Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions

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 place.” 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 your company 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 the company but I would be taking a much larger 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 place, 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 occasions when I was younger. I can tell however that you’re suggestion doesn’t come without some benefit or goal for out of this.” The blank 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 might come 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.

.....

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 glance 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 welcome 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 hope for his quick recovery.” Richard’s eyes once again flashed over to the other hospital bed. Other warm regards would have to wait until the occupant of the other hospital bed decided to come back to the land 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. Despite commenting 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 access 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 eyes landed 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?