact information and instead moved to call Hester. If she couldn¡¯te up with an answer to that, she would address the other issue at hand. A small idea had begun to form at the back of her head she hopped would work out.
¡°Hold your apologizes for now. I¡¯m not calling because you did anything wrong. I am only reaching out to ask your opinion about a matter that has been brought to my attention. Do you think that having additional help would make it easier for you to get through the list faster or have you figured out how to crack it?¡± Lena turned, folding one hand under her arm a she tucked them clothes to her body to brace against the cold as the wind began to pick up. She wouldn¡¯t make a decision yet. Not until she had the information to decide what to do about.
¡°You don¡¯t have to hesitate in what you think. I¡¯m just looking for a straight yes or no. I don¡¯t need a reason or excuse as to why it would help. Pride isn¡¯t something that we can afford to have right now.¡± Funny, she said that yet somehow she couldn¡¯t find a way to let go of her own. The Princess silently grumbled under her breath as herputer professional continued to fumble about how to answer the question on the other end of the phone. She knew what he was getting at, she just wanted him to say it for himself.
¡°Hester, yes or no. One word, five seconds or I¡¯m going to be asking you toe down here tonight to finish this conversation and I don¡¯t think that is something that either one of us want.¡± If Hester came, Julian would get involved and that would muddle the goal that Lena was working towards.
.....
¡°Good. That is all that I need to know. I want you to do me a few favors then. Continue working on the list tonight but I want you to get about taking care of them tomorrow.¡± Lena would still figure out the right way to make matters turn in her favor.
Richard might not have been wrong in his suggestion or guess, Lena wanted to be one hundred percent certain for a fact though. Nothing could be left to a chance after everything that took ce. It would be a long shot, but given time and patience, she knew that she could make it work.
The only thing that could potentially cause problems was if she couldn¡¯t get everyone else to agree with her line of thought. Romeo wouldn¡¯t be a problem. The bodyguard rarely hesitated to as the other requested. Job or loyalty didn¡¯t matter when it came to such situations. All Lena needed was someone who wouldn¡¯t question her.
¡°You made sure to write all of that down? I don¡¯t want you to forget anything before youe here tomorrow. I want you to bring the other with you as well and we can focus on calling them once we get that sorted out.¡± Lena waited for the other to confirm before she ended the call.
Lena put her phone back into her pocket before picking up the brown bag and heading towards the rooftop stairwell.
If Richard didn¡¯t agree with what she had nned or wanted to do, then she would just have to excluded him.
Chapter 355 - 355 Rumors Exist Everywhere
355 Rumors Exist Everywhere
Richard still couldn¡¯t stand the idea of being in fancy ces. No matter how many years passed since the
st less than pleasant experience, he still couldn¡¯te around to enjoy them. Money and status hardly
mattered. Lingering memories were what caused the biggest problems for the mafioso. Sometimes though, undesirable destinations were necessary when it came to collecting certain information. Plus, it wasn¡¯t all that bad when it involved being able to indulge invish, overpriced food that wouldn¡¯t be burning a whole in his own wallet.
¡°Gustavo. I¡¯m so d that you coulde on such short notice. I wouldn¡¯t have chosen to bother you if the matter weren¡¯t important.¡± Richard stood to greet the suave looking businessman. He shook his hand and gave the other a pat on his shoulder before motioning for him to take a seat.
¡°All has been well with you my friend?¡± Richard smiled fondly at the Italian man who briefly returned the gesture.
¡°Depends on what you mean by doing well. Some of aspects are doing better than others but work is still treating me harshly, friend. What about yourself? I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t just call me out to return a favor simply so that we could wine and dine together? I can¡¯t deny though that you have good taste.¡± The man would only be saying that until he saw the price tag that came along with being in such avish ce. Richard let out a low chuckle as he unwrapped the silverware.
¡°You know me so well. I do have a few matters I would like you to look into for me. Nothing big, just determining if some rumors I have been hearing on the wind are true or not.¡± The Italian¡¯s attention was taken by the waiter as Richard continued speaking. He knew the man could listen to both of them without a problem but would refuse to respond until wine was on the way.
¡°Rumors exist everywhere my friend, you will need to be very specific regarding what kind of rumors you are wanting me to look into for you. I know many people who would be happy to help but I need a direction to point them in.¡± Gustavo took a moment to unwarp his napkin as well, inspecting the silverware as he did so to ensure there were no blemishes or signs of prior use. The man never trusted such ces to be as clean as they pretended to be.
¡°Rumors involving the Vedova Nera and Red Scorpion family. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard some of the news that has been going on around about them. I can verify for you that the engagement is true. There are some other rumors however that I don¡¯t know the validity about. Jovani, you know?¡± Gustavo¡¯s expression shifted into a wry smile at the mention of the Vedova Nera boss¡¯s name.
.....
¡°Not the crazy one? His better put-together cousin, if I remember correctly? He was the right choice to make when it came to taking over for the family.¡± Richard couldn¡¯t exactly agree but chose to nod his head anyways.
¡°That is the one that I¡¯m talking about. Have you been hearing any rumors regarding his other cousin? I¡¯ve been hearing some noise that he might be back in the area again despite having his own group. I don¡¯t want to cause a fuss about the matter, but it is something I want to be certain of.¡± Hesitation told Richard a lot more than he anticipated. The Italian licked his lips, tongue brushing against his mustache before he picked up the wine ss once more to take a deep drink from it.
¡°I don¡¯t know if those rumors are ones that I can help you with. I try my best to stay as far away as possible from the kind of people that would associate with him. I know you worked with him once and the two of you were close but I think that you can understand why I made this decision.¡± Yes, but that didn¡¯t mean the decision had to be liked or epted. People were capable of making bad choices based upon false rumors and inurate information.
¡°I¡¯m not asking you to get yourself involved with those type of people again. I¡¯m only asking if you can tell me if the rumors are true or not. If you don¡¯t know, could you possibly find out? Sooner rather thanter would be preferable.¡± Richard began to take a drink of his own wine, one eye remained on the other as he watched the Gustave¡¯s shifting expression.
¡°Porco Cane. If I knew that this was the reason why you had asked me here tonight, I would never have agreed to fulfill this favor under such circumstances. Surely there is something that you could request of me, no? Something that wouldn¡¯t require me to dig around in such ces.¡± The man¡¯s expression bordered pleading and didn¡¯t change even as the waiter came back with their orders. The food took Richard¡¯s attention, the in different gaze letting the Italian know that he wouldn¡¯t be changing his request.
¡°You¡¯re honestly want me to risk my life for you over a matter such as this. There are millions of other things that I would be happy to do to help you out, but this. It must really be important for you toe to me despite knowing what my answer would.¡± Gustavo¡¯s poor mood wasn¡¯t lifted by the sight of the food. Not even as he roughly stabbed the roast and cut off a piece to put into his mouth.
¡°I am well aware of that. Why do you think that I waited until you were here with me to ask for this favor. I know how you feel but surely you value your life more than that? You know plenty of people who would be willing to get the information for you. Your reputation is worth more to you than a little risk. Am I right?¡±
Richard didn¡¯t have to look at the other to know Gustave was silently cursing the other up and down. His expression said more than enough.
What could Richard say? If he did one thing well, it was putting other people over barrels in ufortable situations that they couldn¡¯t refuse him in.
Chapter 356 - 356 I could Do More But
356 I could Do More But
Richard enjoyed the meal while hispanion remained silent and sullen. Why should he allow someone else¡¯s bad mood to impact the vor of the food? There wasn¡¯t one good reason that came to mind to allow for such to happen. Thus, Richard chose food over smoothing over a tepid at best rtionship. The Italian would get over himself eventually.
Gustavo didn¡¯t have anyone to me but himself. Ask for, agreeter. Richard learned that rule a long time ago. One that would stick with him forever.
¡°Enjoy the meal. Your sour expression is going to make the wine taste bitter.¡± The poor attempt at a joke didn¡¯t garner him so much as a lip twitch from the Italian.
¡°How can I enjoy my meal after what you just asked of me? I might as well have agreed to sell my soul to a devil bying here.¡± That wasn¡¯t Richard¡¯s problem.
¡°You¡¯re not being asked to sell your soul to anyone. Again, I¡¯m asking only that you find some information for me. Nothing more, nothing less. How to make it happen is up to you.¡± Richard only cared to start getting the clock ticking to put pressure on Jovani. Gustavo came out as the best choice after picking the best cards.
Lena would disapprove of such methods, but the mafioso didn¡¯t answer. Hence, she didn¡¯t know, and that would allow their rtionship to remain in a good light for the time being. At least until Zane woke up and could take over. His good friend should¡¯ve still remembered how the cards used to have to be yed.
¡°What other methods do you imagine I might be able to use? Do you even know how many people don¡¯t want to touch that issue? Every single one who knows what took ce in the past.¡± The Italian mmed his hand on the table as he swore once more. The number could not easily be summed up. Richard didn¡¯t so much as bat an eye as he stared the other down.
¡°If I cared about such numbers, I wouldn¡¯t havee here in the first ce. For all those people who don¡¯t care to get involved, there are at least an equal amount, if not twice as many, who would love to know more about this matter. Even you should know that information can be sold for a lot in our world.¡± The mafioso snapped his fingers to get the attention of one of the waiters that walked past. If the Italian was paying, there was no point in wasting the opportunity by not taking something to eat forter.
Gustavo was almost fuming at this point as Richard conversed with the waiter. Deals and promises weren¡¯t supposed to make life soplicated. Favors between friends, even less so. Yet, those rules didn¡¯t appear to apply to Richard, and the Italian sorely wished her to realize that before agreeing to dinner. What happened to a fun conversation and sweet favors, not honor in such spaces?
.....
¡°Very well. You will get what you want from me, but don¡¯t expect me to be so willing to fulfill another favor for you.¡± The Italian only relented on his decision after the waiter left. Suddenly, the agreement didn¡¯t feel like such a win when he noticed the cid smile slip across the other¡¯s lips. A mistake had been made.
¡°Gustavo, I wouldn¡¯t be so quick to say that if I were in your situation. We were still on the topic of reputations before the minor interruptions for important matters involving food. I believe though, if you were to see what I had with me, it might change your mind about making such a statement.¡± Richard pulled the wallet out of his pocket and slipped something out of it that Gustavo couldn¡¯t quite see. He didn¡¯t need to, however, to know that whatever the other had would be some form of a threat.
The Italian could feel the cold sweat beginning to form on the back of his neck; the item sliding across the table, still hidden under the giant hand, only made him feel worse. The dread only grew when Richard¡¯s hand stopped halfway across the table, his eyes turning to meet the other¡¯s.
¡°Are you sure you want me to go as far as to show you what I have, or would you rather reconsider now? You should know how I work by now to understand it won¡¯t be the real thing, just a sample.¡± Gustavo swallowed thickly as he looked around the restaurant like a deer caught in headlights. He didn¡¯t have to look far among the people around them to know there were a few acquaintances nearby. Would it be a risk worth taking to see what the other had?
Richard could have been bluffing to care him into agreeing if he wasn¡¯t, though¡ whatever card the other had would surely be something big enough to ruin himpletely. The Italian flipped a mental coin in his head to help decide for him.
Heads. Somehow it always came out as the wrong answer regardless of the stakes.
¡°Fine. Please show me. If anyone here sees whatever it is, you can¡¯t count this deal off between us before it even starts.¡± Richard only smirked; a tingle of delight traveled up his spine as he watched the other struggle to steel himself against what he was about to see.
It could be delightful to turn the tables and watch someone else squirm in difort now and again. Richard found it a necessary evil to help keep in mind how much the tables had turned over the year.
¡°If you quickly take them now before I have a chance to flip them over, no one will be able to see.¡± Richard only gave the other a few seconds as he lifted his hand from the item.
Photo negatives.
Gustavo didn¡¯t pause for a second to get his hand on them and pull them across the table before Richard could touch them again. Frantic eyes scanned over them the moment they were hidden under the table. Richard leaned back in his chair, waiting for the other¡¯s expression to morph. Wholly confident that the other wouldn¡¯t fail to amuse him with whatever expressions passed over the other¡¯s feature. Now the real fun would begin.
He hadn¡¯t been wrong. Not now, not the hundred other times before today that he¡¯d gone through with this. Zane needed to hurry and wake up so that Richard could have another moment to thank the other for teaching him such terrible tricks.
¡°Where in the world did you get these? I made absolutely sure that no one else had been around when this took ce. The quiver in the voice matched the shaken hands barely visible to the other side of the table.
¡°You didn¡¯t do a good enough job to ensure that no one had been around, eh? I can¡¯t give away my sources, but this would surely be enough to get you to change your mind, right? The others are stored away somewhere safe. They wouldn¡¯t be used so long as you follow through with what I want and any future favors until I say otherwise.¡± Gustavo found himself again at aplete loss for words as wide eyes focused on the photo negatives.
¡°I would prefer if you would give those back to me to keep. No sense in you having them, considering they aren¡¯t the only copy around.¡± Richard held his hand out and beckoned with his hand in a somewhatmanding way.
¡°Has anyone ever told you how much of a bastard you are?¡± The Italian mmed the pictures down in the other¡¯s hand, earning himself a hard sp and a deep chuckle from the other.
¡°Oh, that is a list I don¡¯t think will ever be exhausted. Don¡¯t worry though; this is harmless, honestly. I could do so much more, but you should know I respect you, Gustavo, and that stops me from taking this further. I hope we can keep doing good business in the future.¡± Richard shook the other¡¯s hand before taking the photos so that he could put them back.
Sensing no reason to stick around, Richard decided it was time to go once the waiter returned with his second order. He slid the check across the table and gave the other an overly effusive farewell and best wishes,plete with his warm smile and a polite nod. Richard chose to ignore the murder reflecting in the other¡¯s eyes as he stood up and left.
Three days he would give Gustavo. Three days should¡¯ve been all it would take to find everything Richard wanted. Any more than that, Jovani would start to think that his words were nothing more than a series of bluffs. That wouldn¡¯t do at all.
Richard needed the other to believe what he said over the phone. Otherwise, the next phase of his n wouldn¡¯t work out how Richard wanted it to.
Chapter 357 Not Expected
?
Alonso never felt closer to wanting to take a vacation that at the current moment. Somece a thousand miles away from his contentious boss and his current everyday lifestyle sounded like a treat he deserved.
Sadly, it would remain in thend of dreams for the current moment until current matters were solved. Jovani obviously couldn''t be trusted to take care of matters. The Vedova Nera boss could hardly stay together after such a minor injury a few non-fatal spats. How much worse would he get if Lena and him were to get into an argument? Alonso pinched the bridge of his nose.
That wasn''t something he wanted to think about at the current moment in time. Finding out where Samuel went took priority over all else. The Princess might''ve almost shot Samuel earlier but she would absolutely murder anyone in the estate if anything happened to the kid. Even if Alonso wouldn''t mind his boss being killed at the much in recent days, if it did happen, the right-hand man wanted to be the one who took care of it.
Why did the kid even leave his room in the first ce? Not that he was under house arrest or anything of the sort, Samuel had never done much nosing around the first time he''d been there. Alonso assumed he''d be like Jovani betting the other would be as bad as a cat about poking around. What could''ve changed his mind and made him do it now? Alonso grumbled and ran a hand through messy hair. After what Jovani told him, thest thing the right-hand needed was the other to be nosing around with unknown dangers lurking around.
The kid surely wouldn''t be as bad as his older cousin and scurry off somewhere out of boredom. Alonso''s impression of Samuel didn''t include that type of behavior. In fact, Alonso would ce Sam as being the more mature one out of the two cousin despite being younger in terms of age.
With most of the staff gone, the halls were far too quiet for Alonso''s liking. Not to mention with hardly anyone around, tracking Samuel became harder. The job would be easier if there were a few souls left around to be bothered.
Alonso began to lose his mind down the trail of dangers as he stepped onto the second floor. One unsavory thought refused to leave his mind and left a bitter taste in his mouth. Alonso turned the right, features drawn tight. The known trouble would be the best ce to look first. One more matter Jovani should''ve never decided upon on his own.
"Are you sure you want to do that? I don''t think you know what you''re getting yourself into." A tata sound rattled through the air.
"I think I know well enough what I''m getting into. Are you certain that you want to do that? You''re being rather reckless all things considered." A small crash and loud thump made Alonso. No no no, this is exactly what wasn''t needed right now. Damn Jovani for making his life bad life choices other people''s problems.
"Whatever the hell this is, Cain, you better..." Voice trailed off as the door began to open. What the hell was this? Certainly not the sight that Alonso had expected to see the moment that he opened the door.
"Did you have to pick now of all times to poke your nose around? Can''t you see that we are in the middle of something important?" Cain might''ve been unperturbed by the sight of Alonso, Samuel couldn''t say that he felt the same. The younger cousin almost choked on thest third of the fifth beer he''d been forced to drink. The pleasant buzz that had been building up fizzled out when Alonso''s eyes locked on his own.
"Are you considering whether or not you would like to join us? We do have more than enough seats to take on one more person." The younger cousin motioned to the empty space next to himself.
"There are times that I think you''re just crazy insane, and there are times that I believe you''re an absolute idiot. This situation right here falls into the second category. I''m sure you can see why without me having to tell you." Alonso leaned over to help the other up, only to have his hand smacked away.
"You''ve hardly heard why I''m doing this, and you''re making assumptions quickly. For once, I''m doing this for an excellent reason; otherwise, I wouldn''t don''t have anything to do with my older cousin, considering the problems that he caused in the past. Not to mention it''s a risk with Richard being around. I didn''t know, though, that he would suddenly be showing up. I wouldn''t have even epted this arrangement between Sammy and Lena if I knew how tight Zane was with that Bastard." Jovani shook his head, carding his hand through his hair as he looked around the office. Where did his clothes go exactly? They should''ve been right there next to him since he''d not traveled that far from the chair at his desk. Did they somehow managed to grow a pair of legs and scuttle over to the other side? Ugh. How troublesome that would be if it turned out to be the case. Jovani took a moment to weigh out of the hassle of picking his clothes up before flopping back onto the cold tile. Indulging in the current pleasure for a while longer was the right choice. Work could wait untilter if Alonso were upset at him.
"Rather than fussing about me and this whole situation, I needed you to go and check on Samuel. See if he managed to get in touch with that little devil princess. I don''t want my younger cousin to spend his entire time here sulking because of her." Once Samuel had seen a few more things and been around the Vedova Nera estate for longer, Jovani wouldn''t care what state his younger cousin saw him in. Right now, though, the kid wouldn''t likely understand the rtionship Jovani had with them.
"If you''re worried about your cousin finding out or getting into trouble, you should''ve better nned all of this before you asked me to bring him back with me. I would''ve considered having Julian take him instead. Back at their estate, things would have been safer than this." Jovani tsked at the other and made a noise of disagreement.
"I wouldn''t be too sure of that If I were you. Do some digging around, and you''re likely to find that being there isn''t any safer than me keeping him here. This whole hospital fiasco isn''t the only issue that they''d been dealing with." It paid to have people on both sides consistently know about every little thing. Lena or anyone else on her side of the family didn''t need to know about that, though. They could discuss it at ater point in time once he managed to sort out his current contentious rtionship with the Princess.
The Princess currently had bigger fish to fry if the doctors didn''t do a good job with Leo. First, however, she needed to fully exin the situation she experienced to those in the room with her.
"I didn''t get injured, so I didn''t care to say anything at the time. However, Jovani, from the little I put together, is ying a dangerous game I''m not sure he even realizes." Lena kept her gaze fixed on her father as she continued.
"I wouldn''t be surprised if it turned out that he wasn''t always the person here either. I don''t know, however, if he''s aware of certain matters." Richard took the initiative to put a hand on Lena''s shoulder and petition her to exin further.
"I havee to a simr conclusion, but depending on what you saw or know, that might change how I handle this situation. Jovani, from the little we''ve talked, doesn''t seem interested in being open about the situation. At least not at the current moment." What a not surprise on that matter. Lena didn''t have to think twice to know why that would be.
"Jovani wouldn''t say anything due to the slew of issues that have taken ce so closely together. Whether they are connected or not remains to be seen. It would exin why he wouldn''t want to make a fuss if they weren''t. Richard, if you know whom I am talking about, you might be better suited to borate on this situation''s issues moving forward." Richard''s lips drew into a thin line.
Was he the right person to take on exining the current situation? How many years had it been since thest time he''d talked with the other?
Chapter 358 A Total Waste
?
Alonso''s hands twitched. His eyes shifted from the water in his hands to the door in front of him. How badly the desire built up in him to go through with it. How foul would the trouble be? Not the worst.
The Vedova Nera boss though some time had passed, would likely still be stuck floating on a cloud of pleasure. The pleasure that a little bit of cold liquid would surely help to kill. At what cost? Oh, did it honestly matter? Jovani needed to see what was going on around him while he decided to lose his mind at the worst possible time.
"Alonso, Alonso, Alonso. I told you not toe back and bother me yet." The voice drifted from the far side of the office. Slurred and overly content. The clothes somehow made their way out of the doorway. To join the other on the floor, or did they manage to find their way back into their owner?
"I need a little bit longer, and I''ll be right back on my feet where I should be. On the other hand, you need to finish what I tasked you with. I only heard one set of footsteps." Alonso didn''t let Jovani''s impressive ability dissuade him. If it were going to happen, it would have to happen right now. The right-hand man took a deep breath before stepping around the side of the desk and doing what needed to be done. No way Jovani would kill him for it right now.
A string of unintelligible words and something floundering followed the plop and swash sound against the marble floor. Namely, a less than decently dressed mafioso boss who wasn''t anticipating the unexpected and unwee cold bath.
"Alonso! What in the world do you think you''re doing? For Christ''s sake!" Jovani sounded like he''d suddenly be ten times soberer than before. Not the natural, happy straight after one of his typical binges, but Alonso would work with what he could get for the time being.
"You best better be nning on cleaning up this mess yourself. I will not be wasting anyone else time on such things." The right-hand man allowed himself to peek slightly around the side of the desk. Alonso winced as the wet liquid hit his face before he couldy eyes on the Vedova Nera boss. Alonso wiped his face and could hear the other grumbling about it serving him right for being such an ass or something along those lines.
"If you didn''t want me to take matters this far, you should have listened to me first. Instead, there is now one other problem that you need toe along and help me with." Jovani gave the other an unimpressed look. One that clearly stated how little he cared toe and help the other with whatever he was dealing with. Alonso found more water being flicked at his face. Despite being displeased, Jovani refused to remove from the sopping wet floor.
"The whole reason I hired you was to help me deal with these types of problems. Note about and bother me when I''m in no state of mind to do it myself. Can this be the one thing that you do for me this week without putting up any fight?" The Vedova Nera boss shook his head to get the water out and caused droplets to fly about the room. Someone else would have toe along and clean up the whole ceter.
"I would be dealing with the problems myself, except that this is one you need to deal with. It involves your cousin." Hearing the word cousin made Jovani perk up right away.
"Cousin? Little Sammy, you mean? I don''t imagine that he would be getting himself involved in anything that I would need to be part of." Unless there was a new development with the devil princess which Jovani hardly believed that would be the case. Not to mention, Sam wouldn''t involve his older cousin in that. Lena would pay him no need.
"If you would juste along and see, you could decide on your own. I''m not your mother, so you better get yourself dressed." Alonso couldn''t believe everything was right in the world for one second. Even if that was what Cain wanted him to think.
"Pish posh to clothes. Why don''t you hand me my phone so I can call him? Quick and easy. No one has to go anywhere, and I go back to enjoy myself." Alonso refused, however. The right-hand man snatched the device off the desk before Jovani could even think about how to get it from his position on the floor.
"You''re going to get dressed ande with me to see what I''m talking about. Now." The Vedova Nera boss didn''t get the chance to protest a third time. A well-aimed pair of pants prevented any words from escaping his mouth. The uptight version of Alonso was never any fun. Couldn''t theid-back, fussy onee back? Even if he did over-worry about Jovani more than needed, at least he didn''t know the boss and pushed him around.
"Fine. However, if I don''t deem it anything worthy of my attention, you''ll not be bothering me for the rest of the evening. You can go about babysitting the rest of the children yourself. Fetch me a towel as well." Jovani couldn''t put anything on until he''d dried off. He stared longing at the desk as the other went to fetch him a towel. Just a little more, and then they could go for another round together. Hopefully, one that would be even more unforgettable than the one he just out off from.
"I will do whatever it is that you want me to do if you go about keeping your side. Youe with me and tell me that I''m over reacting to what is happening." Alonso also made sure to throw the towel at the other''s head. Impatient to get going more so than the man still on the floor.
If Alonso wanted him to tell him he was wrong, Jovani could do that any time of the day to get the other off his back.
"You are wrong. I don''t see how this is anything to be worried about. If anything, shouldn''t you be happy that my younger cousin is here to help keep them out of trouble?" The dark appearance on Jovani''s face only grew darker as he stood surveying the scene before him. He stuffed his hand deep into the pockets of his sweatpants to stop himself from smacking his right-hand man. He''d been pulled out to see what exactly? His younger cousin had fun ying what looked to be Craps with a handful of mercenaries. Both parties were equally drunk, Samuel probably less so, but they all seemed to be having a good time.
"The only crime that I see taking ce here is that I wasn''t offered any alcohol." Samuel would ensure it stayed that way as he smacked the other''s hand before reaching one of the amber bottles.
"You''re not supposed to be drinking." The younger Vedova Nera cousin moved the alcohol out of the older one''s reach. Samuel wanted to ask the other why he looked so damp and messy, but Jovani didn''t appear to be in the right mood for such questions.
"You don''t think anything is wrong with this setup here? Your cousin isn''t used to everything here, yet you''re fine with him ying with these types of people?" Cain shot him a look at these words, but Alonso was too concerned with Jovani''s reaction orck thereof to care.
"I told what I thought already. I don''t know what you expected, but no. I don''t think that there is anything wrong with this. Let them have fun. There''s no blood, bruises, or apparent broken bones in sight. Hence, I deem this to be a perfectly safe activity." One utterly unworthy of his attention. Fuck! He''d been soaked and had his excellent mood ruined for absolutely nothing.
"You guys can keep doing whatever you want." Jovani brushed and waved them off as he turned to leave the cramped room. He didn''t want to be around so many people right now.
The only thing that Jovani wanted at the current moment was to be able to go back in time ten minutes and p his old self and tell him not to listen to the troublesome right-hand man.
Chapter 359 Not The Best Choice
?
Lena bit down on the end of the pipe, crunching it slightly under pressure. No, this deal wasn''t the one that had been made.
"Hester. I told you I would call them toe along after the fact. Why did you think to bring them along with you right now?" Three additional people left no space for them to hold the meeting in the hospital room, the ce that Lena wanted to remain in today. One lousy night flipped everything off kilter once more. Not just for her but for Julian as well. The man would choose to leave at one of the most pivotal times before the doctor came in to tell them such things.
It''s possible that he might not wake up¡ The words never seemed to want to stop echoing in her head, like the worst clutter that takes up residence in one''s mind. Nothing could rece it, and it never attempted to try and leave on its own, no matter what type of distractions were used. Lena tried many after she couldn''t sleep but found nothing satisfactory.
Doctors weren''t gods and had no right to dictate things before they even knew what the end result would be. At best, they could make simple predictions that may or may not be urate. In this case, Lena didn''t want this one toe true. Not right now. It was thest thing that her family needed to be able to deal with at the current moment in time.
Such injuries can be severe or life threatening, and the period between the injury and treatment¡'' you were told this from the start.''. Lena had to implement every calming technique she knew not to shoot the head doctor the moment those words escaped his mouth. She settled for a tough face-to-face conversation to ensure the made got her point- in no way would they stop treatment. Days, weeks, months, years. She didn''t care how much passed.
"Each time the suggestion escapes anyone''s mouth under your watch, I will break one bone in your finger." This threat seemed to resonate better with the man than any other words she exchanged during their short time together. Lena didn''t even have to go so far as to exin the immense pain that would cause; the head doctor seemed to understand well enough.
"I know what you said, Princess. I brought them along as I thought it would be safer to make one move than consecutive ones. With the changes being implemented, we aren''t as flush on people as we had before." Hester''s voice brought Lena out of her thoughts and brought her attention back to the man standing before. The Princess let out a low huff before releasing the pipe from between her teeth. Any more pressure, and she might''ve very well ended up cracking it. Tsk. Such carelessness couldn''t be afforded.
"One move is better. However, we don''t even know if we will need them in the first ce. Security is well enough without another group loitering around." Lena bit back a sigh. She couldn''t exactly me her tech for trying to make the best decision. Nothing over the past twenty-four hours had been his fault either.
"No sense fussing about it now. Tell me what you found after we spokest night. Were you able to g through everything that I asked you to?" She pulled out her pipe and crossed her arms. Julian could be filled in on what was happening after they had finished discussing everything. The tech licked his bottom lip, and the men behind him nervously shuffling their feet caused the Princess to narrow her eyes.
"If there is a problem, I expect it will be one you will tell me of immediately. This is going to be the best ce for us to talk. The more time you waste, the less time we will have before other people starting around." Lena would also have to wait long before she could fill the pipe again. She would have to ask someone to bring something to refill the next time they came around.
"Not exactly a problem. The results are just a little too close to what you had expected. Not to say that we doubt you for one second, Princess. We aren''t certain what move we should consider making next." Hester set down his bag to pull out the iPad inside. He flipped it on and went to a specific screen before handing it over to the Princess.
"All our equipment and the people with me have been checked beforeing here. It doesn''t seem that there is anything back at the estate either. Another reason I brought them with me. We may need to do a better check here." Lena''sck of response made the man more ufortable than if she''d exploded after reviewing what they had found. A quiet Princess never turned out to be a good thing. Behind the calm mask, something was almost always brewing.
"Good. Do the check as you, please. If you find anything you already know, tell me. Please don''t touch it, though. I want to think of another way to deal with it." It wasn''t the victory that Lena wanted, but she would take the small things for now.
"Also, do you have another one of these? I want to be able to keep this one with me to track any updates." Among other things. Hester indicated the cases that the men were holding behind me.
"We brought duplicates of all the necessary equipment. Are you certain, Princess, that it was the right choice to leave the list behind for now? I understand what you saidst night- "
"You still have your reservations as if it''ll be the right choice or not? You''re not the only one, but it can be added to the test list that we are going through." Lena dimmed the screen on the iPad the moment she heard someone step out onto the roof behind them. The director wouldn''tin about anything they did. Instead, he couldn''t if he continued to value his life. That same trust wouldn''t be extended to anyone else. Anyone else could be a potential enemy until proven otherwise.
"Very well then, Princess. We will go through with everything as promised. Do you still desire for me to contact Eva?" Lena shook her head, handing the device back over to Hester.
"Not for now. I want you to take that back to the hospital room, and we can figure out what to do next. I already have another set of ns I want to put into motion in advance."
One that would require a bit more nning but with the right amount of work would be the best choice.
"I want you to contact someone we haven''t talked to in quite a while. I believe they might be the right person to help us with this job. A little bit of a loose cannon would be useful at this point." Lena put the pipe in her pocket, fixing the unwee nee with a look that made them scurry off the roof rather quickly.
"Are you sure about that, Princess? I believe I know whom you are speaking of. They might not be the right person to bring into this case. You know what happenedst time that we requested help from them." How could she forget? Lena had been directly involved at that time. That was one of the reasons that she wanted to bring them back on now.
"I do remember, which is why I think they would be the best person to bring onto this case. Unless you think of someone else who would be a better fit, I want you to go ahead with what I am asking you. We can discuss the finer details at another point in time. She didn''t want to go about wasting at the current moment. There were other important matters that they needed to be able to focus on rather than arguing about this matter.
"Very well. I will keep my reservations to myself for the time being. Please consider, however, that I will likely not be the one who objects to what you want to go through with." Hester''s words didn''t share the same concession with the look in his eyes. The man always did have a rtively strong spirit.
"Don''t worry about that. I will take care of anything else thates up. For now, do what I said. We need more people to help us work through this. Even if they aren''t the best fit." Lena would deal with whatever fallout took ce. She had done so before; she could do so again now, no matter what happened. She just needed everyone to fall in line and do as she said for now.
Had her father been awake, she knew that Zane would''ve chosen to make the same call.
Everything might end up backfiring on her but right now, it was a risk worth taking.
Chapter 360 Taking Things Further
?
Jovani''s muddled brain couldn''t understand what the other was fussing about. He came, he saw, he watched for a while but nothing horrible about the situation struck him in the face. What did Alonso anticipate as the proper reaction? Scolding? Chaos breaking lose? Hmph. Jovani tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. If it that were the case, he brought the wrong person in to review this matter.
The drugged Vedova Nera boss hardly cared about what happened to himself; why would be care about what his younger cousin did so long as it wasn''t anything immediately fatal?
Certainly the nose in the room would be a lot to contend with, but Samuel actual bore a smile for more than a few seconds. Not an entirely genuine one but it looked better than that sullen expression that had been glued to the kid''s face ever since he got there.
"There isn''t anything going on in there that we should be worried about. Cain and whoever everyone is aren''t a good influence but they''re hardly blood thirsty right now by the looks of it. If you have a problem with it though, why don ''t you go about dealing with it, hm?" Jovani leaned against the closed door and took a deep breath as he waited for what Alonso would say about the matter.
"First Marcus. Now this. Are you certain that you''re not losing your mind somewhere along the line? You should be fully aware of the fact that I know those people far better than they do. They''re not the ones that your younger cousin should be around if you''re trying to keep himself." Alonso hissed roughly, voice barely audible to prevent the upants in the other room from hearing him. Cain would use anything the other said against him at someter point in time.
"Piss, piss." Jovani moved his hand in a mocking manner of the other speaking. Moving away from the door, he pushed the other away with him.
"You might need something to fuss about right now but I don''t. Do what you believe needs to be done but I don''t want whatever it is to be something that will cause me trouble. I need some kind of peace around here when my guest gets here." Guest was far too kind of a word for who would being but Jovani couldn''t think of another word to use. Saying his name aloud would burn his tongue more than calling them a guest. Alonso''s hands ran across his face in an exasperated manner as a mute noise escaped his mouth. The right-hand man followed closely behind the Vedova Nera boss who acted as though there wasn''t anything in the world to worry about.
"For one day can we agree that you''ll stop doing all of this? You can''t go about adding fuel to the fire of chaos that is already building up. At some point, you need to learn toy back and not indulge in it." Alonso found himself in an unexpected ce when Jovani suddenly whipped around and pushed him harshly against one of the walls, barely avoiding hitting the right-hand man against a picture frame.
"Alonso, you also need to learn when you should be going about keeping your mouth shut. Your opinions are valued but when it is evident that I have no intention of listening nor do I care, you should stop. Is that understood?" Their gazes remained locked as they assessed each other. Jovani to determine if the other would concede as Alonso took in the other''s expression. Tight, features, narrowed eyes and a down turned eyebrows gave away more than the other''s words. The wet hair only added to the other''s mental and physical disheveled look. The right-hand man brought his own hand up to take hold of hand gripping the cor of his shirt tightly. At least the Vedova Nera boss had given him more than enough reason for Alonoso to not feel apologetic for what he had done earlier.
"It is understood, but it isn''t advice that I can take in at this point in time. You might remember that it was for moments like these that you went about hiring me. I can''t go about letting you burn the world down around even if that''s what you want to do." Jovani''s expression and the pushback that followed told Alonso the other didn''t understand him. At least not enough to stop what he started.
Alonso would need to amp up the people around his boss if this was the direction that events were going to start moving in.
"I do remember why I hired. It was also because I thought you were good about being able to read the room and know what to say when I couldn''t think about it myself. Tell me, how much can you read about the room right now and what''s going through my head." Words weren''t going to solve the problem between. Instead, Alonso decided that action would be the best route to go. He mentally apologized for what would be taking ce before making his move.
"Boss, you''re the one that needs to understand what is taking ce right now." Alonso shifted position, taking ahold of both of Jovani''s hands in each of his before ducking to swipe the other''s feet out from under him.The brief widening of his boss''s eyes told him he didn''t expect Alonso to go that far.
Brief as it was, it would be more than enough for the guard to use against his boss. He didn''t stop as he knocked the other to the floor. The right-hand man moved in such a way that even if the other didn''t let go of his shirt, he wouldn''t end up hurt as the they both headed towards the ground.
Alonso maintained his position as he kept Jovani pinned. Enough to make a point but not so much so that he would end up hurting the other man. Hopefully the knock to his head would help to bring some sense along with the pain that Alonso knew would follow.
"Now, are you ready to go about listening to me or do we need to take this further?"
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 361 Everyone Has Their Vices
?
Jovani sighed with a roll of his eyes as his body went limp. He seemed to concede to a certain point. At least ALnoso took his behavior to be that of someone conceding rather than getting ready to further engage.
"Jovani, I want you to repeat back to me what I am said to you. You can do whatever you want after this but right now, your focus is with me." The Vedova Nera boss didn''tply however. He threw daggers at the other as he refused to look at the other beyond from the corner of his eye. Drugs were great except for in situations such as these. Impairment made it impossible to fight against someone who managed to retain the full capabilities of their mind and body.
"You''re only getting away with this thus far because of the current state that I am in. don''t for one second think that once everything settles I''m going to fully let this slide." Jovani would absolutely get the other back. The only reason he didn''t do it now aside from being almostpletely inebriated was the small matter of his pride remaining intact due to the currently empty estate halls.
The Vedova Nera boss being taken out by his right-hand man would be gossip that would buzz the halls for weeks. For all the wrong reasons at that. The strange gaggle of mafioso that Jovani collected over the years and swore themselves to him independently for some strange reason enjoyed watching the untraditional dynamic between him and Alonso.
As one man dared to say, it was a shared top power dynamic. The question would always be- who would on the top what day though? Some more daring folks went so far as to take bets and hold wagers who would be the one on top when such struggles took ce. Loyalty on either side was bought by who made the matter more amusing or did the unexpected to take over.
Right now, that happened to be Alonso. Alonso would definitely be crowned the winning party of this struggle. While Jovani didn''t care what his men did for entertainment, knowing that they''d bet against him gave him more than enough reason to do his best to remain on top least his pride get wounded. Even if no one said anything to his face, he still would know what all his men were thinking- Alonso was the main man in charge today.
"Jovani, can''t you give this up already? Do you honestly think that I enjoy going this far in fighting with you over these matters? I''m the one who is trying to help you keep your head level so things don''t get out of hand anymore than they already are. Is this the kind of example that you''re wanting to set for your younger cousin to follow? Are you wanting matters to go the same route that they did with Marcus?" Those were words were more than enough for the ratherx man below Alonso to suddenly see red.
He ought not to have said that.
After Alonso and Jovani left, Samuel found himself struggling to remain engaged with the game in fronr of him. He''d been winning up to the current moment in time but it seemed as though the tide had begun to turn away from his favor.
Cain took notice of the other''s distraction and used it to his benefit to get more points back. Though it was based on luck, some bad moves could lead to someone else taking control.
"Kid if you are going to want to keep ying with us, you''re going to need to get your head back focused on the game and away from whatever it is going through your mind." Cain pushed the beer bottle towards the other''s hand. Drinking helped to solve most distractions. At least that was what he found to work over time.
"Sorry. It''s just that''s the first time that I''ve seen him like that and it has me wondering what is going on." Even though he didn''r really want to, SAumel took a drink out of the bottle to see if it would help as the other suggested.
"There is a first time for everything in this world but likely not thest time that you will be seeing him like that. Everyone hits those points in their lives where they make bad decisions and do stupid things. Even for fun it can turn out badly. Fun like this can even cause problems if you''re not paying attention to what you''re doing." Those words were puntucated by Saumle once again losing another round against the other. Two more times and he wouldn''t have anything left tat he could put to pay with.
Someone else would have to take over and keep the match going for fun.
No one had been eager to join in thus far, they seemed to be enjoying watching their boss go up against the strange new fresh blood that hade in to join them. Different from his older cousin, Samuel proved to be much more entertaining and interesting with hisck of knowledge and over interest in too many things.
"How do you think that most people around here handle what goes on? We all find our vices that work best with us to keep our heads in the game. For me it is drinkingFor your cousin and boss man out there, it would seem he likes to dabble in a little bit of everything. Hardcore drugs, I would suggest that you stay away from until you have a better understanding of them." Cain stopped there as the next round got ready to get started.
"Maybe one day, I can introduce you to some of the good stuff. That is, if you managed to beat me in this game. I don''t see that happening right now but if you do, I''m sure that your cousin wouldn''t mind such things."The mercenary nudged the other to get his mind back into the game.
Samuel didn''t find that it worked well, but a small part of him was interested in knowing what ''good stuff'' referred to, if only to know more about that part of the world he now lived in.
So what would it hurt if he could get his focus back enough to win?
Before answer could be found, everything came to a halt when a loud crash sounded outside the room.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 362 Wrong Words
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The argument between the right-hand man and his boss quickly went south when the words left Alonso''s mouth before he realized what he''d said. No longer was it a bicker between two friends; Jovani wanted blood. He might very well get blood if the other couldn''t get him under control.
For one brief second, Jovani caught the other off guard, turned the tables, and threw the other off harshly. The slight difference in their response time was the only saving grace for Alonso. Jovani''s slower reaction time granted him the few seconds he needed to pin the other man once.
A man on his strength could be challenging to deal with based on their fighting experience. A man on drugs became a terrible force to be reckoned with, even more so when they didn''t fight by the books.
"Damn it, Jovani; you''re not listening to what I''m trying to say to you." Alonso took a deep breath to stop himself from reeling from Jovani''s head as it forcefully made contact with his own. Shit, he''d forgotten how irrational the other could be at moments such as these. Drugs weren''t a good look for the Vedova Nera boss. Emily would have to be banned from ever sharing her stash again.
"Do you want to say that to my face again, or are there other things you''ve been holding back on saying that want toe out now." Jovani snarled as he thrashed under the other, not seeming to care about theck of progress in getting the more prominent man to let him up. That didn''t stop him from spitting in Alonso''s face, knowing that the other couldn''t move or block against it. The drugs numbed everything to the point the Vedova Nera boss didn''t even feel the pain in his injured arm even as speckles of blood once more began to bleed through his shirt.
Jovani brought up a leg to try and kick the other in the stomach. The right-hand barely managed to deflect the hit which struck his side instead knocking almost all of the air out of him. Size might''ve been uneven, but when it came to fighting skills, Jovani won with spades easily.
"Can you stop being an ass just for one moment and listen to me? I''m not here trying to fight with you; I want you to take a moment and see the reason behind what I''m saying." Damn, damn, damn, Jovani, for having sent everyone home. Without someone else there to help, Alonso already knew he would be fighting a battle he''d lose against the irrational mafia boss.
"What, you canin to me as much as you like about everything I''m doing wrong, but the moment I get upset because you cross the line, you still expect me to roll over and ignore it? Alonso, you''ve pushed your luck too far this time." The right-hand man didn''t get the chance to protest the other''s words before Jovani found the leverage needed to get the other off on top of him. The Vedova Nera boss used more force than necessary to buck the other man off from on top of him and against the wall. Alonso''s back struck the wall and made with rather sickening thud that caused the picture frames to rattle. The right-hand man saw stars in response to the wave of pain that rippled through his back. It wasn''t enough for Jovani. Not anywhere near enough. Alonso should''ve known better than to think that such words be allowed to slide due to his position. Hadn''t he been taught that before?
Jovani didn''t give the other even a minute recover before he lunged at him, taking advantage of the other''s disorientated state to pin his right-hand man under him.
Alonso didn''t try to fight back in the same manner that Jovani had. The right-hand man pushed only enough to stop the other man from getting his hands around his neck. Alonso would''ve ceded to the other by now in a normal situation. The hatred that rang out in Jovani''s eyes told him that would be one of the worst mistakes he could make at the current moment. Jovani
Couldn''t Jovani see that even now, his right-hand man attempted to preserve his pride and respect his position by not calling for others to get involved in their fight?
"Jovani, aren''t you- off!" Alonso didn''t get the chance to finish the question as a fist struck him square in the face. The hit was strong enough to have broken his nose.
"Fuck you for thinking you can get away with saying whatever you want. You know very well, as I do that the situation was out of my control. If I could have done anything differently at the time, I would have, but I was never granted that chance." The blows came one after another in quick session. Each hit came in harder than thest, and the other man appeared to have no intention of relenting soon. Alonso barely had time to cover himself, and the Vedova Nera boss didn''t seem to care.
"You, of all people, should know how much this has weighed on me all of these years. The one person I grew up with and who was supposed to take over with me was ripped away before we even had a chance to do anything together. All because some fucking man thought that he could y the right cards and control everything. Don''t you dare for one moment think that you can me me for something that was never my fault, to begin with?" Jovani didn''t care what he hit; he only cared if his hands made contact with something. The dam broke, and all the pent-up anger that had built up inside Jovani came rushing out like an unstoppable current of water, choosing tosh out at the one person that the Vedova Nera boss could rely on more than anyone else. The same person who made an easy, safe target toy into without the concern for repercussions.
Alonso gave up attempting to talk by this point. Instead, he focused on trying to limit the damage the other was doing to him. He''d indeed have been sporting severalrge bruises after the other finished with him. That was if Jovani realized what he was doing before he identally killed Alonso. Would it have been too much to hope that someone might show up at any moment to help out?
"Jovani? What in the world are you doing?!" Emma shouted at her cousin in disbelief. The sight before he one that she didn''t think that she''d ever see take ce between the two men.
"You need to get off him." She approached with the intent of grabbing hold of the Vedova Nera boss, only to be shoved away roughly by the other man.
"Emma, this isn''t something for you to get involved with unless you want to side with him." The hollow, frosty edge to the voice made Emma freeze. It had been a long time since Jovani had taken such a tone with anyone. What had Alonso done to set him off in such a manner?
"I''m not siding with anyone here. I think you might care to stop what you''re doing before you kill the only reliable man you have with." She did her best not to be dissuaded by the other''s tone as she tried once more to get the Vedova Nera boss off the top of Alonso.
Jovani, once again, shoved her away. He used even more force than the first time. Emma winced as she hit a somewhat rough surface. The pain onlysted a second, reced by surprise when a pair of hands wrapped around her.
"My. It seems that someone has decided to beat me to the one thing I have wanted to do sinceing here. Do you mind telling me what urred here that would''ve resulted in this mess?" Emma didn''t expect to meet an amused, somewhat bitter pair of haze orbs when she looked up that belonged to no other than the mercenary she had wanted to pick a fight with.
"Are you going to keep looking at me like that, or will you exin the situation? I don''t want to get involved in something that won''t do me well." Emma''s expression turned to annoyance, her face falling; she shoved away from the other, who let her go quickly.
"What makes you think that I know? I''m only here because I heard the crash. I don''t care what your usual policy is; I suggest you help if you don''t want your man taken out by his boss before you can patch things up." Cain grumbled as he looked at the sight in front of him. It didn''t look like it would be an easy task to get Jovani off of Alonso. Did the right-hand man need their help? Cain couldn''t quite tell from their positions.
Alonso had almost given up on trying to protect his face as he moved to keep the hands off him. It hurt too much to try and speak, let alone breathe. What a great day this had somehow turned out to be. The exact kind that the right-hand man had wanted to try and avoid all along. Never again would he be allowing Jovani near any drugs.
Chapter 363 Everyone Said I Was Bad
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Cain didn''t have to be told how urgent the situation was. Yet, he didn''t take action right away. Who in their right mind would without observing the situation first? Not that Cain had much of a right mind left in the first ce. He''d lost that long ago when he signed up to be a mercenary.
"Whatever your name is, you''d be better off going back to where I came from and keeping an eye on the baby cousin. I told my men to keep an eye on him, but it wouldn''t be great for him to see this situation." Cain rolled his sleeves up. Dealing with crazy people was one of his specialties. More than one person involved would onlyplicate the whole situation more than necessary.
Jovani didn''t seem to care about anything else going on around him, the drug enhanced raged made him focus only on the target in front of him. To his credit, Alonso did a decent job of pushing back against the unrelenting force.
"You sure? You don''t know what he''s capable of the same way that I do. If he ends uping after you, no one will be here to back you up." The mercenary licked his lips as a low chuckle escaped. Cain could feel the excitement build at the sight of blood and the scent that followed an intense fight began to fill the air. Oho what an unexpected fun treat his stay had begun to turn into.
"How cute of you to be considerate of me. It''s necessary, however. You, likewise, don''t know what I am capable of. Now go. Five minutes and if this isn''t done, tell the two in the back toe and fetch me." Cain knew he wouldn''t need anything such thing to happen but at it seemed good enough to get the woman to leave. AFter all, he couldn''t afford for her to end up getting hurt before their fight would take ce.
What fun would there be in taking on a wounded opponent? Absolutely none was the correct answer. The mercenary cracked his knuckles before he came over to approach the other two men. He didn''t get very far before noting how Jovani''s attention shifted to him out of the corner of the other man''s eyes.
"Jovani while we both seem to have our issues with Alonso, I can''t have you having all the fun on your own. Not to mention, I''m staunchly against raising a fist against one''s own. How about we talk a pause to talk this out." Jovani didn''t give the other even a smidgen of an indication that he would stop. The idea of being able to bash Alonso''s head in against the floor far too tempting to stop before the goal was reached. The thud of bone against tile made even the violent hungry mercenary wince. He''d wanted his shot at the mafioso but only to get even. This went beyond that.
"Jovani-" Cain attempted to put a hand on the other''s shoulder to get his attention. It never made contact as the Vedova Nera bossshed out at the mercenary when the appendage invaded his personal space. Jovani didn''t have to get off from the top of the other man to do any damage to the mercenary. He somehow managed to maintain a good strike distance around himself despite the awkward position.
"Chiki, you''re much more violent than I had imagined you would be. Come now, surely you wouldn''t want to have me have to end up getting too rough. Would you?" Jovani hadn''t pulled his punch. Cain''s forearm took the burnt of the hit, one hard enough that the muscle in his forearm twinged from the strength behind the hit.
"Cain, didn''t I already tell you once before that you weren''t supposed toe back out untilter? Don''t try and involve yourself in matters that aren''t any of your concern." It seemed that Jovani didn''t even care about how badly he''d managed to scrap up his knuckles or the blood building up the more he moved. Tch. It seemed that it was time to take things to a more serious note. Being gentle wasn''t going to get Cain anywhere.
"Don''t me for what happens next. You''re the one who brought this on yourself. I tried to do it the nice way first." Pity Jovani couldn''t see exactly how this matter concerned him. Alonso happened to be his target as well. The mercenary made a second attempt at grabbing the Vedova Nera boss, except this time, he was prepared.
Cain managed to grab the other''s arm before it could even get close to making contact. The mercenary didn''t pay much heed to the injury as the arm was giving a rough jerk and twist to the side. Not quite enough to dislocate it but instead to force it''s owner up and out of the way. Jovani didn''t appreciate this treatment one bit and fought back by forcefully elbowing Cain in the face. A low hiss escaped the mercenary''s mouth. The force made the already damage cartge throb in protest. The worst pain felt it had been broken.
"Let me the fuck go. You don''t have any right to touch me with you being part of the problem. Cain managed to block the second elbow aimed at hitting his stomach with his own arm.
"Now, now. I''m not trying to be part of the problem. I''m here to make you realize that you''re the one that is causing so much more trouble than necessary. Why don''t the two of us take a few deep breaths, get our heads back about ourselves, and realize what we are doing, hmm?" Cain struggled but somehow managed to pull Jovani tightly against his own body in a semi-headlock. Sharp, ready to tear teeth made it hard for the full maneuver to aplish. Jovani didn''t care what he used to get the other to let go, he''d tossed out anything at Cain he could.
"You need to get off him." She approached with the intent of grabbing hold of the Vedova Nera boss, only to be shoved away roughly by the other man.
"Emma, this isn''t something for you to get involved with unless you want to side with him." The hollow, frosty edge to the voice made Emma freeze. It had been a long time since Jovani had taken such a tone with anyone. What had Alonso done to set him off in such a manner?
"I''m not siding with anyone here. I think you might care to stop what you''re doing before you kill the only reliable man you have with." She did her best not to be dissuaded by the other''s tone as she tried once more to get the Vedova Nera boss off the top of Alonso.
Jovani, once again, shoved her away. He used even more force than the first time. Emma winced as she hit a somewhat rough surface. The pain onlysted a second, reced by surprise when a pair of hands wrapped around her.
"My. It seems that someone has decided to beat me to the one thing I have wanted to do sinceing here. Do you mind telling me what urred here that would''ve resulted in this mess?" Emma didn''t expect to meet an amused, somewhat bitter pair of haze orbs when she looked up that belonged to no other than the mercenary she had wanted to pick a fight with.
"Are you going to keep looking at me like that, or will you exin the situation? I don''t want to get involved in something that won''t do me well." Emma''s expression turned to annoyance, her face falling; she shoved away from the other, who let her go quickly.
"What makes you think that I know? I''m only here because I heard the crash. I don''t care what your usual policy is; I suggest you help if you don''t want your man taken out by his boss before you can patch things up." Cain grumbled as he looked at the sight in front of him. It didn''t look like it would be an easy task to get Jovani off of Alonso. Did the right-hand man need their help? Cain couldn''t quite tell from their positions.
Alonso had almost given up on trying to protect his face as he moved to keep the hands off him. It hurt too much to try and speak, let alone breathe. What a great day this had somehow turned out to be. The exact kind that the right-hand man had wanted to try and avoid all along. Never again would he be allowing Jovani near any drugs.
Chapter 364 Not What He Came For
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Cain didn''t know whether to feel annoyed or surprised at a third party''s involvement in a situation he could easily handle himself. Although, the neer seemed to have no problem disabling the livid Vedova Nera boss with one swift move.
"Fucking asshole. This is all your fault. I didn''t think that you would be showing up untilter." Jovani struggled to catch his breath. It had been so long that he''d forgotten how hard the other could him. The Vedova Nera''s drug-muddled brain had at least enoughmon sense to know when he should stay down. A least until the wave of nausea that rocked his world passed.
"Oh. I had wholly intended to show at a muchter point. I hardly feel this type of matter is one toe early to. It just happened that I ended up finishing my prior engagement sooner than anticipated." By the books of the situation in front of him, it turned out to be a good thing. Gustavo already did the other mafioso a favor without realizing it.
"I don''t think the two of us are acquainted, but I would love the chance to get to know you." Cain extended his hand for a shake. The appendage only got a brief stare of disinterest from Richard, who turned away from the mercenary.
"You''re the second generation. I have no interest in getting involved with you." The cold indifference only further sparks Cain''s interest in the neer.s The cold. He watched as the other mafioso approached Jovani. The cold aura appeared to waver as he stood above the Vedova Nera boss.
"It would seem as though you were again not thinking before reacting. Attacking your own man within your estate? That''s a fool''s move, even for someone like you." The temperature in the area dropped at least twenty degrees as the Vedova Nera boss shot a harsh re at the man towering over him. The hatred came off of him in waves.
"Brat. Rather than standing there gawking, you''d do better by ensuring the other gets the attention he needs." Brat? Cain? The mercenary gaped for a second, unsure if he''d correctly heard the words that came out of the other''s mouth. He let out a low chuckle as his tongue darted out to swipe away the blood caked to his bottom lip.
"Look here. I don''t know who you are, but-" The words died on Cain''s lips when he was met by the barrel of a pistol the moment he lifted his head to give the other a level stare. An intense staring match took ce between the two men. The mercenary is closer to losing his cool than the mafioso who stood holding the gun. Richard broke the silence by pulling the gun''s safety.
"I don''t know who you are, nor do I care. I gave you a directive, expecting it to be followed without a fuss. Is that clear?" Cain gritted his teeth. He didn''t want to cede to this neer who seemed to think they could waltz in and take over the show. Yet, it didn''t seem as though there was any other option. A man who could take on Jovani without even batting an eye,e away unscathed, and still stand tall enough to bark orders? That type of man was one worth respecting.
"Fine. Whether you want to get to know me or not, don''t think our little meeting will end here. I will find youter so we can get better acquainted." Once again, Richard brushed him off.
The only thing he cared about was dealing with the Vedova Nera boss. Jovani thought Marcus had been the crazy one that needed to be handled carefully, huh? By the looks of the situation in front of him, perhaps it turned out to be the other way. One man who could manage to do so much damage was someone that people should watch out for. Not Richard, though; he''d dealt with worse over the years.
"Don''t think you can just turn your back on me like that!" Ah, he wasn''t done yet. Really? Richard didn''t have to look to sidestep the attack he knew wasing. Jovani could hardly stand in his current state. Sweeping the mafioso''s feet out from under him made the most sense. Follow up after? The Vedova Nera boss would undoubtedly do that.
"Did the drugs fuck your brain up that bad, or are you always like this?" A low grunt escaped Richard''s mouth. He caught the Vedova Nera boss''s fist but had to dig his heels into the hard floor to maintain his ground. Reckless, reckless idiot. Richard back-handed the other across the right side of the face. You released him simultaneously as he hit him with a well-aimed kick to knock the other back against the wall. Richard hardly had time for this. None of this was the reason that he''de there.
"Would you mind hurrying up rather than standing there and staring? If you don''t, you might very well be a casualty of this situation, and I don''t have time to deal with any more bodies." Cain shot Richard a re as he continued struggling to help Alonso stand. Could the man not see that he was doing his best? The half-unconscious man wasn''t the lightest person in the world to carry. The fight going on behind him didn''t make matters easier either. Neither one cared about who was around as they continued the spare.
"Jovi, I didn''te here to fight you. We had an appointment to talk, remember? Why don''t you take a minute to breathe, and we can start this over again?" Richard maintained his position as the Vedova Nera boss and picked himself up once more. Jovani swiped a hand across his mouth before spitting out blood-tinted saliva. Deep-rooted anger shone back in his eyes as he stared Richard down. The Vedova Nerva boss still wanted blood.
Did he never learn when to give up?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 365 Cool Off
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Richard''s eyes caught on the bleeding injured arm for one second too long. He only barely managed to avoid Jovani as the other made a go at him once more. Richard winced slightly as he felt the hand brush past his face, barely missing it''s mark.
"Talk? You were the one who wanted to talk afterdling all of those threats at me. You and I are connected by nothing but you still seem to think that you have right to tell me what to do or how to do. Alonso even thinks you''re right. How did you manage to make that one happen." Shit, couldn''t he catch a break? Richard''s teeth ground together as he braced himself for the next hit. Jovani needed to think that he had the upper-hand to make the next move work.
"Simple. Unlike you, your right-hand man had themon sense to stay in touch with me. Haven''t you ever heard the saying about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer?" Richard didn''t miss a beat. The words held the right amount of haughtiness to them to set the Vedova Nera boss off once more as he did what Richard hoped he would.
Jovani charged. His fighting training stuffed to the back of his mind as he only cared about trying to hit the other rather than protecting himself. One well-directed hit would surely take the edge off of all the anger he felt. Except, the hit he wanted would nevernd.
Richard used everything he''d been taught to use Jovani''s weight and recklessness against him. Getting ahold of the other''s arm, Richard leaned into the other man, using Jovani''s weight against him to throw the other man. The floor reverberated as the Vedova Nera boss''s back hit the floor with a hard. Strong enough to knock the wind out of the other but in a controlled way that Richard knew wouldn''t hurt the other.
"Are you ready to call it quits? Thest thing that I want to have to do right now would be to knock you out. Having to wait for you to wake up would cut into the little free time I have left." Richard crossed his arms. The next move would onlye if absolutely necessary. Too much intense movement after eating happened to be horrible for digestion. Thest thing he needed was to lose all that utterly delicious food he''d consumed earlier.
"One of these days I swear that I will be getting you back for all of this." Jovani couldn''t mask the vitriol in his voice even if he wanted to. Drugs made humans far too authentic for anything of the sort to be possible. One day, sooner rather thanter Jovani would prefer.
Richard nced around to see if anyone else had shown up while waiting for the Vedova Nera boss to make up his mind. No way in hell would the other mafioso offer a hand to help the boss up. Jovani would surely take it as a moment of weakness and use it against him.
"One day. Does that mean I can assume that you''re going to be willing to call a truce for now? Take a
few moments to reflect on what you did here?" Taking away the damage caused to Alonso, it would
take quite a bit of trouble to clean up the rest of the mess that the other had made. The broken vase and picture frames. The somewhat visible dents in the wall along with the blood. Tsk. Someone absolutely took things much too far.
Lucky for Richard only happened to be a guest. Someone else would have to be responsible for this type of problem for once.
"There is never going to be a time when there will be a truce between us. Not after everything you did." Richard let out a dryugh, shaking his head as he watched the Vedova Nera boss struggle to stand.
"You do realize that you''re in no ce to be ridiculing me right now. Clear your head Jovi and realize what exactly you did. Throw your bitter feelings away for a few moments and realize how fortunate you are that I showed up to deal with this. Could you imagine what your cousin would think if he saw anything?" Richard highly doubted Sam had even crossed the Vedova Nera boss''s mind even once. Far too concerned with beating the ever loving fluff out of his right-hand man to think about who might see and what they''d think of the situation.
"Fuck you. You have no right to criticize how I deal with my problems. If you had dealt with your own the right way, there wouldn''t even be a problem between us right now." Jovani spat at the other man, spraying blood on to the tiles as he did so. The deep cut inside his mouth would be hurting him sometimeter once he regained the ability to feel anything. Richard rolled his eyes as he turned his back on the other man. He didn''t need to stand around waiting for the other seeing as Jovani could obviously handle himself.
"Your cousin was never my problem to deal with. You were the one who said you would watch out for him. I only stepped in when you didn''t to try and fix what had already been broken long before my time. If you still want to try and talk, go get yourself cleaned up ande back when you''re presentable." Richard didn''t want to waste any more time on the other man than was absolutely necessary. Nothing good woulde it. After all, no matter how many times he''d tried to sort issues out with the Vedova Nera boss, they always hit the same wall.
Instead, Richard would head off to go about finding someone else to keeppany until Jovani decided if he wanted to talk or not. Maybe Samuel would be the right person to do that with. Richard didn''t want to meddle but how easy it would be to go about asking the younger cousin first-hand what took ce rather than waiting for the Princess who would never willingly open her mouth about the matter.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 366 For The Sake Of His Men
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She couldn''t have the time to deal with this on top of everything else, could she? Lena ran a She would be cutting it all off when she had a chancehand through her hair. Damn it. She cursed under her breath when her fingers got tangled in a knot. The moment she had a chance, she would be cutting it all off. Damn anyone who said she''d look better keeping it the way it was. Circumstances such as the one at hand left her with little time to care about her hair.
"Hester. I asked you to take care of one matter for me. What are we still waiting on?" Lena crossed her legs as she sat waiting in the chair. The hospital had been willing to give up one of their meeting rooms for the mafia. Not without a little bit of a huffy argument. They didn''t seem to understand the severity of the situation they were in until she contacted the director. The man had been fortunate thus far that Lena had too many other matters to handle at the current moment in time.
"Lena, Princess. We have handled everything how you asked us to. Right now, we are stuck waiting for the first call to be made." Hester exined as he nervously tapped away on hisputer. He needed to do something that kept him from having to make eye contact with the Princess. No one wanted catch her gaze the current moment in time out of fear of angering her.
"I already know that. I''m asking you why they haven''t gotten back to you yet if you exined how urgent this situation was." Should she have just taken care of calling on them herself? Had matters moved to such a point that no one respected the men who represented her. Heads would roll if they were made to wait much longer.
"If I were to hazard a guess, I would believe it''s due to the channels we need to take. Without direct contact, these sorts of matters can take longer. If you want, I can go about patching through the system in a different way?" One of the other men, John spoke up. The tooth pick in his mouth made and audible snap before he spit it across the floor.
"Hester, isn''t there a different route that we can take from this? You used the far back one but surely we can touch one a little closer?" John held out his tablet for the other man to look at it. Hester''s eyes scanned quickly over data presented to him as Lena leaned forward to try and catch a look.
"I apologize Princess, this would be better keep between us until we decide on how to move forward." John pulled the device away after Hester gave him the go-ahead. Better kept between them? Lena was the one who should have been making the calls, not them.
"John. I would rmend in the future that you watch how you speak to the Princess. You mean no harm but she will be the one to make the final decisions on anything." Hester intervened before the Princess could speak. Thest thing the situation needed was unnecessary fuel being added to the fire. How he wished that she''d been willing to have Julian there as well. Her Uncle would at least be able tohelp keep the heat off of them for the time being. Something that no one else in the room had managed to do thus far.
In fact, with each passing second, the room''s tension continued to build. Lena remainedpletely unaware or far too indifferent to notice. At least Hester assumed as much based on how she didn''t even try to shift her bodynguage to help his men rx. The generally considerate Princess everyone respected was being eaten away at by the terrible mood that only seemed to further consume her with each passing out. Not that anyone could me her with the current situation.
Still¡ Hester would be being remiss in his role if he didn''t at least bring it up to Lena. For the sake of his men, he had to be the one to do it.
"Princess, could we take a moment to step outside and speak?" Hester motioned for the men to remain as they were as he stood up. Lena gave the techy a level gaze. One that he had a hard time returning with the current dangerous aura surrounding her.
"Is it something that we cannot speak about here? I would rather remain in ce until we have answers for what is going to be taking ce." She''d long forgotten about needing to refill her pipe as her impatience for answers consumed her mind. She didn''t need her own main failing her the same way that the doctors had been doing thus far. Onest strike would be all it would take for everything to turn to hell. The kind of hell that Lena would be in the center of.
"I think that it would be better for us to take a moment to step outside." Hester swallowed thickly as he motioned towards the door. He''d feel far safer if the little demon stepped outside ahead of time. Sheplied with his request albeit in a rather begrudging manner. Her feet hit the floor rather roughly as she stood up and headed towards the door to leave the meeting room. Hester followed closely behind, leaving enough space between them as not to crowd her when she opened the meeting room door. Unexpectedly, Lena hardly stepped through the door, disappearing from sight as the door almost mmed into Hester''s face when it unexpectedly closed from the outside of the room. Surely Lena hadn''t been the one to do that?
"Princess?" Hester''s attempt to open the door failed as the handle refused to twist one way or another. He mmed his body against it to no avail. The thing wouldn''t budge even with this full weight.
That could never be a good sign in any situation.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 367 Crazy Wet Woman
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Touching without permission took the top of the list of things Lena hated more than anything else. The current circumstance she found herself in vited this in more than one way. Being pressed against the door left little wiggle room for her to move away from her assant as the wet seeped into her clothes.
"Come now. You can''t have invited me here without having what I want." Lena''s mind shut down for a brief second as hurried hands patted her all over, seeking out any pockets or crevices in the jacket that could''ve been used for hiding. The owner of the hands grumbled and growled under their breath, utterly unaware of how close the Princess was to snapping.
"Two seconds." The warning sent a chill through the other upants who shared the small space. While everyone else seemed to take note of the apparent caution, the hands roaming all over the body didn''t pause even for a brief second.
"Dear girl. You already know what I am looking for. Why don''t you give it to me, and we can go from there?" The others had no intention of stopping the invasion of personal space until they had gotten ahold of what they wanted. They didn''t even seem to care about everyone who was watching the strange situation taking ce. The only thing that made it stop was a slight, muffled click sound. The hands froze as though the noise indicated a cue for them.
"Get the fuck off me already! You know how much I hate having to repeat myself, Gabrie." Lena snarled; a second click echoed as she finally managed to get the other off. The princess piercing gaze bored into the other, who only took a small step away from her. Their hands froze in the same position they''dst been rummaging through her pockets.
"You did bring it." The eagerness didn''t go amiss by Lena, who waved the other to move further back. Gabrie didn''tply. Her fingers twitched as his eyes scanned for where the treasure she wanted was hidden as water continued to drip off her clothes. The red Scorpion princess wasn''t known for ying too many games. Thus, it had to have been overlooked.
"Gabrie, you''re starting to turn yourself into more trouble than this is worth." Lena''s tone shifted to something more put out as she pulled her hand off the interior jacket pocket. The prize.
Like a cat catching sight of its prey, all of Gabrie''s attention turned to the item that Lena had. Her thing! Grabbing hands reached for it, but Lena smacked them away before they could even get near. None of that would be allowed.
"Lena, Lena, Lena. Do you have to go about being so mean to me? You know that I will do anything you want me to the moment I have that. I need to hold it for five seconds first." The tall Italian woman practically purred as her eyes narrowed in on the object. She held out her hand this time rather than reaching for it. She didn''t seem to care about all the attention she drew to the two of them.
Lena, however, was not. Once again, the faces of the patients and hospital staff held something akin to dismay and uncertainty. Could she me them? Mafia and their familiars and minions rarely came around and took over a safe space such as a hospital. The Princess wouldn''t take the me for this, however. That rested on the director.
He should have been more honest with the patients regarding all the different types of patients the hospital catered to. Of course, if that news became public, many people would likely choose to avoid the hospital. Then again, he should have thought about that before greedily snapping up all the money that her family had been offering throughout the years.
"Are you going to let me have it now?" Lena tsked harshly at the other woman as she shook her head before turning her back towards the conference room door. She didn''t need strangers overhearing the type of conversations that they would be having. The Princess missed the brief look of disappointment that crossed over the other''s features when they rejected her. Gabrie couldn''t have that. It wouldn''t do at all.
What if something happened to the precious treasure she wanted before she even got the chance to have her hands on it?
"No. You''ll not get this until you take care of everything I want from you. Not after this little stunt you pulled." She turned to unlock the door but didn''t get that far before a hand slipped over her own. Gentle but firmly keep hers in ce. Lena tried to avoid it, but feeling something pressed firmly against her back made her swallow rather thickly in agitated frustration. Lena could''ve opened the door if she wanted to, but she did not want to greet her men in the awkward position.
"Lena. Lovely Princess. I would prefer it if you gave me what I want now. You know that I am always good for my word. If something happens to that, I won''t be able to finish my job sessfully with you." Gabrie spoke in a low husky tone of voice. At the current moment, she didn''t care who Lena was. She only cared about getting her hands on what she wanted. She didn''te all this way and get so close only to wait longer to hold it in her hands.
"Gabri, Do you want me to break it?" Lena''s threat didn''t fall on deaf ears though the one hand holding her own didn''t cease its previous actions.
"Break it? You would never think of doing such a thing. You need me more than you want to admit, and breaking such a precious item would give you nothing to barter with. I will find someone else to get it from." The overly confident tone grated on Lena''s nerves almost as much as the invasive appendage so close to her stomach.
"Are you sure about that? You didn''t get such a good look to see how rare it is." All movements ceased once more at these words.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 368 Political Donkey
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"You''re trying to pull my leg on that one, aren''t you? No way in the world did you, of all people, manage to find something like that." Gabrie muttered, hands ceasing their action, but she still refused to move her body from boxing the other in by the door. The moment she let go of the Princess again, she knew how impossible it would to get ahold of her once more.
"Do you think I have anything to gain by lying to you about something like this? I needed to find something beneficial to get you around." Lena''s tone held a firm confidence to the back of it. The Princess didn''t have to see the other''s face, too, knowing that the other was likely silently cursing her right then. trying to sell me on the fact that you managed to get ahold of something so precious; let me have another look at it." Gabrie''s demand came without her moving away from boxing Lena in. The taller woman didn''t want to give the Red Scorout Princess a chance to get away item''s validityidity of the thing for herself.
Lena may have been good at what she did, but Gabrie hadn''te without her tricks. Ones that she wouldn''t hesitate to engage with it if she needed to get the princess to be morepliant. A rather lofty task but one she would manage to aplish in the name of getting what she wanted.
"If you will get off me once more. I would be happy to let you have another look. You won''t be getting your hands on it, however. Not until you do what I want." Damn it. If that overly eager cat-like woman didn''t get off her soon, Lena would have to find somece to dry her jacket. Getting soaked was also not ideal for someone feeling less than perfect.
"How do I know that the moment I let you go, you''re not just going to take the item with you and leave me out here?" The next question came as Gabrie retracted her hand slightly but refused to create any breathing room between.
"You know exactly how much that item means to me and how far I would be willing to go to get my hands on it. I don''t think either of us intended me toe here and start a blood bath so early on." Lena let out a low, dryugh in response to the other''sment. Blood both? Did the other honestly think the Princess would allow such a thing to happen?
"There will be no blood bath taking ce here today. You have to do what I''m'' telling you to, and you can confirm what I said. I don''t have any reason to hide behind such lies." The Princess was beginning to feel more inclined towards breaking the damn item with each passing second that the Italian woman continued to hesitate. Her method had be moreplicated than she''d initially thought.
Damn Hester for being right on this matter.
"Very well. You can keep your hands on it, but I want a good look at it. You know what I need to see to confirm that you''re not lying." Gabrie begrudgingly shifted away from the Red Scorpion Princess, creating enough space for the other to turn around but remaining near enough that she could grab ahold of the more petite woman once more if the other tried to trick her.
"You should know I don''t'' go back on any promises I make. I agreed to you get this in return for your help. The fact that you chose to believe that I might still go about trying to trick you shows how little you have changed over the past few years." Lena kept one hand on the door''s handle as she turned away to look at the other woman.
Pity Lena had forgotten to bring her gun with her. Three times would be far too much for her to allow the other to grab ahold of her. That would''ve made this situation far easier to deal with.
"I don''t understand your obsession with these little things, but if it gets you to do what I want, it''s'' worth the hassle." Gabrielle looked as though she were ready to pounce once more as Lena revealed the item. The sight of the cylinder-shaped object caused Gabri''s eyes to light up like a child''s on Christmas morning.
"Fucking Christ. You weren''t lying about it! How did someone like you manage to get ahold of it." Without thinking, she reached out to try and grab it, only to have Lena stop her once more.
"What makes you think I haven''t been holding on to all of this in case a situation like this should arise?" Gabri was too captivated by the rarity of the item to be offended by the Princess''s response or the smug tone of her voice.
"I thought, ording to stories, that there were only supposed to be three of these in existence. Political Donkey is one of the rarest ones there is! Let me at least touch it for five seconds. I need to feel it to make sure it isn''t fake." Lena wouldn''tturningshe ced it again in her pocket before she turned to face the door. You would get would getting it once we finish up here. The less time you waste out here, the sooner you can get your hands on it." Lena didn''t bother watching behind her as she turned to open the conference room door.
Having proven to Gabrie that she wasn''t lying, she knew the soaking wet, crazy woman would follow her and do whatever she wanted, if only to get her hands on her precious little treasure.
What exactly was so addictive about collecting Pez dispensers? Lena never understood it, nor cared to so long as it helped her get what she wanted. She would collect a hundred of them in the future if she needed to.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 369 Thats Not Even Remotely Close
As Lena stepped through the door, Hester could only feel relief. Thank goodness he''d not chosen to pull his gun yet. No way would that situation have worked out in his favor. A gun in the Princess''s face would only end badly. ident or not, her current mood would leave no space for forgiveness or second chances.
"Hester. There isn''t anything to worry about anymore. Our chat can wait until ater point." The tech didn''t have to inquire as to why when he saw Gabrielle. The Italian woman looked precisely the same as he remembered from theirst meeting.
"Hesterious. Nice to see you again, as always. Next time, you might want to work on a different method for reaching out." The Italian woman patted him roughly on the shoulder as she stepped around him and Lena to enter the room.
"Surely you didn''t have all of this setup in hopes of getting in touch with me? I''m quite ttered you went to all this trouble." She cooed quietly as she took in all the unfamiliar faces. No one looked strong enough to be able to handle her. Good. She hadn''te there looking for a fight. At least not get it.
"Gabri, if you want to get what I have for you, don''t go about antagonizing my men." Lena didn''t need one more child to watch out for. As a reminder, she waggled the pez dispenser in front of the other before pocketing it once. The Italian could growl and cuss in hernguage as much as she wanted. She would never leave before getting her hands on the object of her desire.
"Everything here isn''t only to get in touch with you. It''s part of the reason you''ve brought it here. Something you need to go about helping us with." Hester borated, stepping past the other as he pointed to a vacant seat.
"There are much bigger matters we are attempting to handle than just you." The tech did his best to motion for his men their manners.
Gabrielle was obnoxious without question. She''d likely end up murdering someone. Currently, though, they couldn''t afford for any fights to break out. At least not with the mood that Lena was presently in.
"What kind of big thing? Best be something interesting if you want me to help." She faced towards the back of the chair as she sat down, legs spread on either side of the chair.
The mission better be worth the trouble of what she wanted to get ahold of. If not, stealing would be the better option.
"If you''d sit down and shut up for a few minutes, you''d know already." The Princess sniped at the other woman, tossing her jacket on the back of her chair.
God. Did no one know how to be quiet just for a few moments? Was it too much to ask for with everything else that had been going on? Lena indeed hoped not. Wet clothes plus annoyance had made her trigger finger start to itch again.
Gabrielle listened for once as she made a motion to indicate her, zipping her lips shut and throwing the key away. Technically there shouldn''t have been any key, but now wasn''t the time.
"We''re on all of this because someone has been causing trouble for the family. We didn''t invite you here to a hospital for the fun of it." Hester began to exin after a motion from the Princess.
"We brought you in to help with the who and why. You have enough skills to figure that out without needing much time. Your connections are endless, and you''ll be wellpensated for them." The tech didn''t pause even when it appeared Gabrielle lost interest.
"It might not be the kind of job you''re used to, but it''s what you''ll take on." Lena kicked the Italian woman''s chair to remind her of whose presence she was.
"I have done plenty of jobs like this. If you have something for me to work off of, I can finish it in a few minutes." Gabrielle rocked the chair, waiting for a response, until she realized everyone had fallen silent. Did she say something terrible?
The Italian''s eyes turned to the Princess, whose attention was focused on the screen before her instead of the other woman.
"Hester." Hester cleared his throat, grabbing his tablet to show the other woman what they were dealing with. The only word that slipped out of Lena''s mouth was before she continued what she did as she engaged the person sitting next to her.
"You''re here precisely because we don''t know what we are dealing with. Please find out for us. We can provide you with everything we know, but we don''t know the who or why. Just a few guesses." Did they bring her here expecting that she would be able to work some magic for them? That didn''t sound promising in the slightest¡
"Y''all do realize that I am a normal person just like the rest of you? I need more than a few whiffs of something if you expect me to help. Certainly, you have gotten my attention, but if you want instant, you must do better than this." Grabelle snatched the tablet out of the other''s hand before he even had a chance to lower it for her to take it properly.
Tch, this wouldn''t do in the slightest. Since when did the Princess get so desperate that she would request such a thing happen?
"If you don''t think you can do something immediately about this, maybe you need to think and consider it. I am sure I can do a far better job than you." The tension had barely disappeared in the room once the Italian woman returned full force with the neer who invited themselves in without asking.
"Last time I checked, I was the one who was more qualified to take on this type of case between the two of us." All eyes turned to the neer who dared to speak in such an arrogant manner.
Chapter 370 Unfriendly Competition
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Lena''s eyes rose to meet Eve''s. No, she shouldn''t have been there yet. Narrowed eyes darted over to Hester who shared the same expression that took over the Lena''s features. Eve was going to be their back up n. Howe she was here when Lena hadn''t requested it yet. Who made that call?
"Eve. I don''t remember telling you that you should make your way over here." Lena stood up. She didn''t know what was going on between the two women but it didn''t take a genius to figure out there was some tension.
"No you didn''t. I heard though that there was a problem you needed help with and thought why waste time waiting? It seems like I made the right call either way." Eve put her equipment down without waiting for anyone else to approve her presence.
"Wow. The one person in the world that I didn''t think that I would be seeing here. Now this gives me a reason to not want to be here." Gabrielle set down the tablet before she even finished looking through everything. Hester was the only thing that stopped her from standing up.
"Hold up. I think that there has been some sort of misunderstanding here. Eve you''re the one who shouldn''t be here. I think that it would be best for the time being if you decided to leave." After they got the one person they really needed here, he couldn''t afford for her to leave. Hester needed to figure out what to do and fast.
"I understand your role in this situation. I however don''t know you that well and thus have no obligation to respond to you. I only came here to off my services at the request of Lena due to her close rtionship with Jovani." The petnt woman crossed her arms over her chest.
Both her and Gabrielle were on the same level in terms of not knowing many of the people in the room. Although none of the people in the room gave off the vibe that they were well worth remembering in the first ce. Putting names to faces were neither one of the women''s specialty unless they did something memorable.
"Lena darling. Are you really going to go about letting this woman talking to me in such a manner? Surely you don''t mean to tell me that you anticiapated that the two of us would be working together?" Gabrielle couldn''t even bring herself to look at Jovani''s fianc¨¦. It would only serve to bring the anger bubbling upinside of her closer to the over boiling point. Yet, just like Eve, she couldn''t quite bring herself to look over at Lena either. The Red Scorpion Princess appeared as though she weren''t even giving their bicker a shred of her attention.
"I was just about to ask the same thing. Especially since this would be the second favor I am doing for you on top of the job I''m already working on." Hester opened his mouth to interject one more when the sound of loud, harshughter broke the silence. The sound echoed around the room with such a genuine ring to it one couldn''t even mistake it for being forced. Hester''s dropped expression indicated that out of everyone in the room, only he knew what that sound meant.
"You know, I have been dealing with such arge amount of shit over these past few days that one more problem is thest thing I need to be dealing with." Lena dropped the tablet onto herp to focus on both the women. Her eyes shimmering with something almost akin to delight yet somehow much colder and more deadly.
"I brought the both of you here because there is a job that I want done, you agreed to do it without a second thought. If there were special circumstances that needed to be noted, you should have done it before now." Lena rose from the chair, raising to her full height that seemed more imposing than should''ve been possible with her small stature.
"If you neither one of you can figure out how to work together, the door is right there. However. Keep in mind that the moment you walk though that door, the Red Scorpion Family will never consider hiring you again. No matter the asion." Despite the obvious tension between the two women, they both wisely kept their mouth''s shut as Lena''s eyes scanned over them once more. Lena only continued speaking when it seemed as though neither woman was going to protest.
"If you two cant'' figure out how you''re going to work together, turn it into apetition if you must. I don''t care how you figure it out, the only thing that you need to keep in mind is that you only have one chance to get it right." Lena turned around to speak with Hester when something grasped her jacket sleeve. Instincts kicked in and without a second thought, the princessshed out.
Gabrielle barely managed to avoid the well-aimed kicked by a millisecond as she released the Princess''s jacket before the tip of the steel-toed boot could make contact with her arm narrowly saving her from a fractured wrist.
"Easy up Princess." Gabrielle took a few steps back to put some space between her and the other woman whose expression indicated that she wouldn''t be so generous the second time around.
"I just had one question regarding one of the things that you said. Competition. Are there any rules to follow if were to implement something of the sort?" The Princess didn''t bother answering the question as she turned away.
"That''s something that the two of you can figure out if you''re going to go through with this. I have more important things to do than babysit the two of you and tell you how to solve your problems. If I wanted to have that job, there are a lot of other people I could have brought in for that." Lena snapped her fingers as an indication that the question signaled the end of the conversation. She didn''t have the time to be dealing with such petty issues.
Eve and Gabrielle''s eyes locked briefly as both women pulled their gaze away from Lena to gauge their opponent. Competition? If the other wanted to do it¡ that could add a little something a little extra and worthwhile to the currently disdainful situation they were in.
Why not?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 371 It Only Took Seemingly Forever
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Richard couldn''t express how troublesome he found the maze that was Jovani''s estate to be. It veered off somewhere else when they thought they had found the right way to their destination. God. Could the man avoid making at least one thing in his lessplicated? Indeed, protection was important against enemies. This, however, was overkill even for the traditional level of precautions that most mafia boss took.
The mafioso rubbed his forefinger and thumb together in hopes of dulling the tingling feeling that seemed like it wouldn''t go away any time soon. Damn. Something must''ve fractured thest time he punched the Vedova Nera boss. That was no good¡ªthe only good, reliable feature about his body. Now wasn''t the time for him to be going about and injuring his dominant hand.
"Jovi. You and I will talk long about what happened here once you get yourself sorted out." Richard muttered under his breath. His right hand ran along the wall as he took another corner. He''d been told by one of the few people in the estate still in their right mind that this way through the estate would lead to Samuel''s room.
Thus far, however, empty room after the open space had been the only thing to greet the mafioso no matter how far down the corridor he went. There had even been a short flight of stairs. So quickly that Richard couldn''t tell if he had just been put there for fun or taken to another flight of the house. Voices didn''t seem to carry that far in the ce either.
Well-built walls were a thing to be jealous of. Richard couldn''t remember thest time he lived in a ce where the chatter of the outer world didn''t bleed through into his home and disrupt what were supposed to be peaceful evenings and mornings. The mafioso tapped an impatient finger against the hard ster. Lovely as it was, how much further did one have to go?
"Sam. We already had this chat once already. It would be far better for you to stay here for now." Richard''s ears perked up as he turned the corner. That sounded like a voice. An unfamiliar, muffled one but a voice, nheless. Had life finally been found?
"He''s my cousin. I don''t believe there is any real reason I can''t go and check on him rather than stay here. My ce of authority rules that I am in the right to do that." Now that was the right one. Bingo.
"Ah ah. I don''t think that you should be heading off anywhere right now. Not after I have gone through all of the trouble ofing to find you." A firm hand on the other''s chest was the only thing that stopped the two of them from colliding. The younger of the two moving as though he were on a mission to be somewhere he should''ve been yesterday.
The knit brow expression remained as Samuel locked gazes with the neer who stopped him mid-stride. Is someone else unexpected that Jovani invited over? Oh, wait¡
"Richard? What are you doing here?" Recognition dawned on Samuel''s face, but Emily had been the one to speak up.
"Fuck. Out of all the times you decided to drop in, why did you have to pick today?" The expletive was followed by a rough smack against the wall on her right side as she moved to put herself between the two men.
"Nice to see you as well. You can be at ease, though. The situation was dealt with, and I am not dropping by unexpectedly. Jovani had been the one to invite me here. Although, he''s been anything other than a decent host." Richard absently flexed his left hand. Despite holding back, it still smarted a great deal. Should it havee as a surprise, though? Jovani had one hell of a hard head to remain so stubborn after so many years had already passed.
Next time Richard would have to use a different body part or tool.
"Dealt with? What in the world did you do? I thought that mercenary said he''d be the to sort everything out?" Emily''s lips pursed as she looked between the two men standing before her. Samuel shouldn''t have been there for this conversation. Emily had gone to watch him precisely to avoid this situation.
"Dealt with what exactly? I thought you had just told Emily that there hadn''t been anything going on of concern?" Samuel''s head turned to look at the other but halted him. A firm hand on his chin forced the other''s attention to return to the older mafioso.
"While I understand that other matters are happening here, I would appreciate it if you''d put your attention back on me for now." It didn''t take a genius to note the discontent expression on the young man''s face being forced to turn his attention onto the other. He wanted answers from Emily first.
"Don''t worry about what is going on with Jovani. That issue has already been taken care of and is hardly something you need to worry about. Right now. There are other more important matters that I want to discuss with you." Samuel''s gaze lingered in the direction Emily stood as though he couldn''t see the other with Richard''s hand still holding him in ce.
"What kind of important matters?" The mafioso motioned for Emily to leave or deal with whatever she needed knowing that he was talking with Samuel. Richard didn''t want anyone else to be involved in the conversation until he found out exactly what was going on.
"I had hoped that the two of us could talk about whatever is going on with Lena. The little princess whom you''re almost always attached to from what I''ve seen." Samuel''s 360 change in expression told Richard everything he needed to know. Whatever was going on, it was no small matter. Coming to the estate might yet turn out not to be an entire waste of time.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 372 Shared Cigars And An Unexpected Response
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Richard didn''t'' think that mention the princess would lead to Samuel suddenly winding down and bingpliant. It didn''t'' take much to lead him to somewhere further away where they could chat in peace. No wonder the princess kept him by her side. Reliable yet fairly easy to handle.
"I don''t think that there is anyone around currently. We might have to deal with going about having this conversation without anything to eat. Unless you would like to go out and talk about this over ate lunch?" Richard could always go for food. Especially when a seemingly heavily conversation loomed over the horizon.
"I ate earlier and I don''t'' think that this is the kind of conversation to be having outside." Outside? The kid didn''t want other people to hear? Interesting¡ Richard only shrugged his shoulders as he crossed his legs and leaned back further in the chair.
"I''m always in favor of fresh air but the choice is ultimately yours. As long as you agree to talk about whatever is going on." Samuel refused to take a seat even as the mafioso inclined his head in the direction of empty armchair across from him. Samuel instead chose to stuff his hands in his pockets.
"The princess is currently avoiding me so depending on what you want to know, I don''t think that there will be much for us to talk about." The ck of a cigar case being shut broke the heavy silence that followed these words.
"Kid, I''m interested in finding out exactly why she''s avoiding you. That is something that I''m sure you can provide the answer for. Have you ever smoked before?" Richard carefully light the cigar in his mouth before tossing the lighter onto the table. The mafioso inhaled deeply before releasing arge ring of smoke.
"I don''t have interest in such things." Still, Samuel watched the other intently from where he stood between the two seats.
"You might not have an interest in it but I think that you would find it could be a good aid to help with whatever is going with your nerves. Nicotine and the likes are always great for helping to calm fried nerves." Richard held out the cigar in the other''s direction after taking another puff from it. Richard rarely shared his pricy, expensive treasures with anyone who he didn''t deem worthy of being in his circle. They were one of his few indulgences outside of food and were far too good for anyone else that fell outside of that category.
He watched as Samuel seemed to have a hard internal debate with himself over whether or not he should take the object. Such an innocent kid. Exactly the kind that didn''t belong in their world. Yet, here they were. Were they to ever y ''never have I ever'' the kid would put even the tamest of mafioso among any of the other families to shame with how few risky or indecent things he''d ever done.
"Just take it already. A few puffs aren''t going to hurt you. If you don''t like it, you can just hand it back over without any harm being done." Richard leaned over further in his chair to hand the object off to the other. Samuel almost dropped as long fingers fumbled with figuring out exactly how to grab the elongated object. Richard did his best not to smirk too noticeably while observing the other.
"Just take it slow and don''t inhale too deeply at first. Take your time getting used to it." Richard coached as Samuel put the cigar to his lips, pushing it past them despite the way his lips as though attempting to form a sour expression around the taste of the unfamiliar object. The mafioso nodded his head in approval as the kid took the first puff. Maybe a little too deep and hard based on the way his stomach and chest moved as he inhaled.
"There ya go. Now maybe you can think about taking a seat so we can really get into discussing what is going on." Richard held out his hand to take the cigar back after Samuel had a few puffs. His nonverbal expression made it clear what he thought of the cigar as he handed it back but theck of words neither confirmed or denied what the expression on his face made clear.
"Wouldn''t it be better by now to go and see what is going on with Jovani?" Samuel''s eyes shifted towards the room''s closed door. Richard could say what he wanted but younger cousin knew something bigger than the mafioso indicated was going on with Jovani.
"Now. It would be far better if you would sit your ass down already and stop avoiding having this conversation with me." Richard snapped his fingers in the direction of the chair and fixed Samuel with a look that said the matter was no longer up for debate. Sitting was expected no longer optional.
"Lena hasn''t told me anything about what is going on. I would guess however based upon the expression on your face and the fact that you''re here it must be something big." Richard once more put the cigar in his mouth as he waited to see what the other would have to add. Surely after a few puffs of the cigar getting the other to speak wouldn''t be that hard. There was a reason why they were one of Richard''s favorite and it had nothing to do with the amazing hickory smell and taste that lingered for hours after he''d finished smoking.
"Because this is something going on between Lena and myself, I don''t know if it would be right for me to talk about it with a third party. I''ve hardly had the time to figure out exactly what is going on myself." Samuel sunk into the other leather armchair but hardly seemed to rx as he remained perched near the edge rather than fully seated.
"The fact that you haven''t had the chance to process what is going on is exactly why you need to speak with someone else about it. I''m sure you''ve said something to Jovani. Anyone would speak with family about such things first, it only makes sense. I hardly doubt thought that he is the right person to give you advice on how to deal with Lena and whatever is going on. Why don''t you start by telling me the issue is first." Richard held out the cigar to Samuel once more. All it should take was just a little bit more before the other would fully rx.
Samuel didn''t refuse this time, putting to his mouth without missing a beat. The slightly zed look in his eyes told Richard what he needed was already starting to happen.
"I don''t think that there is much tell. Lena pulled a gun on me after which she decided to send me away." The mafioso almost dropped the cigarette as it was handed back up him barely avoiding burning himself as the words sunk in.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 373 A Gun Out Of All Things?
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Shit. Richard hadn''t expected something of that magnitude. A scuffle at most. Disagreement regarding current events or so. But the princess actually pulled a gun on her boy? Damn it. Richard knew she would sometimes be reckless, but this took it to apletely different level.
"What do you think would be a reasonable response in that situation? With the world you live in, I''m sure you have been faced with that type of situation before." Richard pressed his lips tightly together. This conversation wasn''t meant to be about him. The mafioso put the cigar back in his mouth as he leaned further back in his chair to answer or not.
"Samuel. Right now isn''t the time to be asking me about such. I want to know more about what happened between you two. I heard the rumor regarding a scuffle with someone." The kid hardly seemed to pay attention to his words, though. Samuel''s expression remained fixed on a nk spot on the wall as the faraway look in his eyes only grew. Maybe the hit had been a little too hard for someone not used to that type of thing.
"I thought after some time that she would be willing to talk it over with me, but Lena seems keen on stonewalling me instead. I understand that a lot is happening right now, but that''s why I should be there with her and not over here." Samuel''s nails dug into the arm of the chair, teething gritting as his eyes narrowed as though he had some internal battle.
"Sam. The princess hardly lets her own family be there for her. To let a stranger such as yourself get as close to her as you have been able to be something unheard of. I can''t say that normal couples deal with this type of argument, but I''m sure there have been worse over the years in the history of the mafia." Those words sounded somewhat familiar to Samuel. Ah right. They''de from Jovani.
"Don''t you think that''s even more reason for her not to do something of that nature with me? Had he imagined the other intimate interaction between the rooftop moments prior? Perhaps Lena never felt the same way about the situation as he did. I thought that we were starting to make some good progress."
"It is. How things should y out and what happens hardly ever aligns with this side of the world. After spending more time here, you''ll realize that yourself. Especially when you take over being the boss." Richard''s intended words of encouragement didn''t hit Samuel as he hoped they would. Instead, the kid suddenly acted like he would stand up, but he never made it as far as his equilibrium failed to help him reach an upright position.
"Easy, kid. It would be best if you weren''t thinking about trying to move too much right now. Retake this." Richard held out the cigar once more. Lena would probably murder him should she find out he''d gone about drugging her fianc¨¦. Gun or no gun, Richard knew the princess''s feelings wouldn''t be so quick to change, or at least he put arge wager on the fact that they wouldn''t.
"What exactly is in this?" Despite the hesitated slur of words, Samuel still took the cigar from the other as he sunk back into the chair. There was something a little too addictive about the item that made it hard to resist.
"Nothing dangerous. Just a little something extra that makes it easier to rx after a stressful. Well worth the extra money I pay for it." If not, Richard would''ve found a new vendor long ago. Richard stood up to grab the ashtray from across the room. He didn''t care to monitor Samuel as the kid kept the cigar longer than he had thest two times.
"You wouldn''t have to worry about getting addicted to anything, no matter how much you use. One of the reasons I chose it out of the many avable options." Richard continued to speak despite the kind seeming more focused on figuring out what the item in his mouth held that was so special versus listening to the mafioso.
"Here now, you should consider returning that to me now." Richard tried to take it from the other but a third unexpected hand appeared and snatched it up before the mafioso could get his hands on it.
"Now. This is certainly an interesting situation to walk in. Here I thought that perhaps we would get a chance to catch up but instead, I find you ying counselor. Aplicated situation indeed." Richard''s eyes narrowed, lips downturned as he watched the intruder put the cigar in his mouth with a smirk. Damn Cain, he knew that there was no way the mafioso would take the cigar back after it had been in his filthy mercenary mouth.
"I only heard a little bit of what was going on. Care to fill me in on the rest? Maybe there might be something I can help with." Cain leaned on the back of Samuel''s chair, peering down at the kid, who didn''t seem as though he quite understood what was going on.
"Out now. Cain, you have no right to be part of this conversation, and it hardly has anything to do with you." Richard barked harshly as he snapped his fingers. The mercenary didn''tply, however, as the only thing that shifted was the smirk growing on his face.
"Dicky. Samuel here and I know have gotten to know each other a little bit over the past day. Considering this is his problem, I do believe he has the right to tell me if he wants me out or not. Isn''t that right?" Cain took a puff of the cigar before handing it back to Samuel. If Cain hadn''t caught the kid smoking and tasted the cigar for himself, he wouldn''t have believed what Richard was doing.
"Cain, are you sure that you want to push your luck with me after the day we''ve already been having?" The threat didn''t go unnoticed as Cain''s gazezily slide over to the mafioso. The Chesire cat smirk didn''t waiver an inch as he simply shrugged his shoulders.
What was the worst Richard could do to him?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 374 You Go To Your Corner And Ill Go To Mine
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Eve never liked it when she couldn''t reach Jovani on his phone. The man did enough stupid things that she had plenty of reasons to worry. Especially after the most recent stunts he''d been pulling. Wasn''t someone supposed to be stopping? Eve racked her brain but couldn''t recall exactly who.
"Oya. We are supposed to be working on stuff. This isn''t the time to be taking personal calls. If you have something more pressing, skedaddle and let me do my job." Eve could feel her right eye twitching as she put her phone away. Gabrielle had never been good at reading the atmosphere. Otherwise, she would have already figured out to leave Eve alone. The Vedova Nera boss''s fiance had purposely picked the furthest corner of the room put space between her and the other woman.
The tall Italian woman hadn''t figured out how to take the clue as she leaned against the wall, a picture of pure boredom. Gabrielle did her best to give off the impression that she was focused on what Lena was doing. Eve knew better. It only took basic observation skills to see that the Italian woman kept ncing at her out of the corner of her eye.
"I don''t think it is any of your business what I do. I came here hired by the Princess. Not you." The reply came rtivelyte, but Eve didn''t care. She didn''t have to answer or exin herself to anyone else. She would murder Jovani if she found out he''d done anything stupid while she was away. She let out a low huff as she went to turn away to head back over to the table.
"Hey, now. We don''t have the best history, but you could at least try." Gabrielle made a vague swipe at grabbing Eve''s arm as she passed, but the other leaned away. The hacker didn''t even spare the Italian woman a nce as she continued walking away.
"Try what? You''re the one who went about burning any potential bridge that could''ve existed between us. I''ve moved on from it already; it is about time you did too." Gabrielle''s head tilted slightly. Had Eve tried to tell her what to do instead of ming her? That took a mightyrge amount of gall.
"Child. You might want to watch what you say in the future. Last time I checked, there wasn''t anyone to me for what happened. Even if there were, it certainly wouldn''t have been me." Gabrielle brushed herself away from the wall as she breezed past Eve, almost bumping into the other as she reimed her previous seat.
"Lena, how much longer will we have to wait around here? I don''t think my stomach can handle being in the same space with this neer for much longer." In different, cold eyes met her plea.
"Why don''t you go stand back outside and cool off then? The rain might help get your brain functioning properly so you can be useful." Ow. Talk about harsh. Gabrielle tsked lightly as she leaned back in the chair enough to force the front two legs off the floor.
"I"m plenty useful. You''re the one who decided to change the rules at thest minute. Without the dead weight, I would''ve already had this taken care of easily." The Italian''s grumbling was met with a harsh smack to the back of the head from the Princess. The little human had somehow managed to move behind Gabrielle before the other took note.
"I''m going to allow that. Only because you''re still holding my precious treasure hostage." Allowing it didn''t mean she wouldn''t re sullenly in Lena''s direction. Thetter, much like Eve, didn''t pay her much attention.
"Technically, I am your boss. So whether you allow it or not, I will still do it, and there''s nothing you can do about it." Gabrielle''s mood soured at the statement. Despite Lena being the boss, that was no way to treat her. The Italian woman huffed and puffed as her attention turned toward Hester.
"If you interrupt me from doing your job, it will take twice as long for me to answer your question." He didn''t allow her to speak, nor did his eyes move from being glued to theputer. Only one finger shot up when Gabrielle opened her mouth a second.
"Hester. I don''t want to ask you anything; I want you to give me the bloodyputer." She snatched saidputer before the tech could protest. She expertly maneuvered it onto herp and turned away from the other to see what he''d been doing.
What a bloody mess.
"Hester. Do you even know what you are doing? This is all a damn bloody mess here right now." She red over at Hester, who looked less than amused that someone had gone about taking hisputer away.
"As if you''re one to speak. I wouldn''t have to do any of this if you had agreed from the start. Don''t judge when you''re not even helping." Hester leaned across the chair to try to regain theputer, but she wouldn''t let him have it.
"You need a lot of help right now. Don''t even think about taking it back." Gabrielle could easily see what the other was trying to do, except that he was making a huge mess out of it.
"Eve. Why don''t youe over here and see if you can make sense of this?" Gabrielle mocked, raising theputer above her head to call the other.
"If you go about breaking myputer, I will never work with you again after. You wouldn''t even be able to get that treasure you''ve been so serious about wanting to get." The usual threat fell on deaf ears as Gabrielle focused more on getting Eve''s attention. The other woman, however, was an expert and could ignore the other nuisance.
"How about you stay over there and go to your corner, and I will go to mine. I can do the job well enough without cleaning up someone else''s mess. I might be able to take you more seriously. You could do it yourself?"
Gabrielle smirked. Another challenge already, or was the other woman just too scared? That would be a challenge she would be willing to take up. Eve would be eating her words by the end of the day. So would Hester.
Chapter 375 Not This Or That
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Lena ended up stepping out of the room to take a breath. Too much wasted time and not enough work getting done. Why did Eve thinking along would be a good idea when she hadn''t been called? That question might remain a mystery until she found out what the other woman was thinking. Lena leaned up against the wall as she pulled her pipe out.
The Princess lit up the pipe as she shifted away from the door to stand on the opposite side of the hospital hallway. She didn''t think that Jovani would be the one behind this type of thing happening. The crazy Vedova Nera boss had enough brain cells to know better than to interfere in such a way. Unless he came along to do it himself, at least she had been able to confirm that there wasn''t anything wrong with the data he provided.
Except for the source that he got it from. The Princess''s lips turned down as she took a deep puff from the pipe. How could he think it would be good to get involved with mercenaries? The exact kind of people who often caused problems with the mafia for no good reason. She clicked her lips together as she went further down the hall. She needed to take care of other things while waiting for everyone else to finish up.
Gabrielle needed to hurry up and get the work done. Otherwise, why had she gone about wasting all the time to go and fetch her? Although, if she had known Gabrielle woulde along, she wouldn''t have requested Gabrielle. Both seemed reliable in their way. Eve, however, was undoubtedly easier to get in contact with and deal with. She didn''t at least want absurd things as pay to get such simple work done.
"nurse. I would prefer if things are going on with my family, you won''t stand outside my room murmuring about them. It wasn''t the first time that Lena had caught them doing this. Her calm gaze and steely eyes almost always sent them scuttling away without saying a word to her.
They would leave to the doctors. The ipetent men had nothing to say beyond what they''d already told her. Every question she asked came back with the same answer - wait and see. Nothing much else to do. It would be up to them to make the next decision so on and on, until it gave her a headache. How in the world did her uncle manage to deal with that?
She was speaking of that man. He''d somehow taken over her position of not leaving the hospital room when no one else was there. The more time passed, the worse it seemed to wear on him, even more than her. Lena chewed absently mindedly on the end of the pipe as she watched her uncle from the window in the hospital room door. How much longer would this go on before something changed? Surely her father would know by now that it was getting closer to being time for him to wake up.
Lena only looked away from the door when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Was it already time for people to go about bothering her again? She hadn''t been away from Hester and the others that long. Indeed Gabrielle and Eve hadn''t caused that much destruction, no matter how much they disliked each other. It wasn''t time for the Princess to go back yet. She hadn''t even gotten the chance to go and check on her brother and see what was up with him.
He was the one person Lena didn''t need to worry about. Her ever-optimistic sibling didn''t even act fazed over the current events. If he was, he did a decently good job hiding it behind a fair amount of bravado.
"Even if I can''t see anything right now, it never takes much to figure out who is at the door. Always so quiet, but your presence is hard to miss." Leo wasn''t allowed to sit up yet. Not until the swelling went down, but that didn''t stop him from turning his head to look in the Princess''s direction.
"Are you going to say anything more this time or stay silent likest time? If you are, you could at least tell me what the expression on your face currently looks like so I know what you''re thinking." Lena responded with a soft scoff, putting the pipe out before entering the room. She set it on the table near the door; the object is far too warm to fit back into her pocket.
"What kind of expression do you think is on my face right now?" Lena scanned her eyes over the other''s body. Leo''s physical injuries weren''t that bad. His head had taken the worst of the hit, much like Clive. Except out of the three of them, Leo had been willing to return to thend of the living promptly.
"Knowing you and everything that is going on right now, I imagine you have a rather sour expression. One of those that tells everyone around you that they should be careful approaching least you bit them." Leo reached his right hand out, instinctively knowing that was the side LEna would be on based on the direction her voice came from.
"Or maybe it''s'' that concerned expression that you hardly ever let anyone else see except when you think they aren''t looking." The young sibling continued to muse as Lena humored him by giving him her hand.
"My expression says neither of those things. I don''t know what to think, so my expression doesn''t say anything." Lena paused for a brief moment. She had more to say, but the breath had been long enough for a booming, problematic presence to burst through the hospital door with little to no care.
"Oya girl! It took me a few minutes to figure out where you were, but you said you wanted me to tell you when we found something." The heavy silence that followed Gabrielle''s outburst hardly phased the Italian woman until she noticed the expression on Lena''s face and the wry smile on the bed''s upant.
Had she done something wrong?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 376 Far Too Long
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Coming back to thend of the living wasn''t a pleasant experience for Alonso. It wasn''t there to wee him with present warmth. No, it came with immeasurable pain that refused let him stay unconscious any longer.
It wasn''t that Alonso didn''t want to move, it was more that it refusedto move. He felt parts of his body ache that he didn''t know previously existed before today. Jovani did more than a little number. A few words were all it took to send that man off on one of his fits, worse yet, from the drugs.
Never again would he allow Jovani near anything beyond painkillers. If this were the end result, Alcohol was the better option time and again. Eve would have toe to understand that. Otherwise, Alonoso didn''t think he would be able to handle another such event. Not with the way his body currently felt.
Darkness engulfed the room, which helped keep the right-hand man''s headache below an intense roar and instead at a barely bearable throb. Jovani didn''t even findfort in the overly fluffy mattress. The right hand may not have been able to see anything, but the sight wasn''t necessary to tell he was in the infirmary. The intense scent of antiseptic mixed with bleach and artificial soap smells was more than enough of a telltale.
Alonso tried hard not to wince as he shifted onto his side to alleviate some of the pressure on his back. Being engulfed by soft, squishy material wasn''t what his back needed to help it feel better. It continued to throb without mercy as Alonso focused on just being able to breathe. It would take quite some time before the pain melted into difort. Days maybe even weeks.
"No more drugs after this." His left hand covered his eyes as he gritted his teeth against the pain. Couldn''t Cain have given him something to take or left it nearby? What kind of bullshit was to say his being unconscious meant he couldn''t take anything? Fuck the mercenary for being such an ass. The man was not suited to be any type of leader because he couldn''t put his petty issues aside, even for something as serious as this.
Alonso couldn''t even reach his right hand out to feel for any bell or device to request someone''s assistance. Did Cain go about taking that away from him as well? Surely the mercenary couldn''t be that cruel despite seeming to derive some sick pleasure from seeing others suffer and struggle.
"If there is any goddamn bloody person in here, now would be the time to make your presence known. I don''t want to raise my voice and start shouting unnecessarily." Alonso''s voice came out barely above a cracked whisper. Their throat is far too dry and raw to raise his voice correctly. Water. Another item on a very long list of things that Cain had gone about leaving him without.
"The infirmary isn''t the ce to be making such a fuss. Sick people are supposed to go aboutying around and being taken care of. Fussing only after they are healthy." Alonso felt the hairs rise on his neck at the sound of the unfamiliar voice¡ªa voice with just enough edge to highlight the danger of its owner.
"Ah ah. Alonso. Rx. Now is not the time for you to be making such an expression. We are only getting acquainted once more after a very long time apart. I''ll make sure that you''re well taken care of while I''m here as well." The right-hand man knew that voice. He couldn''t precisely ce where he''d heard it. The darkness didn''t help that matter either. Limited senses left space for the brain to y tricks on one.
"What exactly are you doing here? As you said yourself, this isn''t the kind of ce for a person who isn''t sick to be. I''m not here to be of anyone''s entertainment either." Even if he couldn''t remember who the other was, that didn''t mean he had to give that information away. At least not yet.
"You may not think you''re not here for anyone''s entertainment. That doesn''t mean I can''t get any from seeing you in such a state. Did dear fluffy Jovani do this to you? I didn''t honestly think he still had it in him after so long." The voice grew to a low mutter as Alonso heard something shift on the opposite side of the room. Could they see him in the darkness, or was it only him who couldn''t see anything?
"It is a bit of a shame, though. I had hoped we would get a chance to talk under better circumstances. Your current state isn''t the right one for this kind of reunion. I wonder what you might''ve said to make him react this way?" Alonso tried not to let his breath halt despite the sense that the person was looming over him.
Still, he couldn''t see their face. Damn it. It really must''ve only been him who couldn''t see anything now. A tight, nail-digging grip took hold of Alonso''s left hand before it lifted very far from the bed. The slightest raise of his left hand caused the other to react.
"No, no. You don''t want to take that off your face yet. It would be best to leave it on until your injuries heal. Someone patched you up well, which would be terrible for their efforts to go to waste." Alonso felt his mind race through people''s names and mannerisms, akin to how one would flip through a book to find the right page. The right-hand man could taste it on the tip of his tongue but yet not touch it simultaneously. Who was the damn person invading his personal space, and for what reason.
"Let go of my arm and tell me exactly what you did to me." The cracked voice didn''te out as threatening as Alnoso had hoped. It only earned him a low, amused chuckle as the hand only tightened its grip around his wrist.
"You think you''re in any ce to tell me what to do? Whether I want to keep ahold of your arm or let it go is up to me." The fingers didn''t stop digging into his wrist, but another hand touched Alonso''s arm. The cool skin caused his skin to ripple with goose bumps at the unexpected touch he couldn''t see.
"I think that before I let you go or do anything else, I would much rather see the extent of the damage done. Jovani did quite a number on you, which is interesting to see." The hand continued trailing further up the right-hand man''s arm until it stopped at the fabric of his shirt. Disinterested in what was underneath it, it moved atop the material to the other''s neck. Alnoso gritted his teeth. He would never be able to get used to the helpless feeling. Much less now that he couldn''t see or remember who was touching.
"You can keep pretending you know me when you don''t, or you can swallow your pride and ask who I am. It doesn''t matter to me either, but you might prefer thetter option before we get further along." Why exactly would thetter option be preferable? Did this man have some torture nned for the right-hand man?
"I think that I already know who you are. I would prefer if you went about confirming it for me yourself. There''s no one I have to answer to outside my boss. If you''re not him, which I know you''re not, I''m in the position to demand things." That response didn''t go over as well as Alonso thought it would. Or rather, he expected the reaction that happened next.
Alonso heard the sharp thud of his head hitting against the bedrail more than he felt it from his body. Tossing like a rag doll messed with his sense of causing an out-of-body experience.
"You think you''re in any ce to be the one going about and asking all the questions? In what world do you think that''s the case? Have you honestly forgotten who I am?" The kind tone from seconds prior turned menace, almost to the feral point. Nails bite into delicate wrist skin to the end of drawing blood.
"I think you''re the one who has forgotten your ce and what you''re allowed to do. If anyone is in the position to give out the orders around here, that would be me. Even if you serve Jovani, I think it is best you don''t forget the real person who holds power around here." The words sounded distant and hollow to Alonso, almost like they were being said underwater¡ªthe strike to his head was too much for his already battered body.
That''s right. That was who this person was.
In that second, however, he remembered the other person. The name never escaped his mouth. Even those silents silently moved the correct letters before the darkness engulfed him.
Chapter 377 That Toy Wasnt Fun Enough
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A low tsk noise broke the silence in the infirmary. Well, Alonso hadn''tsted nearly as long as they expected. Where was the fun in that? Finally, the reunion happened, and one little tap sent the other back toland. Hadn''t Jovani said that things would be better this time? Well, fucker had lied up to this point. Everything felt the same as it had before.
No fun. All boring idiots who didn''t know what to do or how to keep up. h, h h. The infirmaries cart was tipped on its side of our annoyance. Now, what was supposed to happen? The one person who would be the entertainment had stopped being entertaining. Surely Jovani didn''t expect they would stay there until summoned again.
Speaking of which... where exactly had the mafia boss gone? He''d hardly responded to any of the texts in thest few hours he''d been sent. Indeed Alonso hadn''t been able to do much to the other man? Seeing the state of the right-hand man made it clear the other was going for blood. Blood that would be spilled before the other would even be able toy a hand on him.
"Why oh why am I always stuck having to dig around for fun?" Kicking the cart across the room, the figure stalked across toward the door. The thud of the metal cart hitting the wall behind them resounded around the room, shutting out the noise of the door opening and closing. Fine. If they had to dig around for fun, they might as well go about figuring out where Jovani went. At least he would know how to keep them entertained for the next few hours. If not, maybe then the answer to the resounding silence meeting the contact attempts would be exined.
Jovani, however, was in no state to exin anything to anyone. Let anyone even try to talk to himself. Richard hadn''t held back. Their friendship is not enough for the man to go easy on him.
The man didn''t even have to ask to know the other hadn''t held back. The splitting headache and aching back told plenty of a story. Although the drug withdrawal surely didn''t help with that either. Pity the bag had been lost somewhere during the fight. Jovani could''ve used a hit right then and there to dull his current misery level.
Jovani''s eyes wandered around the ceiling as the silence continued despite his noises of protest from the pain. Why was there no one around? Indeed someone should havee by to check on him by now? Regardless of if he sent everyone to him, Alonso always called them back should the mafia boss need anything. Like a very painful bell, Jovani recalled why that hadn''t happened.
The right-hand man was likely not in such a great state himself. Ah. Jovani let out a very put-out sight at this thought. Though, it wasn''t like it had been entirely his fault. Alonso should''ve known to be more careful with his words. Considering the state of everything, it only made sense the mafioso would be easily triggered, especially by such a sore spot being brought up so suddenly.
Surely though, Alonso wouldn''t be so weak as to be hindered from life permanently. That would be a rather considerable inconvenience for Jovani. One that he didn''t feel like dealing with at the current moment in time. Finding an excellent right-hand man within the mafia was like trying to find a decent drug dealer who wouldn''t poison their goods. Everyone was always sticking their hands in the pot, working for someone else.
Jovani rolled over onto his back to bury his face against the pillow, hoping to dull his headache. If Alnoso did decide he would rather die than work for the mafia boss any longer, Jovani would have hire his ghost instead. That sounded like a reasonable solution to the current problem at hand. No one had said that mafia bosses were restricted from having the spirit of their former right-hand men work for them.
Plus, it wasn''t like anyone could see the ghost, right? So they wouldn''t be able to tattle on what Jovani was doing in the first ce. That settled that, then. Such a significant problem being quickly resolved somehow made Jovani feel that much lighter. At least until he heard the sound of the room door creaking open.
"Stupid fuck. No wonder you haven''t been responding to anything I sent. What in the world do you think you''re doing lying around here? Surely Alonso didn''t manage to do this to you. I saw the state that he was in." Nope. Now is not the time to deal with this one on top of everything else.
"Didn''t I tell you to go and wait around there until I came to fetch you? There are too many people around here, and the risk is high that you would be seen." The neer didn''t seem to care as they shut the door behind themselves and waltzed into the room.
"I came to look for you because it turned out that there wasn''t much fun to be had down
there. I think Alonso has gotten weaker since thest time we had anything to do with each other. I didn''t remember him being so easily taken down by a few hits." Those words somehow made the solution seem like a less great idea.
"What did you do to him? I told you that you weren''t going about causing trouble while you''re down there." The other brushed the mafia boss off,, however, as he sat on the bed.
"I didn''t cause trouble while I was down there. He was the one who started it. I reminded him of his ce. Although maybe it could''ve been done more softly. Some people though just don''t learn if there isn''t a little bit of pain involved." Thement earned them a harsh smack from Jovani. One the mafia boss didn''t even know he was capable of in his injured state.
"Jovani is one of the few people you need to keep your hands off. Out of everyone, I don''t want to have to go about trying to figure out how to rece him." Better than admitting how fond the Vedova Nera boss had be of his right-hand man.
"Boo hoo hoo." the mock crying only red Jovani''s temper further as the other flopped on the bed, causing the mattress''s weight to shift.
"Hardly my problem. If you need someone to rece him, I can always fill that spot. It was the original n after all, wasn''t it?" Jovani chose to ignore the harsh tone the question was poised in. Instead, focusing more on how exactly he could sit up. The person sitting next to him would sooner kick him off the bed than help him sit up. That is more than enough proof that blood wasn''t always thicker than water. If anything was better than water, it was the oil or so Jovani surmised some time ago. Oil''s ability to float atop water obviously made it superior to it and blood. Hence if Jovani had a choice, he''d instead be stuck with a man like oil than anything blood or water-rted.
"It might have been before you went about and messed everything up. Now we have to do everything differently. You should be back where you belong instead of poking around here." Jovani hissed sharply, his shoulder protesting as he forced himself to sit up.
"If you want things to go back to what was nned. It would be best if you went about doing as I say. Right now isn''t the time to pull such stupid shit." Especially not while the mafioso couldn''t go about covering for everything that the other did. A scoff met those words as Jovani found himself roughly pushed back down onto the mattress.
"I should go about listening to anything you tell me to do? Correct me if I''m wrong but isn''t that how this mess started in the first ce?" Two sets of identical green orbs red back at each other.
"I did everything that you told me to and that ended with me being screwed out of everything or did you forget?" Jovani broke with the staring contest first with a harsh shake of his head, denial overtaking his features.
"You know that isn''t true for one minute. I wasn''t the one who made all of that happen. Didn''t we go over this before at th time? I already told you Richard was-" Jovani was interrupted as the other shoved himself away from the mafioso.
"Richard was the one responsible for everything. I''ve heard that a million times before. A story I would love to believe." Jovani couldn''t see the other, but that didn''t stop him from hearing the fevered sound of steps as the pacing began.
"But you see dear cousin. I''ve been told a number of things between now and then that make me wonder how true that is. Whispers on the wind tell me that all this time, I''ve been harboring something against the wrong person all these years."
"Who told you that?" The demand came before the other hardly finished speaking.
Chapter 378 New Tricks
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"Who told you that? This isn''t some game! I expect an answer from you to that question!" Jovani attempted to grab who shrugged him off andughed as they rolled off the bed to stand.
"Oh, poor little cousin. I''m sure that you would love the answer to that question. Sadly for you, you won''t get that answer any time soon from me." Knowing it would piss the other off, they leaned over and patted Jovani on the cheek, purposefully doing the side Richard hit him on.
Jovani hissed but managed to grab ahold of the hand this time before the other could pull back. The mafioso exerted a lot of energy but managed to pull the additional back down and roll them over, so he towered over the other.
"I asked you a question, and I expect you to answer it." Ah. Had the drugs not entirely left his system yet? Did violent little Jovani want toe back out to a y again? The other only offered a smug smirk, earning a rough shake despite Jovani''s hurt shoulder.
"Jovi. I honestly don''t know what you''re expecting to get from me. I already told you that I do not intend to answer your question. Seeing how long we''ve known each other, you should know that means you can''t do anything to get it out of me." The answer, however wasn''t enough to get Jovani to give up. All the days events had pushed him towards an edge he wasn''t quite ready to pull away from yet.
"I do know you well enough. Enough to know that there are a few ways to get you to answer if you don''t want to work with me. I can''t have you go about doing whatever it is you want until we fix things." Jovani racked his mind quickly. Where had he put them was the question? If he couldn''t recall fast enough, the other would likely pick on what he meant. Not to mention drug-fueled energy onlysted so long before the pain would kick in again.
"You might think that from the past. However, you might be surprised that you''re not the only one who has changed over the years. I have been going about learning several new tricks myself." With those words, they managed to flip Jovani over as quickly as one might flip a limp nket.
"And now, you''re the one who might want to think about answering all of the questions that I have for you. There''s something here I want to go and meet. You''re going to tell me where to find it." The weight behind the other''s hold on Jovani he best be careful how he responded if he didn''t want to end up in the same situation as Alonso. Damn it. Had he ended up making another lousy mistake by bringing the other back? They seemed rational enough that it didn''t feel like a bad idea at the time. Joke on him, apparently.
"Marcus." Jovani sighed, forcing himself not to allow his eyes to roll back into his head. Since when had the air in the room been so thin?
"I told you I would arrange everything when the time is right. That isn''t right now. There are far too many people here for you to be seen. Give me a little more time, and I will get everything sorted." Marcus didn''t want that answer. At least, it seemed that way because he roughly shook Jovani. Although, it could be that the crazy man just enjoyed causing the other''s immense pain for giggles. The dark, pleasured look in his green orbs made that a high possibility.
How in the world had the two of them turned out so different at the end of the day? Gics, one could suppose. After all, It wasn''t like Jovani had exactly been spared by the crazy that inflicted his cousin''s side of the family. Earlier that day he had been plenty of proof of that.
"That isn''t going to work. You see, I have been starting to be impatient. You haven''t given me enough to keep me entertained while waiting on you. Thus, that means the rules are starting to change a bit. I don''t want your position, but I do want you to do what I ask of you. That is if you don''t want me to go about causing you even more trouble than I already have." Marcus continued to rock back and forth on the bed impatiently as he waited to see what Jovani''s answer would be. The older cousin wasn''t in a state to budge, not with mercenaries there, or Samuel, for that matter. Out of the two, he knew which one Marcus wanted more¡ªthe one he wouldn''t hand over for anything.
"Marcus. You know that isn''t going to work. You can bully me all you want. At the end of the day, though, you know that if you take it too far, you won''t get any of the things you want." Jovani might''ve not been in much of a position to handle his cousin, but someone else could. Pain in the ass wild card who might end up being more valuable for havinge today out of all days. That didn''t mean though that Jovani would forgive them.
"You don''t think it is going to work? Why not? Haven''t I already told you that I''d learned a number of new tricks? Not to mention a few new friends along the way as well. Some of which I''m sure you''d love to meet." Marcus'' lips curled back into a menacing smile as he leaned down until he and his cousin''s noses were touching.
"I''m sure there are also quite a few of them who would love to meet you along with a little cousin. It is up to you to decide how the night should turn out. Which is it going to be?" Jovani didn''t budge despite the unpleasant hot breath on his face.
Did the other think he could get away with threatening him in such a manner?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 379 No Telling What Could Happen
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Cain leaned against the back of the chair, watching as Samuel continued to puff on the cigar absently. Was he addicted so quickly to it? Had the kid never done any such thing before?
"You know that I didn''te here to cause problems. I wanted to find out how things turned out and ended up stumbling upon the other interesting conversation the two of you are having." Cain snatched the cigar back when Samuel took it out of his mouth again. The merc hadn''t been able to find any drugs in the estate, so this piddly cigar would have to do for the time being. Richard could afford to share, considering the extra trouble he''d been put through, thanks to the mafioso.
"You know very well, though, that this conversation has nothing to do with you. Thus, you should leave, and we can talk about anything else at ater point." Much like Lena, Richard had his own trigger finger that had begun to itch. Few people provoke it, but Cain somehow managed to do it so effortlessly. Almost as though the man built his entire personality up in that every little action was meant to piss someone off somewhere.
"Oh, but you see, I don''t really want to leave now. This conversation sounds rather interesting. I haven''t meant the princess before, but she sounds like a rather interesting person. Not to mention Sammy and I had just started to build a rather cozy rtionship before everything happened." As though offering some kind of confirmation despite Richard''s displeasure, Samuel offered a slight nod of his head.
"We''d been going about ying Craps before Alonso hade to interrupt us, and everything else happened. Although I''m still not fully certain what everything else is." Cain smirked once more, arms opened wide as though to say, ''see, what did I tell you?''. Fuck him.
"I don''t care what rtionship the two of you have. That doesn''t make this conversation any more relevant to you. I can assure you right now that you would be far better off leaving on your own than making me force you." The mafioso rose from the chair to stand at his full height. He''d be more than happy to put the one bullet left in his gun through the mercenary''s head. It might help provide one bright spot in an otherwise rough day.
"Oh, please. I''m not causing anyone any trouble. I just want to hear what''s going on, and then I will be about my way." Cain grumbled back. Taking the cigar, he handed it over to the other as though it were some peace offering. An offering that Richard refused to take back. No way in hell would he put that back in his mouth after it touched the mercenary''s lips¡ªno telling where Cain hadst put those things.
"I don''t care if you''re causing trouble or not. You''re not wanted here right now. Go back to what you were doing before. Emily was supposed to make sure you were staying in line anyways." Cain grumbled at thisment as he leaned over the top of the chair to hand the cigar back to Samuel. At least the younger cousin would be willing to take it back if Richard didn''t want it. Did the man have some personal grudge against him Cain didn''t'' know about?
"Fine then. Don''t think though that this means I won''t just go about asking about itter. I''m sure there''s something else I could be doing with my time that will be more fun anyways. You two enjoy your little tea chat while I go introduce myself to Jovani''s other unexpected guest." Cain hadn''t even noticed that Mafioso had moved across the room until he''d grabbed ahold of the merc''s arm.
"What unexpected guest?" The demand came with a rough tug on the other''s arm and hold not easily broken. Cain''s generally cock expression turned into something akin to confusion or being taken aback.
"Isn''t that why you''re here as well? I assumed that was why so many other people hade around here. Unless he didn''t go about telling you?" The darkening expression on Richard''s face said more than any words could. Hot damn! Jovani hadn''t told this man anything. Weren''t they supposed to be some kind of close associates, though?
"You mean he didn''t tell you about it? I thought by the way you two were talking earlier that you were supposed to be chummy and all." Cain continued rattling off about what he thought, but Richard didn''t react to any of it. The previous conversation with Samuel had be forgotten as the mafioso''s mind began to wander. Sure that hadn''t been the reason Jovani had asked him toe? The man wouldn''t be so quick to reveal that card, considering their past.
"Where is this unexpected guest supposed to be staying? Here in the estate with everyone else? If so, do you know exactly where that would be?" Like bullets, Richard''s demanding questions came one after the other, giving the mercenary no space to answer.
"Slow down a minute there, buddy. Your guess on that is as good as mine. I''ve only heard the rumors that have been going on about it. That is why I said I would see if I could go find him. I heard Jovani might be keeping him but not for a fact." It wasn''t the answer Richard wanted, but he let the other go anyways.
Why did the day have to keep getting moreplicated by the second? If Jovani had told him the truth about his intentions, he could''vee better prepared for whatever was going on. Instead, He would have to figure out what to do at thest minute.
Richard nced back at Samuel. More than that, the kid wouldn''t be able to stay at the estate if that person was nearby. There was no telling what would happen to Sam if the two them of ended up meeting.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 380 Unintended Chaos
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Obtuse as Gabrielle was, the atmosphere in the air told her that she''d perhaps messed up. The thought that Lena might''ve been preupied with something rather intimate and not want to be bothered didn''t even cross the tall Italian woman''s mind. Far too eager to celebrate the victory to ponder such things.
"I think that I recognize that voice a little too well. I didn''t know you would return to working with her again." Gabrielle''s head swiveled from one to the other as she tried to figure out the connection between the two.
"it wouldn''t have been my first choice had there been other options." Lena had alreadye to regret her decision more than a little, and each passing moment only made that regret worse as the tall Italian woman continued to cause more chaos.
"You two must be rted. I didn''t mean to ruin whatever was going on here. I just had something important to talk with her about." The words seemed to have been the wrong choice as the annoyed aura around Lena increased tenfold.
"Whatever you had that you wanted to talk about could''ve waited until I returned. You''re supposed to be taking care of this from start to finish. There''s nothing reason for you to be giving me an update yet. Get out." Themand caught Gabrielle off guard. Hadn''t the princess wanted to hear the news? To know who had been the one to cause the chaos?
Surely...
"Gabrielle. I told you once, and you know how much I hate repeating myself. Get out, and don''t bother about it until you finish everything." Gabrielle wanted to protest the undesirable response, but the other person interjected before she couldin.
"Come now, Lena; you need to take care of work. You can go about that instead of sitting here and chatting. After all, it sounds like something important she has to tell. In fact, why not say it here?" Knowing that Leo couldn''t see meant that Lena could get away with nonverbally telling Gabrielle off in a way that only the Italian woman could see.
"Work can wait untilter. Again, this job needs to be finished from top to bottom." With that, the princess jabbed toward the room door, indicating for Gabrielle to leave. She could go about dealing with the Italian womanter in time.
Gabrielle responded by giving Lena a look that told her how displeased she was at being brushed off. Some repayment for her hard work¡
"Whatever you say, Lena. You should know that it might take longer than you expect me to finish. I was doing you a favor by letting you know in advance. Since it seems it isn''t appreciated, I will be off then. Hysterious or Eve can fill youter. Although they don''t know nearly as much as I do." The subtle, grumbly maniption didn''t go unnoticed by the princess, but she wasn''t about to give the other the time of day to be impacted by it. There was still a lot that she wanted to go over talking with her brother, even if Leo thought otherwise.
"I wouldn''t expect anything less. We can finish going over everything when you get back. I don''t care about anything else as long as there''s a body to show for when you return. You will get what you want and then be alone." Hmph. If only that thing weren''t so rare. Gabrielle would''ve dropped the job right then and there.
However, she couldn''t let her poor mood get in the way of collecting such a precious item. The tall Italian woman''s eyes flittered over Lena''s pocket as her hand hovered over the hospital room door. The princess likely still had it on her. She was the only person she couldn''t easily steal it from. Clever y, as always. The Red Scorpion girl knew better than to underestimate her.
"The tension is already plenty high around here. Why don''t the two of you talk over whatever is happening? I''m sure the nurse will be here soon enough to care for me for the afternoon." Leo''s voice cut through the thick air again¡ªa soft cold hand moving forward to pat Lena''s stiff one.
"It isn''t like I will go anywhere when you return." Always the peacekeeper. However, today wasn''t a day for keeping the peace, much like it had been for the rest of the week. Not like Leo would know that, though. Being out for so many days left him in the dark. At least so long as the nurses or doctors hadn''t gone about telling him anything.
Leo needed to worry more about his recovery than the rest of the family. Questions could wait until after he was in a more stable space himself.
"It is fine. I have already been given my orders. I best do what I''m told before I get scolded again. Don''t think there is anything else for me to wait around here and do." Gabrielle shot the suggestion down sharply before Lena even had a chance to reply. The mood had already been set for the Italian, who no longer felt like divulging the information she''d found out. She could wait however long Lena wanted her to before she exined the situation.
"I will make sure that everything is handled properly and will be on my way to report back on it whenever it is finished up. As always, nomunication until Ie back." Gabrielle had intended to storm out of the hospital room following those words, except she never got that far. She''d hardly opened the door and prepared to leave before smacking face-first into something that felt very much like a brick. A brick that rumbled in an odd manner as Gabrielle tried to get her bearings.
"What in the fucking world?!" The harsh tone and snarl died on Gabrielle''s lips when she came face to face with familiar eyes she hadn''t seen in years.
What in the hell were they doing there?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 381 Another Sort Of Problem
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Eve had been one thing, this person however was something totally different. What was it with suddenly seeing so many familiar faces in one space? Had Lena honestly called in the whole Calvary to help her deal with this problem?
"My oh my. What an unexpected situation we have here." A tiny twitch of the lips into a smug smirk was all it took for the sour expression on Gabrielle''s face to return. The neer, a tall,nky man seemed much more thrilled to see other than Gabrielle did of him. This had to be some joke.
"Inviting the whole party here, are we? I had been looking around to see if there was anyone else I might recognize, but I didn''t expect to see this one." The Italian caught the hand before it could make contact with her hair and mess it up.
"Surely princess, you didn''t think it would be any kind of a good idea to bring all these people here after contacting me to help." The icy edge to her tone didn''t go amiss. The princess, however didn''t have a proper response that she could off to the other.
"I didn''t invite this one toe along and help. I don''t know what he''s doing here, seeing as he hasn''t been wee near our family for quite some years." Lena''s tone didn''t hold such a sharp edge, but her eyes said more than enough. A muted sound escaped the man, followed by a gentle chuckle.
"Oh,e now. I am sure we can work on setting aside our differences for now. It isn''t like I came here with any ill will geared toward anyone. I heard what happened and thought that I might be able to offer some assistance." Without being invited into the room, the man pushed past Gabrielle to step closer to Lena. That didn''t stop the Italian woman from sending her sharp look.
"Gabrielle. Even you should know that I only came here with the best intentions to help out. Some little birdies have been informing that there are many interesting things going on." Did he honestly think that standing next to Lena would keep him safe? Gabrielle did an about-face as the door mmed with more force than necessary.
"After five years, you think you can march in here. No apology or exnation. You have a lot of nerve, Dino." Thest name was spat like one trying to get a bad taste off their tongue. A rich, effectedugh fluttered through the room. Unfazed, Dino ignored Gabrielle in favor of Lena and the young man lying in bed.
"My. So the elusive male heir of the Red Scorpions truly is here. I knew he''de back for a visit, but I thought surely his daddy would''ve made sure he''d returned to safety." Dino barely had a chance to finish speaking before the air was effectively knocked out of him. A harsh thud met Leo''s ears. The younger sibling didn''t need to see to know what that sound meant. Lena wasn''t in the mood to be ying games.
"Dino." Cold and calm, the name passed through Lena''s lips in a tone that did not match their current position. A gun pressed harshly into Dino''s stomach as an elbow against his throat kept him in ce. However, neither fear or intimidation shone back in Dino''s eyes. Eagerness? No delight. This was mirrored in the way his tongue swiped across his bottom lip much like a child waiting to get their hands on a tasty morsel.
"So d to see that you haven''t gone about losing your edge, Lena. It would''ve been such a shame toe back after so long only to find out that everything I used to know ended up changing." The limited amount of oxygen from the elbow pressed harshly into his throat didn''t stop him from rattling on.
"I heard a few rumors that a little puppy hade along and tamed the fierce scorpion. I can see for myself now though that it obviously was nothing but a rumor." Lena''s eyes narrowed to a dangerous point. Dino couldn''t quite tell however which of his words struck a nerve.
"Oh but there is indeed a puppy. Except he''s ten times cuter than even the cutest of puppies that I''ve everid eyes on." Dino''s gaze shifted to the corner of his eyes as Leo intruded into their conversation.
"You have been effectively reced." Reced? Dino''s lips twitched in an erratic manner, brows furrowing and unfurrowing as his eyes darted between the two siblings. What did he mean rece?
"Leo, it would be better if you didn''t'' go about saying too much. Such things aren''t anything for him to be concerned about. If anything, he should be more concerned about how he''s going to craft a quick and heartfelt apology before I hand him over to Gabrielle?" These words were met by an echoing sound of cracking knuckles. The tall Italian woman needed an excuse to get rid of some anger. What better way to get rid of it than on someone who actually deserved it.
"An apology? Now, now. I thought that when everything we don''t we agreed to put it all behind us." Dino suddenly found it rather difficult to swallow as Lena pressed her elbow further into his neck. Despite feeling how close his wind pipe was to being crushed, Dino didn''t push the small woman away.
"You were the only who said that. Like always, you try to direct the show the way it best suits you. We didn''t actuallye to any kind of agreement before you scuttled off with your tail between your legs." Gabrielle took one threatening step forward. Luck for her, the Italian woman had enoughmon sense and trust in her instinct to avoid epting an omerta with the other mafioso. She knew all along that Lena was the right person to go about selling her soul to.
"And since you were the only one who agreed to those terms, there is nothing stopping me from what I want to do next." She didn''t want to have to wait until they stepped outside of the room, she wanted toy her hands on him right then and there. Five minutes was all Gabrielle needed to let the other know how much he''d gone about messing up.
Except she hadn''t counted on the fact that Lena would stop her.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 382 Dino Lawson
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Five or ten years ago, saying Dino Lawson''s name out loud would''ve resulted in more than a handful of heads turning within the mafia world. A middle-ranked mafioso who didn''t have one particr home. One of the few who managed to make this role sessful without getting killed in the first year or even the second. A mafioso without a ce to call home was considered a dead man walking.
Dino made plenty enough of a name to survive longer than others within this role. Sticking to the shadows and expanding his skills to include every talent in the book to the point that anyone would think it a tragedy to murder him. The most powerful mafia families tried to tie him down by way of riches and challenging him to refuse promises. The police tried to catch him to get him to divulge the evident wealth of secrets he knew after years of bouncing from one family to the next. No one, however, managed to seed. He spent far too long with the Red Scorpion family. Why? The reason never came out. Except for Lena, no one else would have even known what Gabrielle had to do with the situation. Everyone could only agree that Dino Lawson quickly became a whisper of a name lost in the wind, never to be seen again.
Until now.
What lousy timing the other mafioso had, however. Clearly, though, the man did not understand what good timing was or care for his life. Lena concluded as much based on how he''d eyed out despite her threat. Thus, something needed to be done about the other since Dino would not even consider taking care of himself.
Lena knew the other well. Five or yen years wouldn''t change the kind of person that Dino Lawson was. The mafioso didn''te from the goodness of his heart or genuine care. He came either with the intent to make things worse or thought it would be a good time to take something he wanted. Whichever reason, the princess wouldn''t'' stand around and let either happen.
"Gabrielle, as much as I don''t care for this hospital, it would be much preferable if you''d take care of this matter outside. I know how eager you are to deal with it right here and now, as am I. However, with so many people around, hiding the evidence after the fact would be hard. The lower parking garage would be the better ce to handle this." Dino''s ears perked up at mentioning this. Had they known that there was where he''de in from? Surely not.
"Lower parking garage? Wouldn''t all the VIPsing and going be able to see or hear anything, though? Aren''t those the people we want to avoid finding out about this kind of thing?" Gabrielle''s question came out oddly calm as she lowered her shoulders to stand more passively. The m princess the moment that their eyes met.
"Beyond the director of this hospital, who you are more than wee to kill, there are no other VIPs to worry about. This hospital is not the kind of ce that caters to such people. Especially not since word got out who they cater to." Lena made sure of that herself. Considering the police would never touch her family, it didn''t hurt to let a small rumor slip that would scare potential patients away from the hospital. Gabrielle let out a low noise that indicated she wasn''t entirely convinced.
"Is there not somewhere else? I can work with no VIPs; that''s great for a quick and easy ce, a one-and-done thing. What about for fun, though?" Fun? Dino made a point of clearing his throat loudly, or at least attempting to. Limited breathing space made it difficult to make a big production.
"Excuse me. I think you''re forgetting that the person whose death you are discussing is standing right here." The mafioso wanted to say more, but the backhand that rang across his face shut him up. A wordless sharp re warned him of what woulde next if he didn''t keep his mouth shut. in no ce to argue, Dino held his tongue.
"Murder? That''s an amusing thought. To think you believe you''re good enough to deserve that kind of mercy." The hollowugh caught Dino off guard. Had Lena always been this way? Zane had a reputation for flirting on the edge of sanity after what happened to his wife. But Lena? He''d been sure she''d been a reserved pain in the ass but not this cold. Dino spent years working near here. Not once could he recall her turning so quickly on someone close to the family.
"Whatever urs here is far more serious than I anticipated. Something to do with the kid on the bed?" Kid on the bed? That struck a nerve with Lena. Fortunately for Dino, the princess didn''t feel like hitting the other a second time. Should she break his nose, she didn''t want to risk sulking her skin with his blood. She could leave that to Gabrielle. The Italian woman never minded getting herself dirty in the man of fun.
"You hardly know what''s going on but think you have a right toe along and insert yourself in the situation anyways?" Lena made a noise as though she were scolding a child. A sound that Dino''s ears didn''t find very appealing.
"All the more reason to let Gabrielle take care of you. I don''t have the time or energy to waste on troublemakers." Lena was more than ready to hand the other over. She could discuss where and how once Gabrielle took the other away. After all, Lena only needs to hit him once to resolve any possible threat.
Except that the interruptions for the day hardly seemed to be over. The younger sibling was somewhat out of the loop about what was happening but overly curious to know more about the neer. This time ising in the form of Leo.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 383 Family Matter
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Growing up in the UK, Leo had missed out on several things that happened within the Scarlet family, for better or worse. The information he got was either a whisper over the phone from family members or his few contacts. He knew enough of the mundane stuff. Important but always what he wanted to hear about.
When it came to serious matters, there was hardly any time to make calls or update him. It was never unintentional. A simple curse of time differences and distance. Nothing more, nothing less. Dino Lawson had been one of those severe matters he''d been left in the dark about. He''d only known the man by name and the brief times Lena mentioned. Whatever happened to Dino, he never knew. So why not now take up the opportunity to resolve that?
Not to mention, Leo had thoughts of his own on the matter. Even if he was physically unable to see anything, that didn''t mean he couldn''t know the feel tension in the room. The tension did not feel rightly ced for Lena to deal with. Thus, he would take it upon himself to redirect it to where it did belong.
"Lena, I think this would be the ce for someone else, don''t you? Although I never met him, if I remember correctly, Lawson was more of a family thing. A family matter he wanted to know more about; Leo couldn''t see how mentioning this brought strange fire into Lena''s eyes. Wasn''t it?"
"It wasn''t just a family issue that took ce. Gabrielle was close but not enough to be pulled into personal family matters. Zane wouldn''t have let that happen for a variety of reasons. Gabrielle wouldn''t have been involved if it was simply a family matter."
"Are you trying to say that I shouldn''t be the person to deal with this? When I think I can find something entertaining to do, someone wants to take it away from me." Gabrielle scuffed her shoes against the floor in a rather rough manner. The squeal against the marble caused everyone else in the room to flinch.
"Not quite. There are just different rules to going about this if it is solely a family matter. Such as the whole Scarlet family would have to be involved." The whole family? That was right. A crooked smirk spread across Lena''s lips. Her younger brother might have a perfect point in hisments for once. The princess didn''t have to take her eyes off her more youthful sibling to notice the ufortable shift of her pinned captive. Aw, did someone not like that idea?
"It isn''t a family matter in that general sense. However, that does not mean we can''t ensure that some of those same rules apply to this situation." The princess would have to figure out how to make that work. They were a few people short. What with her father still being out and much of the family tending to other matters? That thought raised another issue.
Lena had opted for her uncle to be in charge. Not herself. A potential problem that could take the wind out of her sails. They would have to have a conversation about it, in which Julian would have to agree with her side of the matter.
"if this is going to turn into that type of thing, how long will I have to wait to have fun? I do have other matters that I am tasked to take care of. Also, will there be another reward if I am not able to do this on my terms?" The impatient Italian woman eyed Dino like a dog waiting to sink their teeth into a fun new toy. For once, couldn''t she handle matters the way she wanted? Family matter or not, she should have been able to get the first say.
After all, Dino had pushed her the farthest first. Everything that took ce after that made it a Red Scorpion family matter. Dumbass mafioso didn''t know what he''d been getting into my pushing his luck so far. Some people honestly didn''t know how to enjoy the good things when they came.
Dino eyed the other upants of the room. He''d felt as though he deserved his say in the matter. Last words, perhaps? Except, the climate of the room and the arm roughly against his throat answered his unspoken question. Everyone, including the charming younger Scarlet sibling, meant business. Even if the other didn''t show it, Dino could feel it from Leo. He was calm and collected but oh so much like his older sibling. He allowed his eyes to analyze the younger Scarlet when he took the silence as an opportunity to speak again.
"Lena will make sure that you get your chance at fun if it is possible. Before that, I would also like to catch up on a piece I missed hearing about." No point in letting the perfect opportunity pass. Leo needed something else to keep him upied if his family couldn''t be around until he could see them again.
"I want you to wait for the time being. My uncle is still around, so this is a matter that I can take up with him rtively quickly. In the meantime, however, something needs to be done with him. I don''t want him standing around here able to do what we want in the meantime." Jovani was out of the option to ask for help. Instead, the princess would have to rely on someone closer to home to assist.
"Gabrielle, I think that Hester would be able to help with this." Lena''s eyes trailed back to Dino, who chose to continue his docile farce. Lena knew better than to give the other a second to breathe. When anyone took their eyes off Dino, he''d vanish into thin air. He might''ve seemed harmless enough, but it was far from the truth. The mafioso was more dangerous than a rattlesnake in the grass.
Lena wanted to know why a rattlesnake who''d barely missed losing his head woulde back of its own volition.
What did Dino Lawson want now?
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 384 Error
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Julian wasn''t in the mood to be bothered after arguing with the doctors regarding his brother''s care. All the shit about secondary options and potential problems put him in an overly sour mood¡ªthe kind the other hardly found himself in. Even in the most suffocating of situations, Julian somehow managed to keep his spirits up. However, nothing he tried worked the same way it used to fix his mood.
Why did Zane refuse toe back to thend of the living? Indeed, all the people should''ve been fighting the hardest to return. There was far too much at stake for him to give up now! Instances of simr past experiences shed through Julian''s mind as he knocked back thest coffee. This hadn''t been the first, tenth, or fiftieth time that Zane had flirted with death. How hard could it have been for him to bounce back again?
The steady beeping machinery hinted that it was moreplicated than Julian thought was possible. No matter how many hours and days passed, the beeping refused to cease echoing around the white-walled prison holding Julian''sst whole-blood rtive. The thought caused a lump to build in his throat. Fuck! Julian tossed the paper cup across the room in a rather uncharacteristic manner. The noiseless way it hit the ground didn''t provide the sce he''d hoped for.
"I take it that right now isn''t the best of times to intrude?" Julian''s head snapped in the direction of Lena''s voice. How long had she been standing there? The princess entered the room and picked up the paper cup without saying anything.
"I wouldn''t be back already if it wasn''t for the fact that another matter needs your attention." Lena dropped the cup into the trash and watched as the nearly empty trash bag engulfed it. Hm. She was helplessly being engulfed felt like a very fitting description of the recent events. Lena and Julian''s eyes met for a brief second as she stepped over to her father''s bed. The brief exchange signaled a silent understanding that Lena wouldn''t be asking.
"What kind of issue? Surely not anything else that has to deal with the family?" He didn''t think anyone else was left back at the estate to worry about. Unless she meant Samuel''s family, Jovani took care of that already.
A brief silence filled the room that was broken by the princess clicking her tongue against her teeth.
"It doesn''t directly involve the family. Not in a current sense, at least. What would you say if I mentioned Dino Lawson?" The name hardly left her lips before a heavy silence filled the room. The hair on the back of Lena''s neck even reacted to the tension flowing off her uncle.
"Dino Lawson? That is a name that hasn''t been spoken for quite some time. What purpose does it serve to invoke it now of all times? I do hope you''re not considering working with him." Lena''s head tilted slightly as she faced her uncle.
"If I was?" The question came as a testing of the waters. The brief flux of anger that flowed off Julian proved to be enough of an answer. After all, she had been quite a bit younger back when Dino had been around. She had been remembered everything that had taken ce except for the emotions that passed between her uncle and father.
"I have no ns of working with him. I do also remember what happened back then. However, he thought it would be a good idea to stop by now because I don''t know how he managed to find out what hospital we are staying at." Was Dino Lawson in the same space as them? Right at that very moment?
Lena found herself somewhat taken aback by the look of murder that passed through Julian''s eyes. Why? He''d not even given such an expression back when they were talking with the direction. A man directly linked to the family had been responsible for the death of Julian''s sister-inw.
"Did he say why he decided to show up here?" Would Julian kill the other man if Lena answered honestly? The princess weighed this thought for a second as she watched her father. What would he do? Probably something worse.
"He said something about thinking that we might need some help. Putting past matters behind us anding together to make something better out of everything happening." Julian fixed Lena with a hard-to-read expression as he stood up from the chair. Did Dino mean that some joke? Did he have no understanding of the consequences of his past actions?
"Gabrielle is keeping an eye on him for right now. You''ll find that you''re not the only person who wanted to do something about him immediately." Lena was included in that, but Julian surely already knew that. If Zane had been awake, Dino wouldn''t have been able to breathe for one second, let alone talk, before Zane would''ve dealt with him. His niece took after his brother, after all.
"And where is Gabrielle right now? I thought that she would want to be staying around here." Lena pulled her eyes off her father to pay more attention to her uncle. No amount of staring was going to get her father to wake up. If it were, Zane would''ve already been back on his feet between her and her uncle in less than a day.
"Leo''s room. I had been visiting him when Gabrielle came in to report back to him. Dino decided to show up right before she intended to leave." Lena didn''t have to think before she reached to grab her uncle''s arm to stop him from leaving.
Killing Dino was the only thing on his mind. The same thought crossed Lena''s mind. Lena wasn''t done speaking to him yet, and he needed to hear everything she wanted before he stormed out.
It only took five minutes to realize what an error that would be. The kind of error the princess needed to ry to her uncle.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 385 Keeping That One At Bay
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Every single time, it started the same. No matter how often Zane tried to change it, nothing seemed to work. Instead, he found himself trapped in an endless loop that led neither up nor down, left or right.
In twenty years, the world had changed. Everything that was supposed to be bright and lovely turned dark.
How could Zane forget? Watching a body drop made his entire world stop for the first time in his life. His blood ran cold as he tried to process what happened. The mafia boss could feel it. He could smell the scent of blood and fear. It had been his fault. He should''ve taken everything more seriously than he had.
"Zane. Haven''t I told you before that you shouldn''t sleep outside in this weather?" That scolding... Zane''s mind flickered, straining to hear it again. Something about it made his heart flutter. As the warmth got closer, every once of pain and tension dissipated from his body as an all-too-familiar hand touched his cheek. Surely this wasn''t a dream. That touch felt far to real for it to havee from some make-believe world. Zane had experienced those and they''d never felt anything like this. No dream could fake the warmth that was left behind on his face from the gentle hand touch.
"You''re going to teach our kids bad habits. I''ll absolutely me you if they get sick for doing such things." Zane tried to will his eyes open to see who was talking. He needed to know who the owner was and why he couldn''t recall who the owner of such a honey-smooth voice.
Except when Zane opened his mouth to ask, no words came out. Only wordless sounds and the feeling of something stuck in his throat.
Like some non-stop film, the voice and too vague memories kept rolling. Zane could only listen and do his best to try and remember. He couldn''t interact or respond no matter how he tried or wanted.
No voice, no vision. How in the hell was he supposed to discover who the person was? The mafia boss could hear them talking, but he couldn''t answer or acknowledge them. What kind of sick joke was this?
To be so close to something that which lights up his entire world but unable to talk with it was torture. Torture didn''t seem as though it would be going away any time soon.
Zane could almost even feel the other''s person''s touch across his skin. Their breath on his ear. Butterfly kisses over his cheeks each time he was scolded,ughed at, or cooed upon.
"You do need to think about waking up soon. It''s nice that we can chat like this, but I don''t think it''s quite a time for me to be keeping you yet." With those words, the warmth Zane had been enjoying began to dissipate. Waking up? Hadn''t he been awake this entire time? Surely everything that had been taking ce wasn''t some dream. It felt too real or good to be anything but reality.
Even if it did turn out to be a dream, what if he wasn''t ready to go yet? He still hadn''t figured out who the owner of the voice was. He knew they were someone he never wanted to let go of again. Surely that was reason enough for him not to be pushed back into the world where they no longer existed.
"I really wish we could stay here together more and talk. We both know, though, that someone back on the outside needs you more than me. At least for right now, they do." Zane felt his heart clench at the change of the tone. Sorrow overtook the joy that had been once there.
"There wille a time when we will be together again. Right now isn''t that time, though. You need to go back and continue caring for what was ours until then." No! It was too soon yet. How could he go when he hadn''t even be been able to say anything yet?
"I don''t think so. Twenty years. Twenty cold years without you, and you want me to return already?" The words came out harsh and chopped as the mafia boss forced them around his unwilling-to-move lips.
"Only five for you and twenty years with them. It hardly seems fair that I should have to give you up again already¡ªmy dear dove. We have spent so much time apart. I don''t think I want to do that again." Except, it became clear that Zane didn''t have much choice in the matter. Finally, he found the will to move his hand now that he could talk. Except, it never contacted the person he wanted to touch most.
Like a cloud buffeted by the wind, Zane felt himself being pushed further away from the source of warmth. Fight as hard as he might; he couldn''t do anything against the force that pushed him further and further away.
"I already told you, darling, now isn''t the time. You still need to go back and take care of some things. There''s someone still that you need to keep away as well." Keep away? Zane didn''t care about that at the current moment. Why should he? The outside world was hardly his problem so long as he stayed in this ce.
Surely everyone on the outside would be able to handle all the important matters. Wasn''t it fair that he finally got something he wanted for once? The mafia boss had always been the one to handle all the difficult things up until this point.
Keep someone away? Zane could only feel his eyes getting heavier as he resisted the pull to go back. No one came to mind that he needed to deal with. The only thoughts that flooded his mind were those of the one he wanted to be with more than anything.
Just for once, could he not get what he wanted? Even for a short while?
Chapter 386 Today Wasnt A Good Day For This
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Richard Racked his brain as quickly as he could. Finding out that the original reason he wanted toe turned out to be a fact didn''t help. It would''ve gone over better if he hadn''t had to get into with Jovani. Damn it. He needed the Vedova Nera boss to get his ass back to life so they could talk about whatever was happening.
"Richard, is there something about this connected with what is going on with Lena?" Samuel''s question came as Richard began to pace. The mafioso couldn''t bite back the urge to move any longer. Food would''ve been the preferable distraction, except that there was no one around to cook them anything.
"Cain, take that away from him." Richard didn''t stop as he ordered the mercenary about. Sam didn''t need any more than he''d already had. Certainly not if they were going to have to think about leaving soon. The merc gave a low grumble as he motioned for the young man to hand it over. Cain would take it for his enjoyment, seeing as Richard already made it clear he wouldn''t want it back. No sense in letting it go to waste. Samuel, however, didn''t give it up. He chose instead to pull away from Cain''s grabbing hand.
"Is it Richard? I know that there has been a lot going on. The least you could do is tell me what it is about." First, the older cousin, now the younger one. Maybe the cigar hadn''t been the best choice.
"Samuel. The only things these events have inmon are Jovani and your family. Outside of that, there is no connection between them." Richard''s curt response was met with a low, huffingugh from Cain, who shook his head as he pushed Samuel to give the cigar up.
"Are you the person in the ce to be saying that thought? You and you somehow managed to get ahold of some solid evidence, eh?" The mocking words and cocky, crooked smirk made Richard''s blood boil. The Merc finally managed to get the cigar away from Samuel when he got distracted by Richard''s quick advance.
"Easy now. You know that what I''m saying is nothing short of the truth. Without evidence, there is no way to say anything as facts." Cain puffed the smoke out in the other'' face. A silent dare for Richard to make the next move.
The merch may have already known he would be no match against the Mafioso. That wouldn''t stop him, however, from picking a fight, especially since he and Emily hadn''t had their chance yet, thanks to Jovani.
"I would rather Samuel not know about that until everything else is sorted out. Jovani needs to be the one to talk about that with him." Richard swiped at the other, causing Cain to back up only to realize that the other had gone for the cigar.
"You don''t'' need to be having any more of this either." He needed not to be the only one with a clear head at the current moment.
Would he be able to go and see Jovani if he pushed his way about it, or would that leave too much of a problem from the other side? Richard didn''t even know where Marcus was at the current moment.
The thought alone was enough to give the other a pounding headache. The kind that made him forget about the ache in his hand from hitting Jovani.
"We also hadn''te here to talk about all of this other stuff right now anyways. The important point of discussion was your rtionship." Richard stopped pacing long enough to stand next to Samuel''s chair. The other looked up at him; clouded eyes made it hard to read the other''s expression.
"I don''t'' think that there is much else for us to talk about in that matter until Lena contacts me. I told you everything that I know about." Samuel shrugged his shoulders, moving to get up from the chair until Richard pushed him back.
"Be that as it may, there are still some more aspects of that I want to rify with you." Richard couldn''t tell Samuel that he was better off not going anywhere. Marcus wasn''t something that could be exined in five minutes or less.Theplicated man needed a whole novel written about him if anyone outside of the family were even to begin to understand him.
"You can ask questions about whatever you wantter. I want to go and talk with Jovani so I can better understand what is going on." Samuel pushed Richard''s hand aside as he tried once more to get up. He didn''t care about the fuzzy feeling in his head that made it hard to focus or the fact that his feet didn''t feel properly attached to his body.
There had been too many things going on that he didn''t know about. New to the family or not, it certainly wouldn''t hurt for him to have additional information. It wasn''t like such things would cause the world to end.
After all, hadn''t Jovani been the one who said that sometime in the future, Samuel would be taking over the family? Knowing all the yers he had to keep an eye on would only benefit him in moving toward that goal.
"You should already know after what happened earlier that Jovani is in no ce to be talking right now. That conversation will have to wait for some time in the future." Richard tried to reason once more. He didn''t want to use force on the kid who didn''t know what he was trying to get involved with.
"Oh not in a ce to talk? I think that you will find that Jovani is plenty capable of talking. Maybe too much even. His conversations bore me still. Just as much if not even more than they used to. I do hope that someone here might be able to keep my attention better?"
The unexpected voice and presence made the hair on the back of Richard''s next stand on end.
Chapter 387 Second Big Cousin
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Well. At least Richard no longer had to worry about when he might bump into Marcus. The man decided to take that matter into his own hand.
"Aww is this our baby cousin? I remember seeing him once before. I don''t remember him looking this cute and innocent, though." Marcus strolled into the room as though he owned the ce. His eyes fixed on Samuel as though he were surveying a new toy.
"Marcus. You''re not supposed to be here right now." The words came out through clenched teeth. This was Jovani''s idea of taking care of him. Surely not.
"Rich. I think that you best mind your own business. You didn''te and see me before now. I think that leaves you outside of the realm of being able to tell me what to do." The words came out in a simple, slow, passive voice. Anyone who didn''t know him wouldn''t have thought much about it.Not Richard, though. He could read the threat from the other''s tone loud and clear.
Marcus was the type who could kill without even raising his voice, let alone expressing anger. It was necessary at best and a game at worst. The kind of game that Marcus never lost. Unless he wanted to, that is.
"I''m not telling you what to do. I am giving you a warning. So long as I''m here, Samuel is under my care. Besides, I don''t believe that Jovani would allow for the two of you to meet." Richard didn''t mind putting himself between Marcus and the younger cousin. They have been at odds but at least the mafioso knew how to handle the Vedova Nera man.
"Under your protection?" Marcus stopped short of the other as a sharp shrillugh broke free from his lips. The kind one emitted when they''d heard the funniest thing. It was almost enough to cause the other man to double over.
"Protection from me? Surely you must mean that as some joke." When their gazes connected, Marcus didn''t find a shared myth in Richard''s eyes.
"Rich. After all the time we spent together, I thought you''d know me better. Everything that happened before is done and dusted. My priorities are different." The charming tone and the way Marcus ced a hand over his heart hardly felt convincing to Richard. No way had the other man changed. People like him, like Jovani never changed.
Richard flexed his injured hand. He didn''t feel much like picking another fight but he knew better than to think he''d get what he wanted. Rarely in the scheme of things did that happen for him.
"I would rather Samuel not know about that until everything else is sorted out. Jovani needs to be the one to talk about that with him." Richard swiped at the other, causing Cain to back up only to realize that the other had gone for the cigar.
"You don''t'' need to be having any more of this either." He needed not to be the only one with a clear head at the current moment.
Would he be able to go and see Jovani if he pushed his way about it, or would that leave too much of a problem from the other side? Richard didn''t even know where Marcus was at the current moment.
The thought alone was enough to give the other a pounding headache. The kind that made him forget about the ache in his hand from hitting Jovani.
"We also hadn''te here to talk about all of this other stuff right now anyways. The important point of discussion was your rtionship." Richard stopped pacing long enough to stand next to Samuel''s chair. The other looked up at him; clouded eyes made it hard to read the other''s expression.
"I don''t'' think that there is much else for us to talk about in that matter until Lena contacts me. I told you everything that I know about." Samuel shrugged his shoulders, moving to get up from the chair until Richard pushed him back.
"Be that as it may, there are still some more aspects of that I want to rify with you." Richard couldn''t tell Samuel that he was better off not going anywhere. Marcus wasn''t something that could be exined in five minutes or less.Theplicated man needed a whole novel written about him if anyone outside of the family were even to begin to understand him.
"You can ask questions about whatever you wantter. I want to go and talk with Jovani so I can better understand what is going on." Samuel pushed Richard''s hand aside as he tried once more to get up. He didn''t care about the fuzzy feeling in his head that made it hard to focus or the fact that his feet didn''t feel properly attached to his body.
There had been too many things going on that he didn''t know about. New to the family or not, it certainly wouldn''t hurt for him to have additional information. It wasn''t like such things would cause the world to end.
After all, hadn''t Jovani been the one who said that sometime in the future, Samuel would be taking over the family? Knowing all the yers he had to keep an eye on would only benefit him in moving toward that goal.
"You should already know after what happened earlier that Jovani is in no ce to be talking right now. That conversation will have to wait for some time in the future." Richard tried to reason once more. He didn''t want to use force on the kid who didn''t know what he was trying to get involved with.
"Oh not in a ce to talk? I think that you will find that Jovani is plenty capable of talking. Maybe too much even. His conversations bore me still. Just as much if not even more than they used to. I do hope that someone here might be able to keep my attention better?"
The unexpected voice and presence made the hair on the back of Richard''s next stand on end.
Chapter 388 Very Much Alike Yet So Different
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Being face to face, Samuel couldn''t miss the simrities between Jovani and Marcus. They could have passed for brothers if no one knew they were cousins.They shared the same hair and eye color. The bridge of their noses was positioned almost the same. Even their smiling was almost identical, along with their perfectly straight teeth.
The only difference came from the look in their eyes. Samuel could see it almost instantly. Hidden behind the sea-green orbs was something feral. A sinister twinkle that Samuel had never seen in Jovani''s eyes existed in Marcus.
"You are certainly something else this close. If I didn''t know better, I might doubt whether we''re rted." Marcus tightly griped the other as he surveyed his younger cousin. The only thing that gave away the fact that Samuel was a Vedova Nera was his stubborn personality and his eyes.
Something about the odd shape of their eyes seemed to run through the entire family. Men, women. It didn''t matter. They both shared the shape equally.
"What are you doing here and where is Jovani?" Marcus blinked a few seconds to help his eyes steady as he processed the other''s words.
"Jovi is a little preupied right now. We had to have a little bit of a chat of our own earlier. One that I should have been able to have with you before now." Marcus took a step back but kept his hands on Samuel.
"Tell me, is it true that you haven''t been brought into the family yet? Engaged to another member of a mafia family but not even properly brought into our own." Richard wanted to speak up about the question but held his tongue. Marcus was being gentle at the current moment, after all. No sense in potentially setting the other off. That wasn''t the kind of chaos they needed at the current moment in time.
"No. That was part of the reason I was brought here. Other matters dyed that happening." Samuel kept his tone level, hands at his side despite wanting to push Marcus''s own off his shoulders. Something told him not moving would be better than invading the other man''s space.
"Hmm. Well I don''t think that is something that Jovani will be able to take care of any time soon. It may be better if I end up being the one to take his ce. Quick, easy and efficient. We can''t have a Vedova Nera living here who hasn''t sworn themselves to the family." That wouldn''t do at all. Too many problems had happened before when that even took ce. All of them shed through Marcus''s mind at the same time.
"Where is the girl that you''re with? She needs to be a part of this, though. Normally it wouldn''t be allowed, but the two of you have already started to tie the knot. Best make sure she understands what is going to be taking ce as well." Samuel wanted to object but didn''t get a chance as Marcus let go, whirling around to turn his head towards Cain for the first time.
"Merc. I am certain that you go about helping us get this matter setup. Don''t you know some extra people outside of the family?" Richard''s jaw tightened. Marcus couldn''t have been serious, could he have been? Right now wasn''t the time to go and talk about swearing Samuel in.
The thought alone was enough to give the other a pounding headache. The kind that made him forget about the ache in his hand from hitting Jovani.
"I have some people here with me right now. Although I''m not entirely certain they are the kind you''re looking for." Cain shrugged as he replied. It wasn''t his ce to question what the other man wanted.
Meeting the other in person, the mercenary had already shelved the idea of fighting with Marcus. He could even tell that wouldn''t end well for him on a variety of different levels.
"Be that as it may, there are still some more aspects of that I want to rify with you." Richard couldn''t tell Samuel that he was better off not going anywhere. Marcus wasn''t something that could be exined in five minutes or less.Theplicated man needed a whole novel written about him if anyone outside of the family were even to begin to understand him.
"You can ask questions about whatever you wantter. I want to go and talk with Jovani so I can better understand what is going on." Samuel pushed Richard''s hand aside as he tried once more to get up. He didn''t care about the fuzzy feeling in his head that made it hard to focus or the fact that his feet didn''t feel properly attached to his body.
There had been too many things going on that he didn''t know about. New to the family or not, it certainly wouldn''t hurt for him to have additional information. It wasn''t like such things would cause the world to end.
After all, hadn''t Jovani been the one who said that sometime in the future, Samuel would be taking over the family? Knowing all the yers he had to keep an eye on would only benefit him in moving toward that goal.
"You should already know after what happened earlier that Jovani is in no ce to be talking right now. That conversation will have to wait for some time in the future." Richard tried to reason once more. He didn''t want to use force on the kid who didn''t know what he was trying to get involved with.
"Oh not in a ce to talk? I think that you will find that Jovani is plenty capable of talking. Maybe too much even. His conversations bore me still. Just as much if not even more than they used to. I do hope that someone here might be able to keep my attention better?"
The unexpected voice and presence made the hair on the back of Richard''s next stand on end.
Chapter 389 You Know, Dont You?
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The call hadn''t been one Lena was expecting. Certainly not from this person. She had heard enough about him but had never made any contact herself.
"We do need you here right now, though, you see. We can''t go about doing this process without you. The person that Sammy is close to and all of that. I am sure that you can understand." She didn''t, though. The princess did her best to keep her expression nk as she listened to the man on the other end of the phone speak. It messed with her mind how much he sounded like Jovani. Far too much for her stressed-out body to handle.
"There are too many other matters going on right now. We had already agreed with Jovani that this would be taken care of at ater point in time. There is no reason to rush it." She kept her voice level to avoid attracting too much attention as Juluan set on dealing with Dino.
Dino didn''t need to know what was going on. That would be an additional problem she didn''t need to deal with.
Something about that thought made her blood run in a way she wasn''t used to. "I don''t care what Jovani said. He can go about saying whatever he likes. Right now, he isn''t the one who is in charge of this. That would be me, and I''m'' telling you things have changed. Was Samuel there with them right now? We are going to go ahead with this, and you need to make the time toe here and partake in it."
"I''m sure you can understand why there would be a certain level of urgency to take care of this. I can''t have the person taking over the family not already be sworn in. We have never allowed something like that to happen before. I''m certainly not going to allow it to happen now either." Marcus''s tone spoke of an impatience that Lena didn''t like. She motioned to her uncle as she decided to take the call outside the room.
"Marcus, I don''t know what you''re ying at. I can''te." right now is neither the time nor ce, though. Lena would have to be firm about putting her foot down on this. She and Samuel were undoubtedly in a rtionship. Still, other matters took the president at the current time¡ªnamely, her family and everything that was going on with them. Samuel had understood that much. So had Jovani.
Why did Marcus decide to take it upon himself and change things up without discussing it with them? Indeed he didn''t himself that much of a god to be able to go about doing whatever he pleased.
"Ticktock princess. I know what has been going on. Jovani was the one who helped fill me in on everything. I don''t care, though, you see. Everyone except for you is here already. Matters have been processing too long." Lena could hear something shift in the background. Or had it been thrown?
"If you decide that you''re not going toe and leave my fiance and little cousin alone like that, I think we will have to reconsider this union." Lena left her hand clenched around the phone. He would go so far as to make threats such as that?
"Marcus-" Lena was cut off before the words left her lips. The hiss on the other end of the phone caught her off guard. The man wasn''t like anyone she had ever dealt with before. At least not for some time.
"I don''t have the time to go about repeating myself. I already told you the terms. If you''re not here by tomorrow, I am going to take it that you don''t intend to serious get involved with my family.
"I don''t think there is much else for us to talk about in that matter until Lena contacts me. I told you everything that I know about." Samuel shrugged, moving to get up from the chair until Richard pushed him back.
"Be that as it may, there are still some more aspects of that I want to rify with you." Richard couldn''t tell Samuel that he was better off not going anywhere. Marcus wasn''t something that could be exined in five minutes or less.Theplicated man needed a whole novel written about him if anyone outside of the family were even to begin to understand him.
"You can ask questions about whatever you wantter. I want to go and talk with Jovani so I can better understand what is going on." Samuel pushed Richard''s hand aside as he tried once more to get up. He didn''t care about the fuzzy feeling in his head that made it hard to focus or the fact that his feet didn''t feel properly attached to his body.
There had been too many things going on that he didn''t know about. New to the family or not, it certainly wouldn''t hurt for him to have additional information. It wasn''t like such things would cause the world to end.
After all, hadn''t Jovani been the one who said that sometime in the future, Samuel would be taking over the family? Knowing all the yers he had to keep an eye on would only benefit him in moving toward that goal.
"You should already know after what happened earlier that Jovani is in no ce to be talking right now. That conversation will have to wait for some time in the future." Richard tried to reason once more. He didn''t want to use force on the kid who didn''t know what he was trying to get involved with.
"Oh, not in a ce to talk? I think that you will find that Jovani is plenty capable of talking. Maybe too much even. His conversations bore me still. Just as much if not even more than they used to. I do hope that someone can keep my attention better?"
The unexpected voice and presence made the hair on the back of Richard''s next stand on end.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 390 A Different Kind Of Pain
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Lena felt the strong urge to toss her phone against the wall. Who did Marcus think he was? She didn''t have time to deal with any of this. Taking a deep breath and counting backward from ten, the princess put the phone back in her pocket. It wasn''t a surprise when she opened her eyes to find that area around her was empty.
Even people who didn''t know her didn''t want to be too close when it looked like she was about to explode¡ªa wise choice. Thest thing that Lena needed at the current moment in time would be to deal with more stupid people. The luxury of time wasn''t on their side; thus, Lena was not required to waste timeposing herself. Leaving her uncle and Dino alone too long could be problematic if the rogue mafioso opened his mouth too much.
"Are you alright?" Lena barely extended her hand to reach for the door handle before Gabrielle opened it. A hint of something akin to concern flickered in her eyes as she nced between Lena and the empty hall.
"Nothing you need to worry about." Lena brushed past the tall Italian woman to return to the other room.
"Your concern should be more directed towards leaving my father and Dino alone before we get the answers we''re looking for." Lena didn''t care what happened to Dino after they were done. Right now, though, she needed to know if the other had pivotal information they could use.
"I wouldn''t be too worried about that. Dino seems to have enoughmon sense to know not to trifle with your uncle. He''s been staying rather quiet since he entered the room. Although I don''t know how long that willst if he finds out what is happening." Gabrielle shut the door behind them. Once the noise from the outside world had been shut out, Lena could hear the other voices echoing from the other end of the room. By the sound of the tones, Lena could only guess that Gabrielle had jumped to conclusions too quickly. The voices sounded anything but calm and passive.
Lena knew she should have moved to intervene when she felt the tension between the two men. More so, her uncle than Dino. Dino always enjoyed upsetting other people and skittering around the edge between life and death. On the other hand, Julian never reacted strongly unless there was a valid reason. A good reason, such as the current one, where a deserter was testing his luck in the wrong situation.
Shit. No matter how much Lena tried to get her mind to focus on the situation, Marcus''s words kepting back to her. Should she have cared so much? The question echoed in her mind as the events of thest week shed through her mind.
Canceling the engagement and wedding... Perhaps that had been the terms that Samuel had set. It didn''t feel it would be too out of ce for the other to ask. Not after what the princess had done and all the time Samuel spent with Julian. If anyone were to teach the other to have a backbone, it would undoubtedly be the Vedova Nera boss.
"Earth to Lena. I believe right now is the time that you should intervene." A gentle nudge to her side and Gabrielle''s words snapped her out of her thoughts and back to the present. The Tall Italian woman was right. In the few brief moments that Lena''s thoughts had wandered elsewhere, the situation in front of her had escted.
Julian was two seconds away from killing Dino, even if he had to do it with his bare hands. He had the younger mafioso pushed against the wall even rougher than Lena.
"I think it would be best if you were to ease up, mate. I''m not trying to say anything out of line, just pointing out the facts." Dino kept his own hands firmly locked on Julian''s shoulders to put some distance. Not that it mattered much with the weight difference between them. Julian held the obvious advantage between the two of them. One he didn''t mind reminding the other as the brief tussle continued.
"And I highly rmend if you wish to keep your tongue, let alone your fingers, you watch what you say." The hiss in Julian''s voice didn''t go amiss as he shoved Dino further against the wall. The other barely avoided wincing at the pressure against his back.
"Julian, that is enough right now. We already agreed we need to talk to him before we decide what happens." Lena interjected before Julian could take matters any further. She had meant to grab her uncle''s arm to stop him but suddenly used it for support. The world around her tilted at an odd angle, making it difficult to tell if she was still standing. The action didn''t go amiss from Julian despite their anger towards Dino.
"Are you okay?" His attention turned to Lena as he kept the other harshly pinned against the wall. Her weight felt odd against his arm. Thest time he had felt that much weight against him was when she was a mere child, not long after her mother died. Surely something wasn''t suddenly wrong with her now as well. Yet, Julian couldn''t ignore that her hand felt mmy and oddly cool against his own.
"I''m fine. You need to tone your temper down before you do anything that willplicate matters any further." Lena brushed her uncle off as she forced herself back to standing on her weight. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to discern what happened. Something in the back of her mind set off rm bells and the unfamiliar sensation, but she harshly ignored them. The princess wasn''t the kind of person to suddenly lose her footing. Now wasn''t the time for her to be focusing on such things. There was too much at the stack for her to be sick. That would have to wait until everything else was taken care of.
Her determination wavered, however, when darkness began to creep into the corner of her vision. A strange coldness began to travel up her limbs as Lena felt like she was floating away from her body.
A warm touch on her shoulder brought her to her sense briefly as she forced her head up to look at the tall Italian woman. She saw her lips moving, but the voice was muffled and far away. Was Gabrielle''s voice always that low and distant?
She didn''t get a chance to tell before the little light she had left disappeared, and her whole world faded into darkness.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 391 More Chaos
Gabrielle hardly had a chance to react before Lena began to drop. Her quick reflexes were the only thing that stopped the princess from hitting the cold hard hospital room floor. The tall Italian woman was forced to her knees as she shifted her weight to support the princess. Shit. What in the hell was going on? Lena wasn''t the kind of person to pass out.
Much like her father, Lena hardly ever suffered health issues and was rarely deted in the presence of pressure. No matter how intense it was. To the point that it was the monsters hiding in the corners that always feared Lena, not the other way around.
"Oopsie. That certainly doesn''t look very good now, does it?" Dino''sment earned him Julian''s hand roughly shoved over his face. The calloused skin stung against his already cracked lips.
"Is she okay?" Julian dared not let Dino go even though he wanted to be beside Lena. He knew, however, that the moment he took a hand off the other, Dino would be gone in a second.
"Yeah. I think so. Her breathing is normal." Gabrielle was no doctor but did her best to give her friend a quick once over for a sign of anything wrong. Before they called the doctor, she needed to check for injuries or evident causes. The tall Italian woman''s heart pounded as her hands worked quickly to undo the other''s jacket.
"I think that she''s just sick. Has she been eating?" She stole a nce in Julian''s direction. Based on how thin Lena''s skin was, Gabrielle was sure she already knew the answer. When was the princess ever good at eating? Never if her memory served her correctly. Unless there was something sweet on hand.
"What do you think?" Julian''s response sharp came out harsher than intended. Considering the circumstance, it wasn''t unexpected. What was the right thing to do? Let Dino go? Lena was family, while the other was¡ nothing more than a fly on the wall with limited time before his lease on life would end.
Fuck! There was no option between the two of them.
"You even think about doing anything stupid, and I will make sure you regret it ten times more than you can imagine. Is that understood?" Dino only raised one eyebrow but otherwise remained stiffly against the hall. His sixth sense told him not to enrage Zane''s younger, agitated sibling. If memory served correctly, hadn''t Julian been docile, more reasonable of the two Scarlet siblings? Or at least that impression had led to him approaching Julian first.
"I don''t think there is any reason for me to go anywhere any time soon. Things are just starting to get more interesting." Dino''s words came out under his breath, but it would''ve been a mistake to think that Julian had missed one mention of them.
He could never get enough of chaos. Dino wasn''t known for maintainingmon sense in most situations. The only time it came in handy for him was when it came to self-preservation, such as at the current moment when it helped him push back the strong desire to rub his hands together in unbridled glee.
"I think it would be best if we considered calling the doctor," Gabrielle concluded after checking Lena over and not finding any apparent reason for concern. Aside from the fact that one touch indicated exactly how little Lena weighed. The princess was small enough as it was; she couldn''t afford to keep up such lousy lifestyle habits.
"You think that they''re more qualified to handle this there?" The hesitation in Julian''s voice rang out. Gabrielle didn''t share the same opinion. If they couldn''t take proper care of his brother, what would they be able to do for Lena if it turned out to be serious? As effortlessly as lifting a pillow, the tall Italian scooped Lena up and stood in one fluid movement.
"I think, for safety''s sake, we don''t have the time to be standing around and debating that." Julian could do as she wished. Gabrielle had already made up her mind on the best course of action at hand. They needed someone with a better-trained eye. She was well prepared to hurt people, but that didn''t mean she equally understood how to mend them or identify problems.
Gabrielle stormed out of the room without waiting to see if either of the men behind her would follow.
"We need a doctor!" The sharp demand startled the nurse at the front desk. She almost dropped her phone as Gabrielle snapped again when she didn''t think the other had heard her correctly.
"Whatever you''re doing can wait. Couldn''t they go any faster? My friend needs a doctor, and I need you to take care of that immediately." The tall Italian woman stomped her foot, careful not to jostle Lena as her impatience grew.
Wide-eyed, the nurse could only nod as she pressed the buzzer on her side of the desk. The alert went out to tell whoever was avable or not that an emergency needed to be dealt with.
Still, it wasn''t fast enough for Gabrielle; even a pair of doctors and a nurse came rushing down the hall.
Gabrielle didn''t want to leave her friend''s side but knew there was no choice once the medical staff started crowding around her and giving directives.
"Put your friend down here. Can you tell us what happened? Did she hit her head when she fell?" Gabrielle didn''t even have a chance to put Lena down on the gurney as the questions kepting.
"I don''t know what happened. She was fine one minute and ended up passing out the next. Isn''t that your job to find out? I only stopped her from falling so she didn''t hit her head." The doctor was caught off guard by herment, her tone drawing a shocked expression of the demanding man in white. Were they not used to being talked in such a manner? The shock wore off, however, when the nurses indicated it was time to go. The doctor ended up getting left behind when Gabrielle roughly grabbed the cor of his shirt with one hand. Pulling them nose to nose, she fixed the man with a level re.
"I highly suggest you quickly figure out what is wrong with her. I expect you to look everything over from top to bottom, inside and out, got it?" The unspoken warning of what would happen if the doctor didn''t do his job well shone in the tall Italian woman''s eyes.
Chapter 392 Would She Have Taken The Chance
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Friends wasn''t a word that Gabrielle would''ve used to quantify the rtionship between her and Lena. The tall Italian woman knew that the word would never pass through Lena''s lips. What was between them was a little more unique that blurred the lines between loyal workers and distant friends.
They were never very close when they existed in the same space for years. The only thing that kept them looking together was family¡ªGabrielle''s family, to be specific. Coming from a lower mafia family, Gabrielle had been forced by her parents to decide who she would swear herself to sooner rather thanter. The only way they could ensure that she remained safe should anything happen to them.
Gabrielle could still remember the first time she''d been the Red Scorpion Princess. Zane had set up the meeting after getting wind of what her father wanted. The two things Gabrielle always remembered about that morning were the unreadable but annoying way Lena stared at her ¨C like a woman who owned the world around her and the bitter chilly air¡ªa less than a great idea by her father to meet during the winter. The cold air only increased her already poor mood and led the Italian woman to speak her mind. Disregarding everything her father told her on the way there.
"She isn''t someone that I want anything to do with." Young, na?ve Gabrielle blurted the words out the moment sheid eyes on Lena. The red-head young girl gave her a bad feeling. They were both the same age, 14, but something about how Lena''s eyes shone when they met didn''t settle well with her.
"I don''t like her, and I don''t care what family shees from; I don''t want to have anything to do with her." Gabrielle hadn''t even waited for her father to respond or for Lena to speak. She turned to leave. Her mind made up and eager to escape the cold, she rushed over to get back into the car only a few feet away. Gabrielle didn''t get as far as entering the car when a voice from behind froze. She could feel Lena''s eyes on her but refused to turn around and face the other girl. No, there was something about this one that Gabrielle didn''t want anything to do with.
"Gabrielle, that''s your name, right?" Confident yet aloof, the words rolled off Lena''s tongue. Unlike Gabrielle''s blunt manner of speech, she spoke with an arrogant confidence that spoke of techniques and pedigree. Whatever issues she might''ve with Gabrielle, she didn''t let them cause her to toss away her proper ways.
"You say you don''t want anything to do with me. Yet, I haven''t even had the chance to confirm or deny if you''re something I would want on my side. Don''t you think it would be wise to hold your tongue until you know who you''re dealing with?" The short, condescending chuckle that followed made Gabrielle''s blood boil.
Those words and chuckles had been enough to make an Italian woman want to kill Lena then. How dare anyone think that they had a right to condescend to her? Especially someone so much smaller than her?
Her father was the only thing that stopped the fight at that timed, growing to recognize the signs of Gabrielle beginning to lose her cool. He managed to grab ahold of his daughter before she did anything reckless quickly.
Gabrielle opened her eyes enough to look at the emergency room door as she lifted her head from her hands resting on her knees. How long would they have to wait until someone told them what was happening? The only other person who would''ve been more impacted would''ve been Zane. This change had left Gabrielle potentially more than anyone else disconcerted about what was going on.
He loved many people dearly, but if he ended up losing his princess when he wasn''t here ¨C that would likely break him even worse than what happened to his wife. Two losses were always more challenging to deal with than one.
"No updates? Hmm, it seems like they are choosing to take an excessive amount of time on someone who just passed out." Dino winced and let out a low hiss as Gabrielle''s foot made contact with this shin. It was enough of a warning for the other than wasting time on words.
For some unknown reason, he''d taken it upon himself to follow after them and wait around. The one time he had an excellent opportunity to leave without consequences, he chose not to take it.
"The goal isn''t for you to stick around here if you''re just going to cause problems. One more unnecessary word from you, and I won''t have a problem calling Hester toe and take care of you." Gabrielle didn''t even have enough patience to call the other man by nickname. Dino made a mock fearment but wisely moved out of the way before the other couldy a hand or foot on him again.
"I was only making an observation. I didn''t mean anything specific by it. Honestly, I don''t know why you''re choosing to be so hostile towards me whenst time I checked, we didn''t end on bad terms." Dino''s attempt to pull a response from the woman felt. Her attention had gone back to the hospital room door. Gabrielle didn''t have an ounce of energy or care to deal with him.
Meeting again after so many years, Gabrielle couldn''t help but wonder if the oue would''ve changed if they had ended up getting into a fight? Would Lena still have been willing to take a chance on her? Knowing the princess now, Gabrielle would''ve said yes. Taking on misfits seemed to be in Lena''s nature.
Would Gabrielle ever be able to muster up the courage to hear the answer from Lena herself? That would remain to be seen if she ever found out what exactly was wrong with the princess in the first ce. Damn, doctors needed to hurry the hell up.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 393 The Kid Was Worth Rescuing
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Marcus tossed the phone back to Samuel, feeling aplished in his threat. If the Red Scorpion''s daughter had any sense, she would do as he said. She seemed more obsessed with his baby cousin than he''d anticipated. Why hadn''t Jovani taken better advantage of that? Such power would''ve been a good asset for their family.
"Marcus, I don''t think it was wise to do that without knowing what has been going on." Samuel fumbled with the phone as he put it back into his pocket. There wasn''t even a chance to speak with Lena before the call had ended¡ Did she still not want to talk with him?
"I don''t care about whatever has been going on. There''s work to be done, and I don''t intend to sit around putting it off any longer. You shouldn''t either. This isn''t the kind of thing that should be taken lightly." Marcus swaggered over to the door, his brain bristling with ideas of what he wanted to do next. So long as Jovani stayed out of the picture, it wasn''t so bad to be back, even if Richard was there.
"For the sake of business, it is important to put issues behind one''s self. It doesn''t matter how big they are. A bigger picture always exists somewhere else in the world and is the only one that matters." A soft mirthful chuckle stopped Marcus halfway through the door. Did someone find something funny?
"Cute how you will hardly take the time to talk with me but don''t struggle to use the advice I taught you." Marcus didn''t move from the doorway as he tilted his head back to look at Richard. The other mafioso had taken the opportunity to move closer when Marcus''s back was to him.
"I don''t talk with you because there''s nothing for us to say. You disagree with me for stupid reasons, and I don''t feel like wasting any more time on problems that don''t want to be part of the solution. Unless you decide to be part of the process moving forward, you''re better off leaving here. Something I think that, for once, Jovani and I can agree on." The mncholy tone had returned to Marcus''s voice. Why did there have to be so many people that existed and seemingly wanted to take away what little fun he had? Shouldn''t Richard have been the different one?
"You always were quick to jump to assumptions without talking anything through. If you took more than five minutes to talk, I agree with you." Richard mentally checked the number of steps between him and Marcus. It had been a few years since the two hadst interacted, but the mafioso was confident he could still remember Marcus''s space radius.
Richard didn''t ever fully take his eyes off Marcus, even as he oversaw his steps. Not too wide, not too loud, and never out of line. Damn, what had seemed like a good idea to teach the other Vedova Nera cousin at the time hade back to make his life hard and served him right by introducing to the wrong person the way to be stronger.
"You think that in a few minutes, you can change my mind about you? Alonso couldn''t; Jovani definitely can''t. What makes you think that you''re special enough to be able to do that?" Marcus''s head remained cocked to the side as he turned to face the other. Was this some kind of game, or did Richard not realize how far he was pushing his luck?
Marcus had been kind to an old friend before. Kindness, however, only extended so far before it became thin and fizzled out. Much like the me of a candle being snuffed out by an annoying, consistent water drip.
"If you would give me a chance, I think you would find that I am quite capable of changing your mind." Richard''s determination in this matter didn''t waiver as he stopped to stand only a few feet away from Marcus. Should someone have blocked him? Potentially but who?
It wasn''t like Cain would put himself in the way of a tornado for someone he barely knew, and Samuel didn''t know any better. The kid was no fool, but even with his careful observation abilities, he couldn''t possibly understand what Marcus was capable of. There was no sense in him finding out anything before a threat could be mitigated. So long as Richard could prevent anything from happening, it would be better that way too.
"Sam right now might be our cue to leave." With the other two mafiosos distracted with sizing each other up, the mercenary slowly shifted his way over to Samuel. The kid was likely still only half of his brain functioning now. Although he didn''t care much for Richard, he still wanted to get to know more about Samuel. Something was interesting about the kid he hadn''t been able to put his finger on. Anything that could intrigue Cain was worth keeping around.
"Shouldn''t we do something to stop them instead of just leaving? Whatever they are talking about, I would hardly call either of their stances anything close to friendly." Samuel''s gaze shifted to Cain only for a brief second. His gut told him that if he took his eyes off either of the man standing off, he would miss whatever was about to happen between them.
"Kid. You may have the best intentions in the world, but you hardly know what or who you''re dealing with. Cain would do just about anything for money. I wouldn''t think about intervening if someone gave me a billion dors, and I love money more than anything."
Except risk his life.
That was precisely why, he wanted to be way clear of the room before the fight started. Under normal circumstances, he would''ve just dipped away on his own. But god damn it, the one time he would''ve wished for it to stay away, the speck of a conscience that he had poked its head out in his mind.
The kid was worth rescuing if something happened even if it slowed him down.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 394 Snapped
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What was it with the Vedova Nera family? How was it that out of all the options, Alonso had chosen them. More importantly, why had Cain decided it would be a good idea to visit the mafioso''s boss?
Cain''s fingers strummed against his thigh, a mixture of agitation and annoyance. He loved a good brawl just as much as anyone else in his group did. What stared back in front of him, however, could''ve hardly been called a mere brawl if anything should happen.
Marcus and Richard continued to exchange words, but the rising tension didn''t go amiss by the mercenary. There had been quite a few people that Cain had gotten the pleasure of meeting over the years. Mercenary work allowed for shifting between mafia, thugs, petty criminals, crooked businessmen, and politicians. The best part was no one on any of the other sides was allowed to touch a mercenary. Special protection and all that.
Cain licked his bottom lip, his eyes consistently shifting between the two men. Over the years of meeting so many different people, the mercenary learned a lot of things. Such as being able to tell who was a sane man who poised little danger beyond an inted ego and who was the insane one who only pretended to have their full head about them. Right now, Cain could tell he was staring down two of the same kind which spelled trouble.
When the flood gates break, and how they would, it wouldn''t just be helling through. No, the devil himself would be at the front line. In fact, one didn''t have to look far to who exactly the devil was. Well, this certainly hadn''t turned out to be the fun time that he had been hoping for.
Cain shifted closer to Samuel once more to try and nudge the other out to leave. So long as no one was watching them, getting out of the room would be simple and easy. Leaving leaving was out of the option. At least for the kid. Really though, they only needed a little bit of space for Cain to figure things out.
"I know you think that you should be here right now but that a bad idea." Simple nudges didn''t appear to help make the kid change his mind. He didn''t even so much as blink as he watched Richard and Marcus. Wasn''t he supposed to be one of the leastplicated ones? A Vedova Nera, yes but one who hadn''t grown up within the family.
"I don''t think that I should be here, I know that I need to be for right now. Where else exactly do you imagine I would?" The words rang out sharper than what he expected for the seemingly docile young man. Did the kid have more of a backbone to him than Cain gave him credit for? The Mercenary cut nces over at the kid between watching the other two mafioso to try and see what was going through his mind. Whatever it was, it couldn''t have been anything that logical or else he''d have left on his own ord already.
"I don''t have an exact idea in mind, but I do imagine it would be somewhere safer than this." Cain tried to keep his voice. Richard likely wouldn''t pay attention but Marcus? Oh, that man likely always kept one ear focused on everything else around him. In fact, he probably had one eye watching them as well.
"You can leave then." With those simple words, Samuel made what the mercenary would consider bold yet dumb as shit move towards the danger zone. Oya, did the kid have some kind of death wish? Cain watched; his mouth slightly ajar. Words stuck in his mouth as the desire for self-preservation won out over the annoying drip of conscience he had.
With a sharp grumble of annoyance, Cain turned away. Fucks this. He''d just leave on his own if that was the choice Samuel was going to make. After all, ti was the kid''s family. He could do whatever he wanted without it being Cain''s issue. Instead, the mercenary would just leave to go about doing whatever it was that Marcus requested. That would at least ensure he didn''t get on the other guy''s bad side assuming he had a good side.
Except the mercenary never quite made it to leave. He ended up stalling right outside the door that Marcus originally came through. The ''what will happen?'' thought froze him in ce despite his strong desire to leave. Hi feet remained stubbornly glued in ce as his ears strained to listen. Was no sound good sound? Or did that indicate everything had alreadye to a head? The mercenary''s breathing slowed down to an almost non-existent point, cut down on any additional background noise. Damn him. Why did he got about closing the door? Jovani must have made it so that the shut door muted the noiseing from the other side.
Oh but how Cain wished that wasn''t the case. Clever to avoid people listening who shouldn''t but problematic for noisy mercenaries such as himself. Especially since he couldn''t afford to go about opening the door again.
Knowing he couldn''t afford to open the door again without attracting unwanted attention, Cain leaned against it instead. Resting the side of his head to get a better shot at hearing. Pity the only thing he kept in his pocket was his gun. A ss would''vee quit in hand at the current moment in time.
Cain didn''t have to grumble for long before he could clearly hear the voices in the other Room. At least that meant that no one had died. Yet at least. Being able to hear, the mercenary began to do a mental count down. How long before everything ended up elevating even further?
"Marcus, you aren''t the original person who was put in charge of this. Even if Jovani isn''t here, the next inmand would technically be me. Not you. Are you not going to fall in line behind that?"
Oh. Someone had definitely snapped.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 395 Whos In Charge?
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Samuel didn''t even quite know what took over him when he challenged Marcus. Maybe it was whatever it had been in the cigar that Richard gave him; or the fact that he''d honestly had enough of everything.
Too many people wereing in and trying to push him around in regards of what to do. ns had already been made. Why did they have to change because someone else came in and said so? Whatever it was, he wasn''t going to stand around as Marcus dictated everything and pushed people around.
Samuel''s head was too fuzzy to tell if he was standing at his full height in front of Marcus. Even with barely any space between them, his eyes couldn''t focus enough to judge the distance. Even if he was, he''d have had to guess Marcus stood at least three inches above him. The older cousin wasn''t even standing properly, so likely, more than three. The height didn''t bother Samuel, though. Size didn''t always make the difference in such situations. Surely determination and mental abilities had to count for something.
"Oh? Little cousin are you trying to push your weight around? Were you unaware of the fact that that isn''t how it works here? I don''t care whatever anyone else said, so long as I''m here, I''m in charge." Samuel didn''t even blink as he grabbed the hand that attempted to pat him on the head. A firm grip but not enough to trigger Marcus into reacting. Although, his eyes did widen a fraction at the unexpected response.
"I am not trying to push my weight around. I am just enforcing the rules that had been set in ce by the family. Jovani is i charge right now. He said should anything happen to him, I would be the one taking his ce." Samuel firmly forced the other''s hand back down to his side. Samuel didn''t bother using his second hand. He didn''t want to unless he needed to.
"For once Samuel, I don''t think right now is the right time to do that." Richard spoke up. His eyes remained focused on Marcus as he spoke without moving. No point i getting in the middle of a family scuffle but advice could be warranted.
"Marcus isn''t like Jovani. The same kind of rules don''t apply to him as they do your cousin." Being the one who taught Marcus, Richard knew that well. He even had first hand experience with how the other tossed the rules out without a second thought.
If Richard didn''t think Marcus would react, he''d have ced a hand on Samuel''s shoulder and forced some distance between them. The kid obviously still didn''t understand what he was getting into. The electric energying off of Marcus was getting dangerously high. Much further, and the other would burst. Who he would decide to take it out on though would remain to be seen.
"I may not know who I am dealing with but there is no one who is above the rules. If everyone here is part of the family, the rules apply to them regardless of their position. Even the boos isn''t exempt from following them." Samuel lowered his head slightly as he stared Marcus down. The determination daring the other cousin to argue with him on this matter.
Could he though? After all, if the rules weren''t good enough for Marcus, why should Samuel have to follow them when it came to being sworn in?
"Though Marcus, You can say you''re above the rules if you want to. That would just mean I don''t have to follow them either. No sense at that point in going forward with whatever you had nned." Samuel''s shoulders struggled slightly as he shifted away a moderate angle. His body posture an evident brush off that the other Vedova Nera cousin didn''t take very well.
"Sammy, I don''t think that you have been in this world long enough to understand how things work. You don''t-" The next words didn''te out though as Samuel suddenly turned on him.
"Marcus, you don''t get to call me by that name." Anger over the simple use of a name? Did it have some sort of special meaning? Oh, that could be fun to find out.
"Sammy? what is wrong with using that name?" Marcus took the innocent route as his head tilted to one side again, eyes simmering as he watched his younger cousin''s reaction. Had he somehow managed to hit a hidden nerve with the other?
"Almost every Samuel I''ve known I''ve always referred to as Sammy. A good nickname Sammy is. Very much so for those you''re quite fond of and I''m indeed quite fond of you, Sammy." Marcus even went so far as to pat the other on the shoulder, a gleeful smirk dancing on his lips as he waited for what he hoped wouldn''t be a disappointing reaction. Could he have finally found a fun toy in his cousin?
"Leave." Marcus found his eyes widening once more. That wasn''t the reaction he''d thought woulde from the other. Leave? Well, that was simply no fun. Why would he leave before he found out the answer to the question he was looking for?
Or... Marcus''s eyes narrowed slightly as he took another hard look at Samuel. Maybe he had been going about looking at this toy the wrong way...
"I told you once, and I don''t want to have to repeat myself on either count. Leave right now if you can''t maintain any form of respect." Although Samuel looked as though he were about ready to explode between his darkened eyes and clenched fists, he didn''t engage with Marcus. No rough grabbing or hits. No jousting in his personal space, ready to fight the moment the other moved. No. Instead, he used words. Words to push back and deflect the other without having to raise even a finger.
What kind of exactly was his younger cousin? Surely even he had to have that dark side somewhere. It always ran through the family after all.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 396 Not Now
?
Richard knew that it was a bold move but he couldn''t keep his fingers off the phone in his pocket. One little call. One he hoped would be answered and assist with cleaning this mess up. Having muted his phone to avoid any potential disturbances beforeing to meet with Jovani proved useful. Not even Marcus would be able to tell what he was up to.
"For once, I think that you should listen to this one, Marcus. Samuel isn''t like the rest of us." No. He was tenacious and stubborn but had no skills or fighting prowess to back him up. Whatever the kid used to push back couldn''t have even been called bravado.
"And I think Richard that you shouldn''t go about butting yourself into things that don''t concern you." One re from Marcus shut the other up. Thirty minutes without an incident was decent. No sense in ruining it before Richard could find a solution. He needed to figure something else out, especially after seeing how the other option had already vacated the area.
Cain was a great example of exactly why mercenaries were not to be trusted. They never cared about anyone else except for themselves. The mafioso''s fingers itched to do one of three things - light a cigar, punch Marcus, or run his hand out of the hair. Thest was the most harmless action he could that wouldn''t trigger the Vedova Nera man.
"You shouldn''t talk with Richard that way if you''re supposedly friends or good acquaintances." For the first time since entering the room and starting to talk with Samuel, Marcus let out a sharp, shrillugh. The reaction caught the younger cousin off-guard. The high pitch sound didn''t match Marcus''s tone of voice. It didn''t even sound quite human if that was even possible.
"Again with that word." The words came out as a bark around theughter. Samuel found himself blinking in disbelief as he watched the transformation. Was this guy for real? Nothing he said seemed remotely funny enough to invoke such a reaction.
"You see Sammy, on the biggest lies in the world is the word ''friend''. Maybe in the outside world, they exist. But, in our world? You will find no such thing. Unless someone is actually fool enough to sign away their life to. Even then though, there''s always the risk that they will betray you anyways." Theughter slowly died off as Marcus continued to speak, something bitter recing it as his gaze drifted over to Richard.
"Don''t think about looking at me that way. You were the one who decided to drift away even after I tried to help you. I can''t be med for the choices that you went about making." Richard had done enough of that over the years. He didn''t need the person responsibleing back just to put him back into that box.
"Oh, Richard. I don''t me you for the choices I made. I me you for what you taught me that led me to make some of my choices. Without you, things would have turned out very differently I should think." Jovani and he certainly wouldn''t have ended up in different spaces. He may have even been able to be the one to take over at the end of the day. Obviously if the right... ''idents'' were to take ce.
Differently isn''t the word I would use for this kind of situation." Richard retorted, hand still on his phone as he waited for his phone to stop buzzing.
Had something happened? Surely not. The hospital was one of the safest ces to be...
Ugh, he really needed the other person to decide to pick up sooner rather thanter.
"You see cousin? This is why I don''t bother with such trivial things. Buying loyalty is much better than going about and trying to make friends."
"And that''s why you have been going around spending all this time without anyone by your side." Richard''s words seemed to hit the sore spot he was looking for as Marcus almost rounded on him. The dark look in his eyes spoke volumes more than the clenched fists at his side.
"Spend all this time alone without anyone at my side? You say that like it is a problem and not a personal choice that I made myself." Marcus took one step forward but Richard didn''t move. He wouldn''t.
"I have been doing everything without anyone at my side because thest thing I need is someone holding me back. I would be better off cutting off my right hand and tying weights around my legs if I was looking to be handicapped." The taller cousin sneered at the other mafioso.
"I think Sammy here would benefit from seeing the contrast between someone who lets people to close and one who knows better. I think even if he''s not from this world, he can easily see that there is a power difference which makes it evident which path is the better one to follow." Marcus cocked his head slightly as he looked back to see what Samuel''s response would be. Come now. Even a na?ve fool such as little Sammy should be able to see which path was the better one to follow.
"I think without other people around, you can''t really call yourself truly strong." Samuel''s words were not what Marcus wanted to hear. Not strong? How in the world could the brat not see how wrong he was by saying that?
"Marcus. I told you already that I think that you would be better off leaving. Samuel isn''t going to go about responding the way that you expect him to." Richard hardly finished speaking before the buzzing in his phone stopped. There went the one lifeline that he had been hoping to be able to rely on.
Fuck! This was not the time for anyone not being able to answer the phone. Certainly, the Red Scorpions had a lot going on themselves but this call was important.
Now what?
Chapter 397 No Update
?
The phone call couldn''t havee at a worse time for Julian. The light above the emergency room hadn''t gone off and no one hade out. There wasn''t even any way to go about opening the door to ask unless they wanted to break it down. That wouldn''t exactly add to the positive feelings the staff already had about them.
Julian checked to call, a silly thing since he already knew there was no way for it to have been Lena. She had dropped her phone when she''d passed out. Gabrielle was, in fact, holding on to it.
One look to see that it was Richard made him turn it off immediately. He returned to bouncing his knees as his eyes remained fixed on the door, silently willing it to open. Surely by now, they would have some kind of answers or Lena would''ve been able toe out and tell them herself what was going on.
A tiny part of him wanted to go back to Zane''s room. He hadn''t been back to check on his brother with themotion. A small part urged him to go, check on the older Scarlett sibling, and tell him what had happened. Yet, he couldn''t move.
A deep sigh forced itself from his chest as he lowered his head once more. His eyes closed as he struggled with the internal conflict as to what he should do. Couldn''t there have been an easy answer to this problem?
"Why don''t you just go off and do whatever it is that is bothering you? Sitting there isn''t going to change the waiting time. If anything, you''re just going to go about dampening everyone else''s mood with the huffing and puffing." Dino''s foot squeaked against the tiled floor as he shifted position to stand more upright. Lifting his shoulders above his head caused his back to crack as a small groan of contentment escaped his mouth.
"Shut up. I don''t want to hear one more wording out of your mouth." The younger mafioso seemed surprised by the sharp words. Since when was Julian the mean brother? Wasn''t that Zane''s job?
"Sit down and don''t think that for one second this unexpected development leaves you out of the woods. There will still be retribution." Dino couldn''t help rolling his eyes if it earned him a rough cuff to the back of his head from Gabrielle.
"Dino. You are walking on very thin ice right now. I would be very careful about what you do considering the one person keeping you safe isn''t here right now." Dino almost wanted tough at the Italian woman''sment. Keeping himself? Ha! More like the princess wanted a chance to sink her teeth into him first before anyone else could.
With a huff, he flopped back in the chair. Couldn''t there at least be one thing that he was able to do? Something slightly more exciting than sitting and staring at white walls while waiting for a door to open that he knew wouldn''t happen any time soon.
"I may enjoy flirting with danger but that doesn''t mean I have a death wish. Besides, It isn''t like I''m doing anything out of turn that requires either of you to be so hostile towards me." Dino leaned his head back as he stared at the ceiling that was an identical white to the walls and tile floor. God. Why did hospitals think that everything should be white? Surely there were better color choices that people would actually enjoy seeing. Red for example.
Red was Lena''s favorite color, wasn''t it now? Dino found his gaze sliding down to look at the emergency room doors. Things had been so much easier years ago, hadn''t they? Back before he made dumb decisions. Greedy was probably the better word choice. Promises of money and power were enough to make anyone swap sides.
Was he like Jenson? Surely not." Dino eyes narrowed at this thought. Certainly, both of them were after the quick cash and ate threw more alliance ties than they could keep alive. Unlike that asshole of a swindler though, Dino still had a certain amount of self-respect and a bit of a conscience. If he didn''t, he wouldn''t have bothered showing back up here in the first ce.
"You are thinking much too hard about something. If you are nning no doing anything foolish. I would suggest that you reconsider now." Jin''s words cut through his thoughts causing a small chuckle to erupt from the younger mafioso.
"I am not thinking about doing anything foolish in the sense that you''re thinking about. Just simply pondering back to how much better times used to be around here. I think that I preferred them to how they are now." These remarks earned Dino a derisive snort from Gabrielle.
"You only have yourself to me for the fact that anything changed." The mafioso rolled his eyes. Partly only. Had everyone else been more willing toe up to speed with his vision, everything would have been fine.
"You should really be more careful about the thin ice that you''re treading on. It certainly took a great amount of nerve for you to show up here in the first ce. I''ll give you that. I don''t know what you had hoped to aplish through your stupidity." The tall Italian woman could hope that the answer would''ve been death, but she knew better. Dino loved himself too much to do anything that would put his life on the chopping block.
Dino looked as though he were giving some hard thought to this question. He didn''t get a chance to answer, however as the light above the emergency room door shut off. The almost inaudible sound caused all eyes to turn in that direction despite the fact that the door had yet to open.
The thirty seconds that passed before anything happened felt like the longest eternity in the universe to two of the room''s upants while the third was simply curious to know what the prognosis would be.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 398 No Loose Lips
?
Lena heard the information but didn''t move as she sat at the table. Her mind raced as she tried to process it. The doctor continued talking but the words went unnoticed by the Princess. One more problem on top of everything else they were dealing with? Now wasn''t the time for that.
The only time that the man in white did anything except for talking at her was when she got up to move.
"Ah. I don''t think that you should be doing that yet. You need to take some more time to rest." Lena pped the hand away that tried to stop her without a second thought.
"You already told me what you need to. I don''t think it is your ce any longer to tell me what to do beyond that." Her voice came out hollow, low, and threatening as she stood from the hospital bed.
"I don''t'' want you to even breath a word about this to anyone else, is that understood?" She only offered the doctor a side ways nce as she leaned over to put her boots back on. She ignored the throbbing pain in her head from the shift in her blood pressure. All she needed to do was eat something and it would be fine.
"Er. I don''t wish to argue with you but I do think it would be wise to tell someone else. In the case ofplications and such. It''s my job as a doctor to tell you such things." Lena only offered a small scoff in response to his spiel.
"And I as a patient have a right to reject whatever it is you''re telling me and do as I please. It is my choice to say anything. A choice that you don''t have a right to take away." In a space where she didn''t have a lot of autonomy, Lena would take ahold of whatever piece that she could get. Until everything evened out and she could figure out what to do next.
"For once Samuel, I don''t think right now is the right time to do that." Richard spoke up. His eyes remained focused on Marcus as he spoke without moving. No point i getting in the middle of a family scuffle but advice could be warranted.
"Marcus isn''t like Jovani. The same kind of rules don''t apply to him as they do your cousin." Being the one who taught Marcus, Richard knew that well. He even had first hand experience with how the other tossed the rules out without a second thought.
If Richard didn''t think Marcus would react, he''d have ced a hand on Samuel''s shoulder and forced some distance between them. The kid obviously still didn''t understand what he was getting into. The electric energying off of Marcus was getting dangerously high. Much further, and the other would burst. Who he would decide to take it out on though would remain to be seen.
"I may not know who I am dealing with but there is no one who is above the rules. If everyone here is part of the family, the rules apply to them regardless of their position. Even the boos isn''t exempt from following them." Samuel lowered his head slightly as he stared Marcus down. The determination daring the other cousin to argue with him on this matter.
Could he though? After all, if the rules weren''t good enough for Marcus, why should Samuel have to follow them when it came to being sworn in?
"Though Marcus, You can say you''re above the rules if you want to. That would just mean I don''t have to follow them either. No sense at that point in going forward with whatever you had nned." Samuel''s shoulders struggled slightly as he shifted away a moderate angle. His body posture an evident brush off that the other Vedova Nera cousin didn''t take very well.
"Sammy, I don''t think that you have been in this world long enough to understand how things work. You don''t-" The next words didn''te out though as Samuel suddenly turned on him.
"Marcus, you don''t get to call me by that name." Anger over the simple use of a name? Did it have some sort of special meaning? Oh, that could be fun to find out.
"Sammy? what is wrong with using that name?" Marcus took the innocent route as his head tilted to one side again, eyes simmering as he watched his younger cousin''s reaction. Had he somehow managed to hit a hidden nerve with the other?
"Almost every Samuel I''ve known I''ve always referred to as Sammy. A good nickname Sammy is. Very much so for those you''re quite fond of and I''m indeed quite fond of you, Sammy." Marcus even went so far as to pat the other on the shoulder, a gleeful smirk dancing on his lips as he waited for what he hoped wouldn''t be a disappointing reaction. Could he have finally found a fun toy in his cousin?
"Leave." Marcus found his eyes widening once more. That wasn''t the reaction he''d thought woulde from the other. Leave? Well, that was simply no fun. Why would he leave before he found out the answer to the question he was looking for?
Or... Marcus''s eyes narrowed slightly as he took another hard look at Samuel. Maybe he had been going about looking at this toy the wrong way...
"I told you once, and I don''t want to have to repeat myself on either count. Leave right now if you can''t maintain any form of respect." Although Samuel looked as though he were about ready to explode between his darkened eyes and clenched fists, he didn''t engage with Marcus. No rough grabbing or hits. No jousting in his personal space, ready to fight the moment the other moved. No. Instead, he used words. Words to push back and deflect the other without having to raise even a finger.
What kind of exactly was his younger cousin? Surely even he had to have that dark side somewhere. It always ran through the family after all.
Chapter 399 Something New
?
Lena didn''t know why but it was so hard to not sink into the weight of the other. It hadn''t been that long, had it? Yet all the emotions that hit someone after not seeing a person they cared about forever hit her all at once.
Emotions that she wasn''t used to feeling so rapidly. As with anything else though, she pushed them back to avoid them. Not now. Not yet. Everything still wasn''t fully okay.
"I haven''t died so I don''t quite see why I am getting such a warm reception." The rumbling of the other''s chest as they spoke only made the princess want to press into them even further. At least until she was certain that the event was real.
One look to see that it was Richard made him turn it off immediately. He went back to bouncing his knees as his eyes remained fixed on the door, silently willing it to open. Surely by now they would have some kind of answers or Lena herself would''ve been able toe out and tell them herself what was going on.
A tiny part of him wanted to go back to Zane''s room. He hadn''t been back to check on his brother with themotion. A small part urged him to go, check on the older Scarlett sibling, and tell him what had happened. Yet, he couldn''t move.
A deep sigh forced itself from his chest as he lowered his head once more. Eyes closing as he struggled with the internal conflict as to what he should do. Couldn''t there have been an easy answer to this problem?
"Why don''t you just go off and do whatever it is that is bothering you? Sitting there isn''t going to change the waiting time. If anything, you''re just going to go about dampening everyone else''s mood with the huffing and puffing." Dino''s foot squeaked against the tiled floor as he shifted position to stand more upright. Lifting his shoulders above his head caused his back to crack as a small groan of contentment escaped his mouth.
"For once Samuel, I don''t think right now is the right time to do that." Richard spoke up. His eyes remained focused on Marcus as he spoke without moving. No point i getting in the middle of a family scuffle but advice could be warranted.
"Marcus isn''t like Jovani. The same kind of rules don''t apply to him as they do your cousin." Being the one who taught Marcus, Richard knew that well. He even had first hand experience with how the other tossed the rules out without a second thought.
If Richard didn''t think Marcus would react, he''d have ced a hand on Samuel''s shoulder and forced some distance between them. The kid obviously still didn''t understand what he was getting into. The electric energying off of Marcus was getting dangerously high. Much further, and the other would burst. Who he would decide to take it out on though would remain to be seen.
"I may not know who I am dealing with but there is no one who is above the rules. If everyone here is part of the family, the rules apply to them regardless of their position. Even the boos isn''t exempt from following them." Samuel lowered his head slightly as he stared Marcus down. The determination daring the other cousin to argue with him on this matter.
Could he though? After all, if the rules weren''t good enough for Marcus, why should Samuel have to follow them when it came to being sworn in?
"Though Marcus, You can say you''re above the rules if you want to. That would just mean I don''t have to follow them either. No sense at that point in going forward with whatever you had nned." Samuel''s shoulders struggled slightly as he shifted away a moderate angle. His body posture an evident brush off that the other Vedova Nera cousin didn''t take very well.
"Sammy, I don''t think that you have been in this world long enough to understand how things work. You don''t-" The next words didn''te out though as Samuel suddenly turned on him.
"Marcus, you don''t get to call me by that name." Anger over the simple use of a name? Did it have some sort of special meaning? Oh, that could be fun to find out.
"Sammy? what is wrong with using that name?" Marcus took the innocent route as his head tilted to one side again, eyes simmering as he watched his younger cousin''s reaction. Had he somehow managed to hit a hidden nerve with the other?
"Almost every Samuel I''ve known I''ve always referred to as Sammy. A good nickname Sammy is. Very much so for those you''re quite fond of and I''m indeed quite fond of you, Sammy." Marcus even went so far as to pat the other on the shoulder, a gleeful smirk dancing on his lips as he waited for what he hoped wouldn''t be a disappointing reaction. Could he have finally found a fun toy in his cousin?
"Leave." Marcus found his eyes widening once more. That wasn''t the reaction he''d thought woulde from the other. Leave? Well, that was simply no fun. Why would he leave before he found out the answer to the question he was looking for?
Or... Marcus''s eyes narrowed slightly as he took another hard look at Samuel. Maybe he had been going about looking at this toy the wrong way...
"I told you once, and I don''t want to have to repeat myself on either count. Leave right now if you can''t maintain any form of respect." Although Samuel looked as though he were about ready to explode between his darkened eyes and clenched fists, he didn''t engage with Marcus. No rough grabbing or hits. No jousting in his personal space, ready to fight the moment the other moved. No. Instead, he used words. Words to push back and deflect the other without having to raise even a finger.
What kind of exactly was his younger cousin? Surely even he had to have that dark side somewhere. It always ran through the family after all.
Chapter 400 Yes Yet... Not Quite
?
The world hadn''t yet decided it was time to stoping crashing down. In fact, it seemed to have a mind of it''s own as far as Lena was concerned. One positive seemed to add up to two negatives. Other things seemed wrong for each small matter that went right during the current.
What was she supposed to do regarding the issue with Samuel? Marcus wasn''t like Jovani. Meeting the man once was enough to make her well aware of this. Where Jovani enjoyed ying and pushing buttons, Marcus would follow through with whatever he said. The edge to the back of his voice over the phone told her that much.
Her mind might have been traveling to fields afar; however, her eyes remained fixed on the man lying asleep in bed. At least, she had hoped he''d only gone to sleep and not back to wherever he''d juste from. Lena wouldn''t be able to handle him drifting off once more. They''d hardly even had the chance to exchange more than a few words.
"I don''t think that you staring at him in such a manner will help him sleep, Princess." Lena didn;t so much as look up as she gave the chair next to her a rough kick. The wibble that followed was only slightly satisfactory. It would have been far better if the chair had fallen over. Maybe the other mafioso would keep his mouth shut for over five minutes.
"Violence, my dear girl? You have hardly changed in five years." It seemed, however, that no amount of roughing or harshness could get Dino to keep his mouth shut. It seemed as though it were almost an impossible task for the other. Did he love himself so much that he could hardly stand to be out of thepany of his voice?
"Dino, it will be more than violence you''ll be dealing with if you don''t keep your mouth shut." The harsh warning came with an equally sharp re. The threat was met with amusement rather than any fear or understanding of the warning she gave him.
Why did she have to be the one to get stuck with babysitting him? There were plenty of other people or ces he could''ve been left, yet, Gabrielle seemed to think leaving him with Lena was the best.
"Now, you know I don''t mean any harm in what I say. I''m Simply pointing out that you might wish to direct your savory gaze elsewhere than at the person you''re concerned about." Dino leaned away in the chair to avoid Lena taking another hit at him.
Except the princess had no intention of doing such a thing. He was not worth expending any additional energy on. There were other things at hand. One thought was enough to bring her hands to her stomach. It was only for a mere second before Lena stopped. No. Right now was not the time to be doing that.
Even with the quick behavior shift, the action didn''t go unnoticed by Dino. The mafioso had always been known for being sharp and observant. A few years hadn''t changed anything about that.
"Princess. Is there perhaps something else that is on your mind that you''re not talking about? Considering we were friends, I think you should know it''s perfectly safe to leave your secrets with me. No one around here would even hear one word about them." And maybe if she left her secrets behind, she would be more willing to go about letting him go at the same time.
"There is nothing for me to tell you about. In fact, I would much rather you weren''t here right now. In fact, if there weren''t something I needed from you, I would''ve already made sure you were taken care of." Lena stood up and stepped away but not before roughly shoving the other''s chair once more.
She couldn''t stand sitting in that stuffy room with him any longer. Zane didn''t look like he intended to wake up again soon. Julian refused to say a word. Either too guarded because of Dino or overly concerned about his brother. Lena didn''t know which but knew that moving one piece would ease things.
"Hester. I know you''re busy right now, but I would be grateful if you could bring someone around to take care of Dino. We still need him, but I no longer want him around here. You can figure out where you take him; make sure someone is there to watch him." Lena paused, her gaze trailing over to the man in question, who was watching her intently with a hint of amusement.
Did he not know the meaning of shame?
The princess allowed Hester to speak momentarily as she exited the room. She didn''t like taking her eyes off the tricky man but knew Julian would ensure he didn''t go anywhere.
"No. I don''t think that he has done anything. I just don''t trust him not to try the longer he''s around. You can send whoever you think would be best for the job, just as long as it isn''t Gabrielle." Lena needed the tall Italian woman to focus on the job at hand.
"No. Keep everything else as it is. You''re doing what I asked you to already, right?" Lena paused briefly again, listening to the other''s confirmation as her hand absently trailed back to her stomach once more.
"Then don''t worry about anything else. Just focus on the two things I''m asking for. Everything else will take care of itself." Her hand itched to grab the pipe from her pocket until she remembered it had been left in the hospital room. Someone had taken it out of her pocket after she''d passed out. Damn, she would have to leave without it.
"No. I already told you about that. However, I do want you to put some extra security around the hospital. Nothing is clear yet, but I must take care of a few things." Lena ended the phone call abruptly. She didn''t have time to listen to the objections she knew woulde from her subordinate.
She had already made up her mind about what would happen next and no would be able to go about changing it.
Chapter 401 Fitting
Chapter 401 Fitting
Samuel didn''t like how things moved, but Marcus wouldn''t have any of it. The man was determined to act as though he were in charge so long as Jovani was out ofmission. Where was the man anyway?
"We don''t have time to be fussing about the small stuff. You have been here long enough that we must move ahead with the next steps." Marcus repeated the same thing over and over. He didn''t care what objections his cousin had. Things were going to go the way he wanted them.
Cain had snuck away. Perhaps to do what Marcus bide him to or vanish before something worse happened. Even the well-seasoned mercenary could smell the danger and death surrounding the other Vedova Nera cousin. Only his younger self would have been fool enough to stick around, knowing the threat level.
"And I already told you once, if Lena isn''t going to be there, I''m not going through with this." Samuel refused to rise from the seat. Legs and arms crossed as he leaned back in the wing-backed chair. Richard stood to the far back of the room, cigar in hand, watching Marcus pace.
"You''re not in a position to be the one making demands. Not until you go through with this. If Lena Scarlet doesn''t want toe, take it as a sign that she doesn''t care about you enough." Marcus spat the Red Scorpion princess''s name. His passive features shifted to barely hidden frustration as he marched over to where Samuel sat once more.
"Sammy. There are rules you must follow if you''re going to be here. Rules state that you must go through this process if you want to be here." Unlike Jovani, Marcus would have already made sure it happened. Except, he hadn''t been the one to win the game¡ªunfair shit of a cheating cousin.
"I already told you why she can''t be here. Emergencies within allies shouldn''t be reasons to outcast them." Samuel stood his ground, head lowered slightly as he met Marcus''s gaze with determination.
"Allies? Since when was the Red Scorpion family our allies? I never remember them being there for us when we needed them. A performative engagement doesn''t suddenly make us chummy pals." Marcus scoffed, one hand reaching forward to take ahold of Samuel''s shirt cor. If he didn''t go about doing as he was asked, Marcus would have to make him do it.
"Marcus. It would be best if you took your hand off him. You might think you''re in charge right now, but that doesn''t give you a right to treat family that way." Marcus''s gaze shifted over to the other mafioso standing in the corner.
"And it would be best to remember your ce right now, Dicky. Indeed this is a family matter. One in which you have no right to interject." Marcus was about to continue with what he was doing until a smaller hand grabbed ahold of his own.
"Richard is right. Even if you are in charge, you can''t go about roughing your way to make everyone do as you want." Emily took that moment to interject as she pulled Marcus''s hand off Samuel.
"Everyone here is family, Marcus. We should start acting like it again if you''ll be here." Something about seeing the petite Vedova Nera girl caused Marcus to freeze; a soft look crossed his features for a brief second. Affection? Samuel didn''t know if that was the right word, but it seemed something close to that.
"Come on, Marcus. We used to be much better at doing this right when we were younger. Why don''t we go back to that?" Emily tried to coax the other. Even as strong a fighter as she was, she knew better than to underestimate what Marcus was capable of.
When Marcus decided to reach a hand forward, the whole room was filled with silence. Fearing to take a breath, uncertain what the other would do. A pin could have been heard dropping a mile away. The room was even too afraid to breathe out of fear of what the unstable man would choose to do.
"Em. Even you know that was all quite some time ago. things have changed quite a bit since then." Marcus''s voice remained soft, a hand gently touching his female cousin''s cheek. Surprisingly, she avoided wincing against the touch though her eyes fluttered slightly. Samuel looked like he wanted to interject, but one finger shift on her free hand was enough to keep him from moving.
"We can''t all go about back to being as soft as we used to be. The stakes have changed. You, of all people, should be able to understand that well. It wouldn''t fit us anymore " Emily simply nodded in response to hisment.
"I know what you''re saying, Marcus. I don''t think that means we have to treat family that way. We all did promise back then that no matter what happened, that part of us wouldn''t change." She gently patted his hand that was touching her face. She wasn''t thrilled about having it there, but moving it might cause the wrong reaction from her unpredictable cousin.
"That is one ce where you are wrong, Em. Samuel isn''t family yet. Everything that I am working to is to ensure that he safely bes family before something happens." With these words, he gently pushed the other away and turned his attention back to Samuel.
"It means that even if this one doesn''t agree with not having everyone here, we must go through with it." Marcu moved to grab ahold of Samuel once more until Emily physically put herself between them.
"And we will make sure to take care of everything the way it needs to be done. Just... not right yet. Rushing things could put us in the wrong position." The petite woman continued to try and reason with her muchrger cousin.
The man could have easily brushed her aside and across the room if he wanted to. That much was evident by the scuffle between him and Richard. If not for the fact that he''d been the one to train Marcus, Richard would have ended up in much worse condition than a few bruises.
"Why don''t we take tonight to go over everything and consider the best options moving forward." Emily moved herself to try and push the other back slightly. A gentle hand on the chest and her feet nted firmly were enough to make this happen. The irrational man willingly took steps back to match the force Emily used on him. An act that surprised everyone in the room.
What about the petite woman caused such an effect on Marcus?
Chapter 402 Personality Switch
Chapter 402 Personality Switch
"You know you are starting to test my patience, Em." The words came out as more of a rough sigh of exasperation than frustration. AN agitated hand ruffled through already disheveled locks. Green eyes bore into her baby blue ones¡ªone of the few traits she had gotten from her mother. The same baby blue eyes that used to be filled with such unwavering affection for Marcus were starting to soften once again the longer their gaze remained locked.
The look that the older Vedova Nera cousin fixed her with a stark contrast to the one that leveled everyone around him. It was almost as though a personality switch had been flipped the moment he looked at Emily.
"I know that I am. I believe that you will find it well worth listening to me at the end of everything." Emily continued to press the other, wanting to move them far enough back to put space between them and everyone else in the room.
"And how can you be certain that taking one more night won''t ruin everything? Sam could take the chance to leave and do as he pleased." Marcus''s gaze flickered from the petite woman over to his younger cousin. It wasn''t an option to have Samuel leave. Everything needed to be finished up before he left the estate again.
"Because I''m not nning on going anywhere since Lena and I haven''t worked things out. Where else would I go to stay?" Samuel took the opportunity to speak up. Without moving from the chair, he shrugged his shoulders.
"That is why I came here first; I tried to exin. The problem is one that I want to be able to work out before we go ahead with anything else." Marcus opened his mouth to the object but found fingers firmly against his lips. The scent of vani and cardamom filled his senses, and he seemed to rx again.
"We can work out going over all of thatter, Samuel. Things may not turn out how we want them to, but we will work on it. The important part is that he won''t go anywhere before we do the induction." Emily didn''t remove her fingers from the other''s mouth until she was sure he wouldn''t try to protest again. Samuel would have done better to keep his mouth shut now. The kind had no idea what could trigger Marcus. Not like she did.
"I think we will go better off leaving this matter be tonight. We need to take some time to breathe. Eat something, and we can n when everything is fresh in the morning. Wouldn''t you agree that is a much better idea?" Emily''s gaze met the others as she looked for any sign that Marcus might decide to change his mind at thest minute. She didn''t want to havee so far only for him to return to doing what he wanted.
"We can afford to take one night off this matter if everyone agrees to stay where they are and not go anywhere. We can go back to nning everything in the morning." Marcus conceded on this matter though the look in his eyes didn''t seem as thrilled as his voice made him out to be.
"Why don''t we then go about figuring out something to eat? I think Jovani might have sent everyone home earlier." Probably for the better that he did that. Marcus couldn''t be trusted around people he didn''t know that well.
How Emily handled, Marcus reminded Samuel of someone trying to deal with an unruly child¡ªpatient, careful, and level. In a way, it also reminded him of Lena''s rtionship. Suppose the roles had been swapped around. Something about that thought made his chest ache. He needed to be able to find time to speak with Lena.
"Why don''t you guyse along and join uster?" Emily cast a nce back at Richard instead of Samuel. A knowing look that only the other mafioso seemed to understand.
"Don''t worry. We won''t go anywhere and can figure out what to do alone." Richard gave a reassuring nod as he took the cigar out of his mouth. The ash at the end broke off and fluttered to the floor, leaving behind a burning ember.
Richard didn''t like the situation but chose to remain where he stood instead of moving over to Samuel until Marcus was out of sight. He was done with dealing with scuffles for the night.
Emily somehow managed to do a masterful job of keeping Marcus''s attention on her until they had disappeared through the doorway. Theplex cousin didn''t leave without one final warning to the two staying behind. No matter the circumstances, he didn''t want them going anywhere far from his sight.
"Why don''t we go about figuring out where Jovani is now that they are going." The silence spread between them for another five minutes before Richard decided to break it. Richard walked past Samuel to put the cigar on the previously empty ashtray.
"How is it that Jovani and Marcus are cousins?" The questions started as the mafioso ushered Samuel to stand up from his chair. A low tsk was the only sound that met the question as Richard directed the kid to leave out the opposite door Marcus and Emily disappeared through.
"Shared blood but different family. Marcus isn''t the only one from his side of the family who is like that." Richard had Samuel go through the narrow door frame ahead of him. It wasn''t like Marcus would burst through the door toe back after them. At least not s long as Emily kept his attention.
It seemed some things didn''t'' change no matter how much time passed. Those two, though? Richard wouldn''t have even been able to guess that one. It made Richard have some questions, but right now wasn''t the time to ask them. There were a few more essential things that they needed to focus on at the current moment in time.
Such as finding Jovani so that Richard could give the other a good cuff or two more for causing all this unnecessary trouble.
Chapter 403 Brush Off
Chapter 403 Brush Off
Samuel''s questions didn''t stop as they continued down the hallway with what Richard hoped would be the right question.
"Is that something that runs through the family, or did something trigger it?" Richards shrugged in response to the question.
"I don''t make a point of studying other mafia families to find out why they are fucked up or what''s wrong with them. If I had any say, I wouldn''t be a part of this world anymore." Almost twenty yearster, though, he still hadn''t found a way to get out and make his own decisions. Once in hell, always in hell, he supposed. This thought lingered around the back of his head as he directed Samuel to turn down another hall. The ordeal would''ve been much easier if Jovani had kept his phone on.
"You''re not here by choice?" Something about that tidbit of information seemed to catch Samuel off guard as he stopped walking, causing Richard almost to bump into him. However, a gentle nudge from the back got the other back into motion.
"Who is? Most people join because they don''t have an option, are born into it, or are sold into it. No one says it out loud, though. Who wants to risk getting killed for speaking their honest opinion?" Richard''s case was a bit different...
"I''m only partly here because I want to be. Call it paying back an extended debt to a friend I haven''t ever been able to give back enough to. I nned to leave this side of the world when I was younger than you. However, one thing leads to another, and I am still so many yearster. I wouldn''t call everything about it hell, but it hasn''t been any walk in the park either." No thanks to Zane, for that matter. Hmph. If it weren''t for him, Richard would have vanished long ago.
"Does that have something to do with why you''re so close to Lena''s family?" Richard made a nonverbal noise of confirmation as they made their way through another room¡ªdefinitely one way of looking at it.
"Lena used to be quite different as a child. You might even believe it if I told you she used to be much more bright and bubbly." The mafioso sometimes struggled with remembering how the young girl used to be. The person had grown into was a stark contrast to the young girl who would run over and hug his legs any time she came to visit. He could still hear that childish voice scolding him as she looked up at him with big bright eyes any time he was away for too long.
This life... their world wasn''t the kind of ce for children to grow up in.
"I hope this is the right door here, and we can continue talking about this another time." Richard shut down Samuel''s questions, even though it was his fault for shifting the conversation toward the princess. The sturdy oak door was a silent blessing against all the dark winding halls they had been going down for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes that felt like a century and melded together with everything looking so simr.
Too annoyed by everything taking ce, Richard didn''t even bother knocking before he opened the door. If Jovani was in there, he would have to deal with them barging in on them.
"Well, now. I didn''t think it would be quite some time until anyone else decided to stop by and visit. I''m even surprised that you managed to find this ce." Jovani''s voice came out in a dry drawl. The exact location was difficult to discern with how dark the room was. Between night having fallen, the thick dark red curtains covering the window and the room light not being on, it was impossible to see anything.
Richard fumbled for the light switch but didn''t have to see Jovani to know what state he would be in. Between the drugs and Marcus, it was a surprise he was still even awake at this point. The Vedova Nera boss hissed against the bright light that filled the room.
"I am happy to see that you brought Samuel with you. However, I think that it would have been much better if he hade on his own. I don''t think that there is anything left for us to say." Jovani chose not to even properly acknowledge Richard Even a the other made his way over to the bed, his unfocused eyes instead choosing to focus on Samuel as he gave the other a once over.
"If it wasn''t for all the shit problem you have been causing, I wouldn''t even have to be here in the first ce. Why don''t start though by exining what exactly is going on here? Which part of your brain thought that it would be a good idea to let Marcus stay here again?" Jovani rolled his eyes in response to the ridicule. At least he''d had the decency to keep his clothes on which made it easier for Richard when he hoisted the other up so that they were at eye level.
Jovani may have hard a time getting his eyes to focus fully but that didn''t stop him from fixing Richard with the best re that he could muster. One which Richard returned full force.
"I don''t care what it is you decide to do with your own life and your pieces when you''re left to yourself. I do however expect that you will at least have enoughmon sense to not make stupid mistakes such as this one. Willing to involve someone else that you know Marcus has been interested in for some time without any warning? That crosses things even a hair above what I thought was possible for." Jovani swiped at Richard to push the other off from touching him. He flopped back on the bed and shut his eyes once more and he retorted that the other said.
"I don''t think that you have any right to be talking in this matter. There may be al to of things that I don''t know what I am doing with but this certainly isn''t one of them. Marcus and I already made an agreement before he came here. He could stick around if he behaved." Behaved? Richard out let out a low, harshugh in response to Jovani''s words.
"Behave? I hardly think based on what I have been seeing that Marcus even knows what that means. If you''re state is anything to go by not to mention the havoc he was causing just moments before. You know if it wasn''t for Emily, he would have already forced Samuel to go with the induction whether or not everyone else necessary was there."? Jovani fixed Richard with a look that clearly said? he didn''t belive what the other.
"We had agreed that the induction would be taking ce at a different time. Marcus already knew what I had nned." Jovani brushed it off.
"Marcus did intend to go through with the induction. He even spoke with Lena on the phone regarding whether she would being or not." Jovani would have continued to brush Richard off if not for Samuel interjecting.
"He didn''t seem to want to change his kind on that matter until Emily managed to somehow get him to go along with her. He is still wanting to go about getting it done tomorrow though." The older cousin raised one eye brow as he opened his mouth to spoke but Samuel hadn''t finished yet.
"If Lena isn''t here either tomorrow, he''s saying the engagement will be called off and there won''t be an alliance between the two families." Something about the look on Samuel''s face caused Jovani to sober up.
Well Damn.
Chapter 404 Not his Place
Chapter 404 Not his ce
Jovani seemed to think long and hard about this new information. He''d only been down for a few hours, and Marcus had already decided he was the new boss. Tch. That was different from how things worked.
But, not different from the way that Marcus worked. The other cousin had never been gone at following the rules. Always one to think that he could bend them here and there where it best fit him.
"The rtionship is between you and Lena. Marcus may try and do what he wants, but he isn''t the person who has the final say." Jovani sat up in bed, ignoring the ache in his ribs.
"Jovani, it seems you fail to forget that Marcus doesn''t care about how the rules work," Richard interjected, earning him a roll of his eyes from the Vedova Nera boss.
"And you seem to forget that it doesn''t fucking matter. Rules are rules in ce for a reason." The mafioso''s expression indicated that he hardly believed that counted for much.
"But even if Marcus isn''t in charge, doesn''t word from him as part of the family count for a lot?" Samuel interjected before another argument could break out between the two peevish acquaintances. Jovani let out a low growl of a sigh.
"Yes, it would count for a lot but the circumstances would be considered. With the Red Scorpion family dealing with current matters and the unexpected pressure for the initiation to move forward, some would be skeptical." not to mention that Marcus was technically disgraced in their side of the world. Kudos to his father for that. Samuel, however, didn''t need to know that at the current moment.
"It will likely turn out to be a non-issue, however. Lena is bound to show up. Regardless of anything else, she will be here. So I think we should move forward with the current n all things being equal." Richard shot the Vedova Nera boss an ''Are you crazy?'' re. Even Samuel looked still determining if his decision was the best choice.
"No, trust me on this." Jovani brushed them off as he ced a hand on Samuel''s shoulder. The encouraging look didn''t appear to dim the doubt in the other''s eyes. The Vedova Nera boss shouldn''t have been surprised with everything that had been going on recently. It was not one of his best weeks regarding decisions and life choices. Although his gaze was on his younger cousin, Jovani was still very much aware of the stern re boring into the back of his skill.
"And how exactly will you take responsibility for matters if they don''t turn out the way you''re telling us they will? What if Lena isn''t able to show up? Are you going to be the one to stand up to Marcus and call everything off?" The sound of a tongue clicking against teeth was the one response that met his question. God Damn it. Richard just about had enough of the other man. It was one thing for the Vedova Nera to treat life like a game when it only impacted him, but another to involve other people.
"You might recall that you'' ''re the primary person responsible for this mess in the first ce. I''m sure, though, just like in the past, you''re going to throw the responsibility of dealing with this issue onto someone else and just walk away. When will you admit that is really what happened with -." Richard had to bite his tongue to stop the following words froming out. Jovani already knew what he was going to say. There was no point in the mafioso wasting his words on the other man once more. Richard instead chose to allow the thick silence that followed to nket the room. It was up to Jovani to make the next move.
The longer the silence extended, the darker the cloud in the room continued to grow. The air became so thick with tension that it almost reached a point of being visible before Jovani decided to answer the other Mafioso.
"Considering I already told you I would take care of everything, you''re wise to stop before you say anything else." Jovani didn''t look at the other man, but the tension in his back was visible.
"I don''t care whether you believe me, just don''t interfere where you''re not wanted." The Vedova Nera''s voice held a false lightness to it. One that didn''t match the coiled tension in his muscles.
"Jovani. Richard isn''t involving himself where he isn''t wanted. Lena asked him to watch out for me, and I''ve also approved that." Samuel took the opportunity to speak. cing one hand on the other''s shoulder, he maneuvered himself away from the bed and between the other two men.
"I don''t know the story between you two or even what is going on right now, but I think it''s better to keep more allies than push them away." Jovani flicked his gaze between his younger cousin and Richard. Allies? As far as Jovani was concerned, only one person in the room fit that description.
Rather than verbalize this, Jovani settled for a shrug of his shoulders and a barely civil smile.
"I''ll trust your judgment on this, cousin. However, when Lena shows up tomorrow, I would like Richard to leave." If Richard was offended by this request, the mafioso didn''t show it. He no longer seemed interested in Jovani at all. His eyes had gone back to his phone. Was their conversation finished for him?
Samuel nudged his older cousin. He seemed to detect that Jovani would say something and gave him a look that said ''no.''
When had his cousin gone about growing up so much? Indeed, it hadn''t just happened overnight.
"I''ll let Lena decide if she wants me to leave. Currently, you''re not able to make those requests." Jovani rolled his eyes at the other. If his cousin didn''t want him to fight, he wouldn''t. Not right now, at least.
He would wait to get rid of the other annoying manter on once his cousin was distracted by the princess.
Chapter 405 Not His Style
Chapter 405 Not His Style
Jovani could focus on what kind of n he would devise to get Richard out of his stateter. Right now, Marcus took front and center importance to deal with.
He would have to have a proper chat with his cousin now that he was back on his feet. Well, mostly back on his feet. Between the drugs and the hit to his head, standing turned out to be more of a challenge than Jovani anticipated.
Keeping his bnce with both his hands carefully ced on the edge of the bed, Jovani shut his eyes. Focusing on the darkness that greeted him behind his eyelids did little to stop feeling like the whole world was spiraling around him.
Jovani would''ve weed the bitter taste of alcohol at the back of his throat and the apanying hangover to the way he currently felt. This was why Eve always told him not to mix drugs and painkillers.?Meh. Whatever didn''t kill him would just help to make him stronger in the long run.
Neither Samuel nor Richard said anything, although he could feel both their eyes on him. One was harboring a bucketful more of contempt than the other.
"I am d you are getting so much entertainment from watching me struggle. You do know though, that there are better things you can be doing." Jovani''s voice came out strained even to his own ears as he forced himself to stand up through the dizziness. The vertigo vanished only to be reced by a skull-splitting headache.
"Such as? You are the one who said you had a n on how to deal with things. Wouldn''t it be better for you to tell us what to do?" Richard crossed his arms but kept one eye on the phone in his left hand while the other focused on the Vedova Nera boss. Any moment now someone would have to respond. The mafioso had sent enough messages that someone wouldn''t be able to ignore them.
"Oh, I''m sorry. I didn''t realize that you needed someone to direct you because you''re incapable of doing anything on your own. If you need something to do, then do us both a favor and go find Alonso." Jovani was in far too much pain and way too fed up to hide the venom in his own voice.
Shit. With the way he was fairing, it would take him longer than anticipated before he could go and talk with Marcus. Though it was highly unlikely talking would be what they''d end up doing.
"Don''t you think that you should be the one to do that? it is your fault, he ended up in his current state." Richard raised one eyebrow as he stubbornly stayed standing in the same ce.
"First, you say that you need directions, and now that you have them, you''re going to argue with me? I thought that I would be the best person to talk with Marcus but if you would rather take that job on, be my guest." Jovani made a show of waving his hand in the direction of the door as he silently dared Richard to go and speak to the other cousin.
"Why don''t both of you go and speak with Marcus? I can go find Alonso and see how he is." Both men quickly shot down Samuel''s suggestion.
"Absolutely not." Both replied in almost near unison, causing the tension in the room to rise even further. Richard refused to acknowledge Jovani despite the heated stare directed at him. He would not give the other the pleasure of seeing the current expression on his face.
"''Why not? It seems that out of the three of us, you two know him best. You''re all obviously old friends, and Jovani, he is your cousin." Samuel pointed to each man in turn as he continued.
"I don''t think me talking to him will do much as I don''t know him that well. I do have a good rtionship with Alonso." Or at least he liked to believe that the right-hand mane didn''t mind him.
"You make a strong argument Sammy. However, friends would not be the right word to use. Even you can see by the way that things stand right now, we don''t exactly get on all that well." That was putting it lightly. Richard didn''t correct the other man. He only offered a curt nod of his head in agreement.
"I would be fine to talk with Marcus on my own. Things aren''t likely to work themselves out if this onees with me though." Until he saw where his faulty within theplicated web of their entangled rtionship. Being the stubborn fool that he was, Jovani would only end up adding more fuel to the fire.
"If you both want to go and find Alonso, that would work fine. I can go deal with Marcus myself. Emily is likely still with him." The words came across as more of a directive than a suggestion as Richard made his way to the door.
"Don''t even think that you can use Em as some type of shield." Richard paused with a hand poised over the door knob. A callous smile stretched across his lips as he turned and gave Jovani a knowing look.
"Isn''t it more your style to do that kind of thing? Certainly not something you need to worry about with me. I was never the one to sell out or use those closet to me."
Those words struck a cord with Jovani who began to fume. The Mafioso didn''t stick to see what woulde of that eruption. There were more important matters to attend to.
In the meantime, Samuel could deal with his cousin. It would do the kid some good to see the less ttering side of his cousin early on.
Richard moved purposely as he walked down the hall.
It wasn''t his style to break hearts, illusions, dreams, or opinion. That didn''t mean though he wouldn''t pull the curtains up on others to reveal their secrets.
Chapter 406 Not After This
Chapter 406 Not After This
Alonso''s head felt like cotton and his mouth felt dryer than sandpaper. For once, he wished he hadn''t woken up again. Sadly for him,dy luck was not on his side.
The right-hand man rasped out a low groan as he rolled on his side to avoid the light.
Concussion, check. Busted lip and ck eye? Absolutely. His muscles were only fire as well. Millions of tiny demonic mes poking stabbing with every move he made.
He probably should have been d nothing was broken. At least not that he could feel yet...
Instead, ''fuck him'' were the first words Alonoso mouthed the moment he had the energy to get his mouth working.
No way in fucking hell would he easily forgive Jovani after all of this. This was not what he signed up for.
Alonso couldn''t bear the sunlight. Pressing his hands against his eyes was the best could to avoid it though. His battered body didn''t have the strength to do much beyond rolling from side to side. A useless waste of energy considering how the sunlight shone in at just the right angle so it shone right atop him.
"Would now be a bad time to ask if I could just die?" Alonso didn''t anticipate a humorlessugh to met his words. A string of curses rolled off his lips as his body coiled in response to the unexpected noise.
Fuck! Something had definitely been fractured if not broken in his body. Where exactly was impossible to tell as his whole body was consumed by white hot pain.
As the pain dulled to a blissful nothingness and his brain shutdown, for a brief blissful second he wondered if his plight had been answered.
"You know, I did give you a chance just a few days to go to die. An opportunity you repaid by breaking my nose." Shit! The moment that grating tone drifted into his ears, Alonso found him consciousness crashing back down to earth. Thest ce he wanted.
"Damn though mate. I didn''t know the mafia could be so fucked up." The voice moved closer as did the abysmal owner it belonged.
"As mercs, we had far more honor than what I saw today. We never touched each other. Not even for a bucket cash and top shelf whisky. Your new boss though is a different kind of demon." Alonso screwed his eyes shut. Now was not a time in which he wanted to deal with the other.
"Cain, I would prefer if you pissed off right now." Alonso winced at how dry and cracked his own voice sounded to his ears. He really could have used some water but he wasn''t about to ask the mercenary about.
"Are you sure about that? You''d rather be left alone here to die than let me help you?" With his eyes being closed, Alonso couldn''t see how close the mercenary was to him.
The right hand man let out an involuntary low groan as cold fingers made contact with burning skin.
Had Cain''s hands always felt so refreshing and soft?
Alonso couldn''t stop himself from leaning into the cold caress that brought an unexinable relief.
"That''s right." Cain murmured in a low, encouraging croon. The mercenary kept every action soft and careful as he moved across the ins of the other''s face.
One wrong move or too much and Alonso would retreat again.
"I remember a time when my hands made you do more than just this." Cain couldn''t stop the wordsing followed by a low husky chuckle. He could feel Alonso stiffen under his touch but didn''t stop.
"Things were very different back then I recall. I think I prefer them to how things are now." The mercenary carried on softly despite feeling Alonso slowly retreating.
"You know things are never going to be able to go back to the way they were." Alonso''s words were unexpected and caused Cain to pause for a brief moment. If the right hand man had his eyes open, he''d probably would''ve lost himself in the dazzling smile the mercenary fixed him with.
"We could try again. There have been plenty of people over time who made it work." The mercenary had a thousand more things he wanted to say. Except, now was not the time he would get the chance.
An unexpected rough knock on the door broke the moment. Cain let out a low, deep sigh. He''d forgotten about locking the door after he wanted.
"We need to talk." If Cain didn''t recognize the voice to belong to Jovani, he''d have not bothered moving.
Knowing the Vedova Nera boss was on the other side of the door presented a different type of opportunity to him. One after seeing Alonso''s state, he wasn''t about to pass up the opportunity to confront the mafioso.
Alonso wanted to tell the other not to bother but the words stuck like glue in his throat. The right hand man didn''t push his luck. If he started coughing now, he''d definitely enter a different kind of hell.
Neither man on the other side of the door had expected Cain to be on the other side.
The tall, rough mercenary blocked the doorway like a determined body guard.
"And what exactly do you think you''re doing here?" The mercenary directed the question at Jovani who he couldn''t help noticing didn''t look much better than Alonso.
"We came to see how Alonso is." The uncertain expression on Jovani''s face told him, this was not a situation he anticipated.
"Sams is more than wee toe in. You however, I don''t think you deserve to be anywhere near him after what happened. If Alonso could speak for himself, I''m sure he''d not want to see you either."
The mercenary gave Jovani a very serious take it or leave it look as waited to see what the other''s move would be.
If Jovani knew what was good for him, he''d tap into his two ounces ofmon sense and leave.
Chapter 407 Fools Move
Chapter 407 Fools Move
Lena knew that it was likely a fool''s move to go on her to meet Marcus. What else was she supposed to do, though? With all the chaos that had been taking ce, there was no one that could go with her. Clive and Romeo were out ofmission until further notice. She couldn''t ask Julius to leave her father or brother. Not after the former had only woken up. Gabrie was out of the question as well. Someone level-headed had to be there to watch out for Dino.
Another unexpected puzzle piece she still needed to figure out. No way had he decided to show his face without anticipating something in return. What was the question or even who decided to send him their way_.
Lena shut her eyes as the cool breeze washed over her. The helmet and bike jacket did little to buffet her from the bitter, cold wind. Under normal circumstances, she would have been cursing the weather for choosing now of all times to be cruel. Today, however, she weed the biting cold that numbed her body. The nipping chill that ran through her body gave her something other than the strong emotions and thoughts that were stirring deep inside of her to focus on.
You''re going to have to be more careful from now on. I don''t know how you usually operate but you need to consider more than just yourself. Lena gritted her teeth as the doctor''s words swirled through her mind. Was that some kind of joke? Did the man not understand the type of lifestyle that she lived? Not only that but as a stranger, what right did he have to act and direct her as though he knew her? Being safe and being a mafia princess didn''t exactly go hand in hand. Pushing the words to the back of her head along with the pain that began to build up in her chest, Lena revved the motorcycle, forcing it to go well above what she knew the speed limit was.?For now, she would do what she had to. Once everything had passed, she could figure out how to exin the situation to everyone else.
"Fucking asshole!" Lena was forced to break abruptly as a car darted out in front of her instead of yielding. It took almost all of her weight to maintain her bnce while not losing speed as the motorcycle shook from the unexpected reaction and the bitter unrelenting wind that seemed keen on tipping her motorcycle over. A leather-gloved hand instinctively moved to cover her stomach as she braced herself for a potential crash.
Luckily, it never came, as the shift in the weight was enough to keep the motorcycle moving until she could find a point to turn off the interstate ande to a?halt.?It didn''t nearly fast enough as Lena had less than three seconds to remove the pitch-ck helmet before the dry heaving started.
Unable to move or force her body to stop, the princess could only grip the bar handles of the motorcycle until her knuckles turned white as she waited for the moment to pass. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes as the bitter wind battered her exposed face. Fuck! Why, of all times, did all of this have to be happening right now?
As usual, no answer came to her unspoken questions. More dry heaving brought a bitter taste to the back of her throat. Her body had begun to shake from the force used to try and expel the non-existent food from her stomach that made it near impossible to catch her breath. It would be years before she would think about eating again after this.
Lena didn''t know how much time had passed before her stomach finally decided to settle. She just knew that it didn''te soon enough. She rested her head against her ice-cold helmet as she tried to catch her breath. What a picture she must''ve looked like to everyone who passed by.
The thought forced a bitterugh past her wind-chapped lips. Her tongue came out to swipe against the rough skin in a futile effort to stop it from cracking. She grimaced as the taste of bile coated her mouth. It would definitely be a very long time before she''d eat again.
Even as her breathing started to return to normal, her eyes remained closed.
Could she actually go through with everything if this was what it meant? Lena didn''t need an answer to this question, though. This one was the only one that she could answer.
After what felt like a century, the adrenaline finally wore off, and the only thing that left her body shaking was the bitter cold. By the time she put the helmet back on, she knew that her face was likely white as a sheet.
Lena allowed herself one more moment of reprieve before she knew that it was time to go again.
Pushing back the nausea that threatened to overtake her again, Lena turned the motorcycle on once more. Leaning back, she forced herself to take in another set of deep breaths.
Every passing minute wasted weighed her down like an invisible stone. The princess had yet to see Marcus in the flesh but she could already tell he wasn''t the type to make idle threats. Still, she needed to clear her head before she could leave.
Maybe though she''s wouldn''t be the only one he''de after if she didn''t show up. Men like him never directly targeted their intended victim.
The thought of that had Lena once more spurring the motorcycle on well past the speed limit as she took off. One day was all that she would have to spend. One day in which every second of every minute needed to count.
If she was going to do it right, she would have to stop at the estate first.
There were a number of pieces that needed to be put in order first. She wouldply with what Marcus wanted but her family still came first.
Chapter 408 Unarmed
Chapter 408 Unarmed
Marcus only seemed to grow more pleased as the hours ticked down. Like a child counting down the hours till Christmas, Marcus couldn''t keep his eyes off the watch on his wrist.
Lena had yet to show her face despite it being high afternoon. Maybe the gods were finally starting to shine down in him for once.
A few more hours and he would be able to call off the engagement.
Once that happened, everything could finally start moving the way he wanted to.
"I don''t think that you should be getting yourself so pleased yet. You don''t know her well enough." Jovani leaned against the Bannister of the stairs that lead back up to the second floor as he faced the ones that lead to the front door.
One of the few design ws that he couldn''t be med for. That would''ve been his father who made the poor design choice.
"And you think you know her enough to sat the she will be here? Wasn''t she the one who sent Sam away?" Jovani''s suggestion didn''t take away from Marcus''s current manic state. His fingers thummed a happy tune against the side of the wall. His eyes shifting between his watch and the door. Just a little more...
"I do think I know her more than you. I''ve been the one dealing with her all this time. Enough to say I know the she won''t love the way your expected. My prediction is in fact that in two minutes she''lle through the door. "
Much to Marcus''s annoyance, as always was the case with his cousin, Jovani turned out to not be the wrong.
Although it could have been anyoneing through the door, the one person Marcus didn''t want to see stepped. Much smaller and more professionally dressed than he''d imagined her to be.
Lena didn''t know what possessed her to not being her gun but the choice was one she was already regretting.
Inws didn''t feel like the right reason to do something like that. The princess didn''t think there would be time she would see Marcus as family.
Marcus gave off the vibes of a mad man ready to take over the world. His tone of voice over the phone didn''t do justice to the feral emotions dancing behind his eyes. Neither had their brief encounters. The reminder of which made her ribs ache.
Eyes that reminded the princess far too much of Jovani''s.
Speaking of the devil....
"Ah. It is so good to see you here princess. I knew that you''d find the time to join us on such an important day." One look told Lena that despite the cocky smirk on his face, Jovani hadn''t been having the best time either.
"Is there any reason that I should miss a day add important as this one?" Lena questioned as her eyes scanned over all the faces in the room.
He wasn''t there.
Lena didn''t know if it was the sudden bout if vertigo or not seeing Samuel in the crowd that made get grab the stair well so tight that her knuckles turned white.
"Don''t worry princess, you will be able to see your boy soon enough. Once the ceremony starts, he''ll be front and certain. Isn''t that right, cousin?" A low grunt was the only sound Marcus offered to indicate that he''d heard the other.
He was far too fixed on Lena to say or do anything. His had gaze told her he was appraising her. If the narrowing of his eyes were anything to go by, he didn''t seem to like what he saw.
"Well now. It seems that neither one of was what the other expected." Marcus spoke while closing the gap between the two of them.
Despite standing three steps up from the bottom of the stairs, Marcus still stood a few inches taller than her.
"What makes you think that I find you to be different from what I imagine?" Lena tilted her had slightly as Marcus''s eyes narrowed. Much like a demon, vile intent poured off the other Vedova Nera cousin but the princess refused to back down. She''d faced off against much worse men than him before.
Just... None that belonged to a family she would soon be entwined with.
"The only difference I find is that you look too much like Jovani yet you two sound nothing alike. You''re also definitely aren''t anywhere near as honorable." Lena''s gaze slipped over to the other cousin who was beaming at the site of her.
What did he have to be so happy about?
"Jovani, stop standing over there like a proud puppy. You and I still have yet to talk." The Vedova Nera''s boss''s beam didn''t dim even in the slightest as he agreed with those words.
"Indeed. There will be plenty of time for that." Not right at the moment though. Marcus had a timeline. One he wouldn''t deal with being disrupted. Even if the princess had shown up and messed with his original n.
"You two can find time to talkter. Since thest, perhaps most important present has shown up now, we can resume." Marcus snapped his fingers and indicated for Jovani toe along with him.
The other Vedova Nera cousin didn''t move without giving Lena one more challenging stare. Did he think that she would be the one to make the first move and start something? As if she would be that much of a fool.
"It is a pressure to be here on such an important night." Lena extended her hand. Her hand was met with a look of disdain. She knew he wouldn''t shake it but that didn''t stop her from ying her part and keeping things cool and professional.
"We will see about thatter once everything else is said and done." Shooting her one more hateful look, Marcus turned on his heel beckoning once more for Jovani to follow.
The Vedova Nera bossplied but not before motioning to the Princess that she could follow after them.
Things were going to be getting more interesting soon.
Chapter 409 Induction Pt. 1
Chapter 409 Induction Pt. 1
It was a very different world to be the one waiting on the inductee versus being inducted.
Something about how slow the minutes passed made her stomach churn.
Lena dug her fingers into the thick fabric of her dress pants willing herself to be still. Opting to tap her for impatiently as she scanned the room. Most of tables were empty. Not a surprise since most of the family would be around Samuel for the induction. The few that weren''t seemed almost as uneasy and impatient at her.
From what she could tell, Marcus would reveal at any chance to toss her out. Being there for the pre-event would likely still nullify the engagement between her and Samuel. Which meant that she couldn''t do anything but sit and wait.
"You know that you can rx a little bit. If you keep acting like you''re waiting for a chance to kill someone, everyone will leave before the main event starts." Jovani''s warm voice brushed across the back her neck. The warmth against her mmy skin caused it to prickle unpleasantly. That along with not having noticed the other renter the room put Lena even further on edge. Her senses weren''t as sharp as she wanted them to be. Especially not for a situation where she wasn''t exactly safe.
"I would rmend then that you go and tell your cousin to hurry along. The guests will start leaving of their own volution if he takes much longer."
Lena knew that she certainly would have. If not for it being Samuel. No alliance was worth wasting this much time over. This was not the way the mafia world worked. Time was a preciousmodity.
Who did Marcus think he was to go about wasting their time in such a manner.
"Patience. Patience. I''m certain that Marcus isn''t the only reason things are taking longer."
Jovani wasn''t wrong in his guess on that matter.
Even after hearing that Lena had shown up, Samuel refused to y the game.
He didn''t want to go about it the way Marcus wanted to and had no problem telling the other as much.
"It doesn''t matter what you want to do right now, Sammy. Everyone is already here." Marcus''s tone wasced with annoyance as he grabbed his younger cousin''s arm.
"You are already dressed for the part. After this, you will be the new head of the family. Time to start acting like it." Would he though? Samuel wrenched his arm out of the other''s hold. Taking two steps back, he put distance between them.
"I am not arguing against going through with this. I am saying that I either want Lena to be up here with me or I want a chance to talk with her before we start." Marcus hissed in annoyance as he rounded on the other. His calm facade broke as he made a grab for the other.
"And I am telling you that you don''t get to make demands right now." Jerking his cor, Marcus pulled Samuel towards him until they were level. Samuel winced and grabbed ahold of the other''s arms as the other shook him roughly.
"If you want to fix whatever pissy couple issue going on between you two do it on your own time. Right now, you''re on my time. That means you do as you''re told. Is that clear, little cousin?" Samuel red back in response to the question.?He may have been fighting a losing battle against his much stronger cousin, but that didn''t mean he had to give in easily.
Samuel opened his mouth to make a retort but was interrupted when a knock sounded on the door as it was opened.
"Well, now. This exins what the hold-up is about. The ceremony hasn''t even started yet and the two of you are already fighting?" Jovani''s tone was exasperated as he sauntered over to the pair.
"Can''t all of this fighting wait until after we''re done?" The current Vedova Nera boss tapped Marcus''s arm with his left pointer finger. The small action was enough to get his almost twin cousin''s attention.
"Tell the little shit to stop throwing a fit and do as he''s told then." Jovani''s gaze shifted from Marcus to Samuel, who wisely remained silent despite the displeasure etched across his features.
"Isn''t ''little shit'' a bit harsh to address the person who will soon be taking over the family?" Jovani cocked his head slightly, eyes questioning as he continued to tap on Marcus''s arm. The repetitive action ripped a growl from the other''s throat.
"I will address him however I please until after his ass goes through with the ceremony. If he doesn''t like it, he can get his respect by acting his role now." Samuel''s annoyance grew as they continued to talk about him as though he weren''t there.
"In what way am I out of line for making a request? This is my initiation process after all. Shouldn''t I be able to pick Lena as one of the main people up here with me." Marcus tsked but couldn''t speak before Jovani interjected once more.
"You should, yes. However, with you two already being engaged, we need to pick someone else to be here for your swearing-in. Actually, I know exactly the person." Jovani knew he would regret his choice. However, he could not think of anyone safer at the current moment for his younger cousin.
For a few hours, he would make peace. Whether Marcus agreed or not, it didn''t matter. He was the boss. Jovani''s eyes fluttered as he sent a silent prayer to whatever god listened to the mafia and turned on his heel.
"Who?" Jovani could feel Marcus''s narrowed gaze on his back but only waved his twin cousin off.
"You get everything together, and I will be right back." Jovani disappeared before he could be pressed further regarding his choice.?Too much questioning and he might actually change his mind.
If things were going to progress smoothly, he couldn''t back out now.
Chapter 410 Induction Pt. 2
Chapter 410 Induction Pt. 2
Samuel suddenly felt very small being surrounded by so many dangerous people he didn''t recognize. Although their presence wasn''t threatening, they all wore the same nk expression that promised pain to anyone who crossed them or their family. Ha! He was soon to be their family but he didn''t get the feeling that would make the expressions and intense emotions any eaeier to deal with.
Samuel shifted on his feet. His head cocking slightly as he resisted the urge to pull at the tie around his neck that suddenly felt suffocatingly tight. It was toote to back out now though. Marcus wouldn''t let that happen.
One look around the room told Samuel that the nervous energy swirling around the room wasn''t rted solely to his induction. In fact, almost everyone had their eyes on Marcus. Hardly anyone seemed to have acknowledged or even noticed Samuel''s presence.?Was their tense expressionless used as a means to mask their apprehension at the other Vedova Nera cousin being there?
"Thank you, everyone, for making time toe to such an important event." Marcus''s charm was in full re as he addressed everyone in the room. Eyes sparking with delight, he shed a toothy smile as he scanned around the room.
"I know this happened on such short notice but I would honestly say the whole event has been put off way too long." Marcus continued disregarding Samuel''s evident difort as Jovani and Marcus each ced a hand on his shoulder. Jovani took this opportunity to interject. If Marcus didn''t n to address the elephant in the room, he would have to be the Vedova Nera boss. Patting Samuel on the shoulder more for his own support, Jovani stepped out in front of the other two men.
"You will also have to forgive Marcus. You know my dear cousin has never been good at drawing attention to himself. While everyone has been gathered here for the induction of my delightful younger cousin, I believe Marcus deserves a weing back of his own." Jovani gave his best encouraging look as he began to p. If the family knew what was good for them, they would follow his example.
Luckily for him, they did. It was half-hearted and uncertain, but everyone in the room obliged?Jovani. The Vedova nova pped louder in approval of their reaction. If they had questions, they coulde and seek him outter.
"It is very rare that we have two events to celebrate on the same night." Jovani continued once the noise died down, choosing to ignore the murderous stare Marcus directed at his.
"As such is the case, I believe we should get started on the real event without a moment to lose so we can get to what we all really want." His eyes twinkled with a knowing look as he made a drinking motion. The gesture seemed to lessen some of the tension as he saw shoulders begin to drop slightly and small nods of agreement from some of the men.
"Then without further ado, I believe that it is time to be getting too show on the road." Jovani patted Samuel''s shoulders once more before turning the event back to Marcus.
"Yes, as my cousin said, I think we have wasted more than enough time and we''re already to see this through. After tonight, I''m sure there will be plenty of time to get to know Samuel." Marcus offered another charming smile before things turned to business.
It was time for Samuel to take front and center stage with the family.
"You''ve already been working with the family to a certain degree at this point. Rather unprecedented within the mafia but a unique situation considering you''re blood rted." Marcus spoke as he circled around Samuel toe to the other side of the table.
"It is time however for you to take your rightful ce within the family as a true member. As such, everyone who is closest to the Vedova Nera''s has been gathered together for this asion." Marcus picked up the dagger on the table and began to y with it. The dagger more than the action caught Samuel''s attention.
Jovani only had a short amount of time but did his best to give a rundown of what to expect. Thus Samuel knew to extend his hand the second time that Marcus came over.
"With this, your will now official share the family''s blood and be one of us." Samuel braced himself enough to not flinch as the dagger pierced the skin of his forefinger.
"You will never betray us or anyone in the family regardless of blood. You will respect women and children. You will not touch that which belongs to another or butt into their business. You snitch or be an informant. No one else is toe above your family." Samuel listened to every word but couldn''t peel his eyes away as the blood drops welled up in his finger. Three red sts marked the picture of the saint below.
Marcus thrust the lighter into Samuel''s hand. He''d forgotten the next part was his to say and almost dropped the blood stained metal object.
"If I break any of these rules, may I burn in hell as this saint burns before me." He wasn''t quite sure those were the right words but didn''t have the mind yo try and perfectly recall what Jovani told him to repeat.
A chorus of agreements and acknowledgements followed his words. Hopefully that meant he hadn''t totally screwed the process up.
He tried to hand the lighter back but Marcus pressed it back into his hand.
"That''s for you to keep." His pleased smile seemed way to stic for Samuel but his attention was drawn back to Jovani who continued with the next part.
"There is one more piece left before we can break from him. Samuel still needs to have his brother be taken. The person who will be there for him no matter what." The person who stepped through the crowd at this words was not someone Samuel had expected.
Chapter 411 Induction Pt.3
Chapter 411 Induction Pt.3
Richard was no less thrilled or surprised than Samuel at being picked for the role. He didn''t think Jovani would seek him out for this. Not considering their past together.
Yet, it seemed that the other man was still full of many surprises.
"So of you may already know him very well. A person close to the family but not directly tied together with them." Jovani continued as he made a show of putting his hand of Richard''s shoulder.
Samuel shifted on his feet. His head cocking slightly as he resisted the urge to pull at the tie around his neck that suddenly felt suffocatingly tight. It was toote to back out now though. Marcus wouldn''t let that happen.
One look around the room told Samuel that the nervous energy swirling around the room wasn''t rted solely to his induction. In fact, almost everyone had their eyes on Marcus. Hardly anyone seemed to have acknowledged or even noticed Samuel''s presence.?Was their tense expressionless used as a means to mask their apprehension at the other Vedova Nera cousin being there?
"Thank you, everyone, for making time toe to such an important event." Marcus''s charm was in full re as he addressed everyone in the room. Eyes sparking with delight, he shed a toothy smile as he scanned around the room.
"I know this happened on such short notice but I would honestly say the whole event has been put off way too long." Marcus continued disregarding Samuel''s evident difort as Jovani and Marcus each ced a hand on his shoulder. Jovani took this opportunity to interject. If Marcus didn''t n to address the elephant in the room, he would have to be the Vedova Nera boss. Patting Samuel on the shoulder more for his own support, Jovani stepped out in front of the other two men.
"You will also have to forgive Marcus. You know my dear cousin has never been good at drawing attention to himself. While everyone has been gathered here for the induction of my delightful younger cousin, I believe Marcus deserves a weing back of his own." Jovani gave his best encouraging look as he began to p. If the family knew what was good for them, they would follow his example.
Luckily for him, they did. It was half-hearted and uncertain, but everyone in the room obliged?Jovani. The Vedova nova pped louder in approval of their reaction. If they had questions, they coulde and seek him outter.
"It is very rare that we have two events to celebrate on the same night." Jovani continued once the noise died down, choosing to ignore the murderous stare Marcus directed at his.
"As such is the case, I believe we should get started on the real event without a moment to lose so we can get to what we all really want." His eyes twinkled with a knowing look as he made a drinking motion. The gesture seemed to lessen some of the tension as he saw shoulders begin to drop slightly and small nods of agreement from some of the men.
"Then without further ado, I believe that it is time to be getting too show on the road." Jovani patted Samuel''s shoulders once more before turning the event back to Marcus.
"Yes, as my cousin said, I think we have wasted more than enough time and we''re already to see this through. After tonight, I''m sure there will be plenty of time to get to know Samuel." Marcus offered another charming smile before things turned to business.
It was time for Samuel to take front and center stage with the family.
"You''ve already been working with the family to a certain degree at this point. Rather unprecedented within the mafia but a unique situation considering you''re blood rted." Marcus spoke as he circled around Samuel toe to the other side of the table.
"It is time however for you to take your rightful ce within the family as a true member. As such, everyone who is closest to the Vedova Nera''s has been gathered together for this asion." Marcus picked up the dagger on the table and began to y with it. The dagger more than the action caught Samuel''s attention.
Jovani only had a short amount of time but did his best to give a rundown of what to expect. Thus Samuel knew to extend his hand the second time that Marcus came over.
"With this, your will now official share the family''s blood and be one of us." Samuel braced himself enough to not flinch as the dagger pierced the skin of his forefinger.
"You will never betray us or anyone in the family regardless of blood. You will respect women and children. You will not touch that which belongs to another or butt into their business. You snitch or be an informant. No one else is toe above your family." Samuel listened to every word but couldn''t peel his eyes away as the blood drops welled up in his finger. Three red sts marked the picture of the saint below.
Marcus thrust the lighter into Samuel''s hand. He''d forgotten the next part was his to say and almost dropped the blood stained metal object.
"If I break any of these rules, may I burn in hell as this saint burns before me." He wasn''t quite sure those were the right words but didn''t have the mind yo try and perfectly recall what Jovani told him to repeat.
A chorus of agreements and acknowledgements followed his words. Hopefully that meant he hadn''t totally screwed the process up.
He tried to hand the lighter back but Marcus pressed it back into his hand.
"That''s for you to keep." His pleased smile seemed way to stic for Samuel but his attention was drawn back to Jovani who continued with the next part.
"There is one more piece left before we can break from him. Samuel still needs to have his brother be taken. The person who will be there for him no matter what." The person who stepped through the crowd at this words was not someone Samuel had expected.
Chapter 412 After Math Pt. 1
Chapter 412 After Math Pt. 1
Dinner was too long for the princess. Too far away from Samuel but too close with his near family. She''d have thought her aura would''ve kept her table well clear. It seemed however that stubborn determination and ignoring danger was breed into the Vedova Nera bloodline.
Thankfully, very few tried to talk with her seeming content enough to share the same table. Except Emily who only spoke enough to say everything would be fine.
Still, the princess found herself in search of something that would keep her in check after the meal ended
Lena inwardly grimaced at the sight of the tables filled with alcohol. Liquor was exactly what she didn''t need right now. The usually tantalizing amber liquid held little interest to the princess as she made her away from the crowd. In fact, the smell of it lingering in the air only worked to further unsettle her.
Of course there wouldn''t be anything else to drink. After bloodshed and violence, copious amounts of alcohol were a mafia''s favorite thing. Too bad they weren''t something Lena was currently interested. She would wait at ater point to see if coffee was an option.
In the meantime, she would just have to wait at the edge room. Luckily most everyone there didn''t care or know her enough toe and bother her. Beyond Samuel''s blood rtives.
Everyone except him it seemed. More than likely a series of events that Marcus had something to do with.
How much longer would they make her wait before she could speak with Samuel?
She had seen him only after the event when he came out to greet everyone with Richard and the rest of the family by his side as they prepared for the feast. Once dinner had finished however, he''d gone and vanished once more.
Had Richard being with him been unintentional or Jovani''s doing. The princess didn''t know their feud enough to understand the bad blood between them. Whatever the case, it did seem like he was the most reasonable choice.
Lena sunk further into her suit as she leaned against the back wall. Olive eyes scanned the room. Not even Richard was around. In fact, there wasn''t a single person in the room that Lena recognized anymore. What a time to not have her gun with her. Even with Jovani being around, the space didn''t feel space. Not anymore at least.
Jovani should have taken priority to speak with above Samuel but she couldn''t keep her fiance off her mind.
She didn''t have to wait much longer before she spotted Samuel in the crowd. Despite being bombarded with people who were likely congratting him, his chocte eyes remained fixed on the princess. He slowly made his way over through the sea of people. The determination in his gaze caught Lena by surprise. He didn''t want to wait any longer than she did to get through this.
Lena wasn''t the type of person to make the first move when it came to talking. Plenty of things swirled around in her head like a whirlwind but her mouth refused to move.
Something about seeing Samuel in a suit ignited something different inside of her. She may not have had words to express what she thought, but who said there weren''t other ways tomunicate?
"Lena-" Samuel barely opened his mouth before Lena closed the space between them. Grabbing his tie, the princess pulled his head down and crashed their mouths together. WIthout missing a bit, she bit his bottom lip to gain entrance into his mouth.
The small spark of pain was all it took to melt away Samuel''s hesitation. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled the princess closer as he responded to the kiss. The height difference gave him enough of an advantage to push her back against the wall. The action caused Lena to let out a low growl as her fiance tried to take control of the kiss. She couldn''t allow that to happen. Not right now.
Lena rolled her hips against Samuel''s groin just enough to elicit a gasp from the other, allowing her to retake control of the kiss.
"You''re still mine." Lena broke the kiss long enough to speak those three words before capturing the other''s mouth once more.
The kiss didn''tst much longer, however, before Samuel pulled away. His hands remained around Lena''s waist to keep her in ce even as he used his body to put some distance between them.
"We need to talk." These words caused the princess''s eyes to narrow. Samuel wasn''t wrong, but those weren''t the words that she wanted to hear at the moment. Her lust thrummed right below the surface. A desire that wanted to do a variety of wicked things. None of which involved talking.
Seeing the resolve in Samuel''s eyes to talk despite his own arousal, Lena decided that she would humor the other.
"Not here, though." Her voice remained low as she cast a sideways nce towards the center of the room. She may not have seen him but knew better than to think that Marcus wasn''t watching them.
"Your room?" Samuel hesitated slightly, searching Lena''s face. Talking was obviously not the only reason the princess wanted a room. He nodded, though, unable to think of anywhere else better.
He had already done his due diligence for the evening. Hence, there was no reason why he couldn''t disappear from his own party for a period of time. Jovani could cover for him if anyone had questions or wanted to speak with him.?It was the least the man could do for him after today.
If Msrcus had a problem, they could discuss thatter as well. He had given his other cousin what he wanted, now it was his turn to be left alone for the evening.
He could deal with family matters or whatever else after he and Lena had resolved their issues.
Something that would hopefully only take a few minutes alone.
Chapter 413 After Math Pt. 2
Chapter 413 After Math Pt. 2
Unlike what Samuel expected when he led Lena to his room, the princess didn''t make the first move to enter. Instead, she stood to the side with her tightly at her sides as she stared down the fall they had just came from. A short nod indicated her expectation that he would enter the space ahead of her.
Not seeing as reason to rebuff this silent expecation, Samuel opened the door and entered the room. The cool air that greeted him instantly made him feel like he could breathe. Tugging the tie around his neck, he loosened it as he turned to face Lena.?Now that they were alone, he no longer needed to worry about keeping up his professional appearance. At least not until he had to go back out and face the room full of his now official familyter.
The princess had silently closed the door behind them. One foot rested against the sold wood of the door as she leaned back against it. Arms crossed as she assessed Samuel. Lust clouded the corners of her eyes but she made no move to act on it.
"You were the one who said that you wanted to talk." Lena broke the silence first. Her voice was still rough from their intense makeout session mere moments ago.
"Or did you suddenly change your mind now that we''re alone and decide you''re still going to stare at me?" The sharp, unweing edge to the tone of her voice broke whatever spelling she''d put on Samuel earlier. Blinking, the newly inducted Mafia boss stared at Lena for a moment longer. Turning to sit at the edge of the bed, he used the few seconds to try and collect his thoughts.
"You say I''m yours but you sent me away." If Samuel''s words fazed her, Lena didn''t show it. She only fixed him with her piercing stare as though she expected him to say more.
"In any normal rtionship-"
"There''s nothing normal about our rtionship, Sammy." Lena cut in.
"You were thrown not only into an arranged but one that lead into a dark world you know nothing about. You chatter on about normal this and normal that because you don''t know anything else." Pushing away from the door, Lena closed the space between them as she continued talking.
"It''s only by some fucked up twist of fate your mother was a Vedova Nera. That alone isn''t enough to protect you from getting killed. Even by someone who ims."
"And would you have actually shot me?" Samuel challenged as he sat up straighter on the bed.
The cold, unreadable look returned to Lena''s eyes as she stared Samuel down.
"I think I already showed what the answer to that question would be." Samuel shook his head in obvious disagreement.
"No, I think you would havee to your senses." Samuel grabbed for Lena''s arm.
Although he would''ve liked to believe he had the strength to pull her over on his own, he knew better.
Still, he didn''t waste the opportunity to pin her underneath him.
"What I believe..." Samuel trailed off, his voice dropping to a low husky whisper.
"Is that you couldn''t bring yourself to shoot me and that scared you even more." Samuel''s words caused something dark to pass through the princess''s eyes. Had he hit the nail on the head?
"I said it once before and I''ll say it again - your naive approach will get you killed." It didn''t take Lena much if any effort to flip them over.
Samuel had pinned her more as an act than with the intent to keep her down. A touch of disappointment coursed through him however at not getting the chance to take advantage of the prior position.
Lena wasn''t quite as gentle when it came to holding Samuel down. There was a point to be proven that left no room for gentleness.
The small voice at the back of Lena''s head started to chide her before she even opened her mouth.
The princess ignored it as she kept her hard gaze focused on Samuel.
"Sam, I think you forget that I didn''t want anything to do with you from the start. There is no room for fearing for someone else''s safety when you didn''t care about them in the first ce." With each passing word, the warning voice got louder.
"Even without a gun, it wouldn''t take much for me to hurt you. In fact, you couldn''t even stop me if you wanted to."
This was not the Conversation she was supposed to be having. These words were not the ones she''d rehearsed saying only hours before.
Yet, she as usual, her mouth ran before her mind could catch up to it. Except unlike usual, the stakes were much higher in this situation.
The mental clutter took so much of Lena''s attention that she almost missed Samuel speaking until she caught his lips moving.
"You say all of those things but they don''t match your actions, Lena." The way her name rolled of his lips and the smug expression on his face ignited a dark fire inside the princess.
She would be going to hell for what she did next but she had no fucks left to give.
"When are you going to acknowledge that you''re lying to even yourself at this point?" Samuel continued, unaware or uncaring about the change in Lena.
"Is it to such a point you can''t even-" Samuel''s words were cut off as Lena''s lips crashed down on his in a searing kiss. Lust took over taunts but couldn''t distract from punishing harshness of Lena''s assault on his mouth.
"I think when we are done tonight, you will be the one to realize you''re lying to yourself." Lena''s words came low and in a breathless harsh tone. Her eyes glowed once more with a darkness that promised pain.
Rather than pushing away however, Samuel found himself eager to see if Lena would follow through on her promise. He certainly had no n for making that easy for her.
Chapter 414 After Math Pt. 3
Chapter 414 After Math Pt. 3
Sex was what had lead to Lena''s current dilemma but she couldn''t stop herself. The fire that burned deep in the pit of her stomach and spread throughout wouldn''t allow it.
There had to be at least one piece in the world she could have control over. Even if it was one as simple as indulging in a primal interaction with one she imed to care nothing for.
Although control was what she yearned for, Samuel had different ideas.
Lena let it a growl as she didn''t try to hide her frustration, lust had long overtaken the rational part of her brain.
The princess pulled against her fiance''s hands but they refused to budge. As did the predatory smirk that had upied his features for the better part of an hour.
"You are going to end up regretting your choices if you keep ying this game."
Unlike what Samuel expected when he led Lena to his room, the princess didn''t make the first move to enter. Instead, she stood to the side with her tightly at her sides as she stared down the fall they had just came from. A short nod indicated her expectation that he would enter the space ahead of her.
Not seeing as reason to rebuff this silent expecation, Samuel opened the door and entered the room. The cool air that greeted him instantly made him feel like he could breathe. Tugging the tie around his neck, he loosened it as he turned to face Lena.?Now that they were alone, he no longer needed to worry about keeping up his professional appearance. At least not until he had to go back out and face the room full of his now official familyter.
The princess had silently closed the door behind them. One foot rested against the sold wood of the door as she leaned back against it. Arms crossed as she assessed Samuel. Lust clouded the corners of her eyes but she made no move to act on it.
"You were the one who said that you wanted to talk." Lena broke the silence first. Her voice was still rough from their intense makeout session mere moments ago.
"Or did you suddenly change your mind now that we''re alone and decide you''re still going to stare at me?" The sharp, unweing edge to the tone of her voice broke whatever spelling she''d put on Samuel earlier. Blinking, the newly inducted Mafia boss stared at Lena for a moment longer. Turning to sit at the edge of the bed, he used the few seconds to try and collect his thoughts.
"You say I''m yours but you sent me away." If Samuel''s words fazed her, Lena didn''t show it. She only fixed him with her piercing stare as though she expected him to say more.
"In any normal rtionship-"
"There''s nothing normal about our rtionship, Sammy." Lena cut in.
"You were thrown not only into an arranged but one that lead into a dark world you know nothing about. You chatter on about normal this and normal that because you don''t know anything else." Pushing away from the door, Lena closed the space between them as she continued talking.
"It''s only by some fucked up twist of fate your mother was a Vedova Nera. That alone isn''t enough to protect you from getting killed. Even by someone who ims."
"And would you have actually shot me?" Samuel challenged as he sat up straighter on the bed.
The cold, unreadable look returned to Lena''s eyes as she stared Samuel down.
"I think I already showed what the answer to that question would be." Samuel shook his head in obvious disagreement.
"No, I think you would havee to your senses." Samuel grabbed for Lena''s arm.
Although he would''ve liked to believe he had the strength to pull her over on his own, he knew better.
Still, he didn''t waste the opportunity to pin her underneath him.
"What I believe..." Samuel trailed off, his voice dropping to a low husky whisper.
"Is that you couldn''t bring yourself to shoot me and that scared you even more." Samuel''s words caused something dark to pass through the princess''s eyes. Had he hit the nail on the head?
"I said it once before and I''ll say it again - your naive approach will get you killed." It didn''t take Lena much if any effort to flip them over.
Samuel had pinned her more as an act than with the intent to keep her down. A touch of disappointment coursed through him however at not getting the chance to take advantage of the prior position.
Lena wasn''t quite as gentle when it came to holding Samuel down. There was a point to be proven that left no room for gentleness.
The small voice at the back of Lena''s head started to chide her before she even opened her mouth.
The princess ignored it as she kept her hard gaze focused on Samuel.
"Sam, I think you forget that I didn''t want anything to do with you from the start. There is no room for fearing for someone else''s safety when you didn''t care about them in the first ce." With each passing word, the warning voice got louder.
"Even without a gun, it wouldn''t take much for me to hurt you. In fact, you couldn''t even stop me if you wanted to."
This was not the Conversation she was supposed to be having. These words were not the ones she''d rehearsed saying only hours before.
Yet, she as usual, her mouth ran before her mind could catch up to it. Except unlike usual, the stakes were much higher in this situation.
The mental clutter took so much of Lena''s attention that she almost missed Samuel speaking until she caught his lips moving.
"You say all of those things but they don''t match your actions, Lena." The way her name rolled of his lips and the smug expression on his face ignited a dark fire inside the princess.
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