Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions
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 to come 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 at later." 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 planning 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 declaration 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 black 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 for lack 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 Hester comes 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 place until we figure everything out."

"I have no intention to do anything reckless. But if it comes 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. The latter 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 play 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."

"Surprising coming 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 accounted 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 play 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."

"Surprising coming 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 accounted 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.