Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions

340 Like Noisy Children

“You said you’re looking for someone to have fun with, so why not engage with me? It has been pretty boring since I came here anyways. Something fun could help to take away the boredom.” Jovani’s sour expression only turned more so at the sight of the mercenary standing in the doorway. He dared to lounge against the door frame as though he owned the place.

“Cain, you were instructed to stay in the lodging space until I came to talk with you later.” Jovani snipped at the mercenary. Neither Emily nor Samuel made a noise as he looked at the unexpected guest. A few hours did nothing to take away the swelling on his face or the nasty bruise covering his broken nose. The mercenary offered Jovani a coy smile.

“Can you blame me for getting bored? I had come here expecting to be able to get involved in something interesting. Not be stuck in a room with my crew like some fugitive.” Cain sighed in a rather dramatic manner.

“I had only been coming in search of someone who could provide me with a little food to fill our stomach but couldn’t help overhearing the conversation taking place in this room. As someone who loves being in the middle of the fun, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to engage.” Bullshit. Jovani knew the other’s words were lies by the shimmer in his eyes. The man had come in search of trouble.

“Oh, ho. So you’re one of the unexpected guests that we have staying here. I had honestly expected you to look a little different. Still, I think you could be someone worth having fun with.” Emily bolted to the mercenary’s side in a matter of seconds to give the other man a good look-over. Cain didn’t look thrilled to be manhandled but didn’t protest as the woman gave him a twice-over.

“You look a little worse for wear before I’ve even had a chance to do anything with you. Surely as a mercenary, you can’t possibly be that weak, can you?” The shimmer in Cain’s eyes dimmed slightly as he let out a mirthless chuckle that turned into a full-out humorless laugh. Emily’s question had wounded his pride.

“Oh, dear girl. No one who knows me would call me ‘harmless.’ These are simply from an unexpected situation. I never have a problem watching out for myself when I expect an attack to be coming. It’s not the slightest bit strange to get caught off-guard now and again.” Emily’s expression told him she wasn’t exactly convinced by his answer. She went back to probing and prodding him once.

“If you want to find out if I’m strong, why don’t you stop with the poking, and we can go about having a quick spar? Five minutes, one match. If you can land a hand on me, we might be able to agree that I’m not as strong as you think.” Emily paused her inspection at the other’s suggestion. Five minutes? Who exactly did this mercenary take her for?

“Rather than five minutes, why don’t we make it three? If you can land a hit on me or keep me to the ground in that time, I’ll agree to a longer spar with you and maybe even convince Jovani here not to keep me confined.” Emily smirked in a predatory manner. Even if he couldn’t put much of a challenge against her, he might still be able to make himself into a temporary amusement to keep her preoccupied for a short time.

.....

“You two can’t seriously be planning on going forward with this. I don’t want you to make a mess of my estate after I’ve only recently gotten everything back in order.” Jovani sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with this good hand.

“I’m forbidding the both of you from doing this.” The words hardly left his mouth before the mercenary and his cousin immediately began to protest, at the same time sounding very much like a whiny pair of children.

“Surely you can’t mean to deprive us of a little fun? We don’t even have to do it inside. I’m sure the weather outside is fine enough for us to spare out there.”

“Jovani, you brought me here promising that there might be something interesting to do. Why not agree to this? It’ll make sure my men and I don’t cause you any unnecessary trouble. I’ll even drop my grudge against Alonso if I can find something more entertaining to put my energy towards.” The two voices rose as they each tried to speak over the other to ensure Jovani heard their arguments and protests. The commotion would surely not go amiss by anyone else in the house at the current moment in time. Jovani’s headache confirmed as much for him as a dull ache burst into a full-on throbbing as the ruckus only served to anger it further.

“Why don’t we just let it happen and have someone outside to help moderate it so that nothing gets out of hand? I’m not in favor of this type of thing, but neither of them seems intent on dropping it.” Samuel had moved from his position on the bed to come over and speak to his cousin at a distance he knew the Vedova Nera boss would be able to hear him from.

Jovani couldn’t deny his cousin was right. It wasn’t ideal, but the two children in front of him didn’t seem like they would let the matter go quickly. Both were overly excited over the idea of being able to shed blood.

And blood they would shed indeed if either one of them got a chance.

“Fine!” Jovani boomed above the overlapping voices. The sharp, deep tone immediately brought silence to the room.

“You have your three minutes. I won’t allow for anything beyond that. I don’t care what the two of you agreed to afterward. Three minutes or the first time someone is down, it ends there.” Jovani knew he would regret agreeing to this situation even if it was the more straightforward solution to his problem.

He could only hope the regret would be kept to a minimum once everything was said and done.