Chapter 281 You, Come With Me

Jovani wasn't thrilled in the slightest yet did exactly as Lena had asked, go back to the room where Zane and everyone else was staying and request that Richard leave with him.

It seemed that he had interrupted a conversation that was going on between him and Samuel, but the older cousin didn't care at the current moment in time. He had other matters he needed to take care of and in order to get to them, that meant that Richard needed to leave with him sooner rather than later.

"Do you have to go somewhere?" Samuel asked as he was trying to usher the other mafia man out of the room who wasn't so inclined to leave right away.

"Yes I do. On my way out, the princess asked that I make sure this one comes along with me before I left." Jovani replied. Richard didn't seem like he was quite convinced that was the case, however.

"Lena made that request? Why wouldn't she come to tell me herself?"

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that two-thirds of her family are currently in the hospital and she's trying to do that which doesn't leave her much time to speak with you?" Jovani suggested with no little amount of annoyance.

"You might have something that you want to talk about the princess with, right now isn't the time though. We need to be leaving because that's what she requested and I have other matters I need to take care of."

"I do have something important that I need to talk with Lena about and I think that it is of no concern to you whether I stay here or leave with you. If she made the request, she came and tell me to leave when she gets back." Richard retorted in a rather calm tone of voice that only succeed in further annoying Jovani.

"Look I don't like you and I'm pretty sure you can't care any less for me either. But for fucks sake, I'm demanding that you leave here with me right now because that's what Lena ordered and while you may not be man that's great at following the orders you're given, you damn well better suck it up this one time and just go along with it." By the time he had finished speaking, Jovani had moved so that he was standing a mere two inches away from Richard. They were almost nose to nose and despite the fact that Richard was a few inches taller than him, there was no hint of trepidation or sign that he was intimidated in his eyes.

The only thing that Richard could read was frustration mixed with a hint of hatred it seemed as the other glared at him.

"Right now." He repeated when Richard only stared back at him without saying anything.

It was wordless but from Samuel's perspective, it seemed as though there was a silent challenge going on between his cousin and Richard. They refused to stop locking gaze as neither one wanted to budge from the position that they were in.

He felt like he should have spoken up to deal with the situation, yet he didn't quite know what the right thing to say would have been. Not only that, but it seemed by what was going on that neither one would probably pay attention.

Watching them, he couldn't actually think of a time when he had seen his cousin this anger before. Jovani was usually one who kept his good mood even when he was annoyed irritated by something. He might hit back with venomous sarcasm or a harsh remark, but rarely ever did he display such a high level of anger so visibly before.

Samuel was about to say something when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It belonged to Romeo.

The burly man shook his head without taking his gaze off the other two in the room. A silent sign that he didn't think that Samuel should involve himself in the situation.

"If you're going to be that insistent about this matter, very well then. I will leave with you." Richard said after more than few tense moments of silence. It was obvious to him that Jovani had no intention of backing down which left him as the person to end the standoff.

"In the future though, I would appreciate that you don't take such a tone with me considering that you're not someone who holds any position of power." Richard told the other. He wanted to push Jovani away but knew that would be a bad move in the current situation and instead decided to step around the other.

"The fact that neither one of us are in positions of power over the other is exactly why I will speak to you the way I wish. Mutual respect is gained and if you want me to give that to you, you might want to start by showing the respect first." Jovani retorted as he offered the other a tight-lipped smile.

There was another silent clash between the two before Richard opted to break the glaring contest by turning to leave the room first.

This only helped Jovani slightly. He knew that he wouldn't be able to breath fully until the other was completely out of the hospital. The last thing that he needed to be doing right now as wasting what little energy he had on such annoying things.

"Right. Before I leave now, there is one more thing that I would like to talk with you about." Jovani turned his attention to Samuel.

"It isn't anything all that serious but I think that it is something important for you to keep in mind since I don't know that I will be coming back tonight." He informed the other.

Alonso would be there still as well, but Jovani wanted to make sure that Samuel knew some things to do as well since he would technically be the one on his side in charge while he away.

It was a chance for his younger cousin to learn about some of the greater responsibilities he would be taking over once he became the boss of Vedova Nera.