Being face to face, Samuel couldn't miss the similarities between Jovani and Marcus. They could have passed for brothers if no one knew they were cousins. They shared the same hair and eye color. The bridge of their noses was positioned almost the same. Even their smiling was almost identical, along with their perfectly straight teeth.
The only difference came from the look in their eyes. Samuel could see it almost instantly. Hidden behind the sea-green orbs was something feral. A sinister twinkle that Samuel had never seen in Jovani's eyes existed in Marcus.
"You are certainly something else this close. If I didn't know better, I might doubt whether we're related." Marcus tightly griped the other as he surveyed his younger cousin. The only thing that gave away the fact that Samuel was a Vedova Nera was his stubborn personality and his eyes.
Something about the odd shape of their eyes seemed to run through the entire family. Men, women. It didn't matter. They both shared the shape equally.
"What are you doing here and where is Jovani?" Marcus blinked a few seconds to help his eyes steady as he processed the other's words.
"Jovi is a little preoccupied right now. We had to have a little bit of a chat of our own earlier. One that I should have been able to have with you before now." Marcus took a step back but kept his hands on Samuel.
"Tell me, is it true that you haven't been brought into the family yet? Engaged to another member of a mafia family but not even properly brought into our own." Richard wanted to speak up about the question but held his tongue. Marcus was being gentle at the current moment, after all. No sense in potentially setting the other off. That wasn't the kind of chaos they needed at the current moment in time.
"No. That was part of the reason I was brought here. Other matters delayed that happening." Samuel kept his tone level, hands at his side despite wanting to push Marcus's own off his shoulders. Something told him not moving would be better than invading the other man's space.
"Hmm. Well I don't think that is something that Jovani will be able to take care of any time soon. It may be better if I end up being the one to take his place. Quick, easy and efficient. We can't have a Vedova Nera living here who hasn't sworn themselves to the family." That wouldn't do at all. Too many problems had happened before when that even took place. All of them flashed through Marcus's mind at the same time.
"Where is the girl that you're with? She needs to be a part of this, though. Normally it wouldn't be allowed, but the two of you have already started to tie the knot. Best make sure she understands what is going to be taking place as well." Samuel wanted to object but didn't get a chance as Marcus let go, whirling around to turn his head towards Cain for the first time.
"Merc. I am certain that you go about helping us get this matter setup. Don't you know some extra people outside of the family?" Richard's jaw tightened. Marcus couldn't have been serious, could he have been? Right now wasn't the time to go and talk about swearing Samuel in.
The thought alone was enough to give the other a pounding headache. The kind that made him forget about the ache in his hand from hitting Jovani.
"I have some people here with me right now. Although I'm not entirely certain they are the kind you're looking for." Cain shrugged as he replied. It wasn't his place to question what the other man wanted.
Meeting the other in person, the mercenary had already shelved the idea of fighting with Marcus. He could even tell that wouldn't end well for him on a variety of different levels.
"Be that as it may, there are still some more aspects of that I want to clarify with you." Richard couldn't tell Samuel that he was better off not going anywhere. Marcus wasn't something that could be explained in five minutes or less.The complicated man needed a whole novel written about him if anyone outside of the family were even to begin to understand him.
"You can ask questions about whatever you want later. I want to go and talk with Jovani so I can better understand what is going on." Samuel pushed Richard's hand aside as he tried once more to get up. He didn't care about the fuzzy feeling in his head that made it hard to focus or the fact that his feet didn't feel properly attached to his body.
There had been too many things going on that he didn't know about. New to the family or not, it certainly wouldn't hurt for him to have additional information. It wasn't like such things would cause the world to end.
After all, hadn't Jovani been the one who said that sometime in the future, Samuel would be taking over the family? Knowing all the players he had to keep an eye on would only benefit him in moving toward that goal.
"You should already know after what happened earlier that Jovani is in no place to be talking right now. That conversation will have to wait for some time in the future." Richard tried to reason once more. He didn't want to use force on the kid who didn't know what he was trying to get involved with.
"Oh not in a place to talk? I think that you will find that Jovani is plenty capable of talking. Maybe too much even. His conversations bore me still. Just as much if not even more than they used to. I do hope that someone here might be able to keep my attention better?"
The unexpected voice and presence made the hair on the back of Richard's next stand on end.
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.𝘤ℴ𝑚 for the best novel reading experience