Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions

Marcus tossed the phone back to Samuel, feeling accomplished 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 melancholy 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 had last 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 had come back to make his life hard and served him right by introducing to the wrong person the way to become 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 flame 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 dollars, 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.

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