Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions
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 to come 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 the commotion. 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 placed 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 energy coming 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 planned." 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't come 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 replace 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 would come 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.