Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions

The world hadn't yet decided it was time to stop coming 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 playing 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 just come 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 the company 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 glare. 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 places 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 would come 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.