As much as Eve wanted Jovani to stay for the night and rest him arm, he couldn't afford to do it. Too much going on that required his attention. Most of the Red Scorpion family being currently out of commission meant a lot of small pieces for him to focus on. One of which lied with Samuel's family. His younger cousin's mother might've been with them but the rest were elsewhere.
While the older cousin didn't think there would be much of a threat to them, he wasn't the kind of person to take such chances. Tomorrow something would have to done in order to ensure their safety. Alonso would've been his first choice but his right-hand man didn't happen to be the best with kids, the one thing he needed someone for. Thus, he would have to rely on someone else for that task or himself if it came down to it.
"Emily, you know that I really need your help with this right now. Not tonight, it would be tomorrow afternoon. You're one of the best people I know with kids and they do happen to be family." Low blow to bring that up, he knew but desperate times called for desperate measures to get her on board.
"Sam won't mind. I'll make sure to tell him about it myself. You just have to go there, make sure they know who you are and pick them up." Jovani winched as he attempted to move his injured arm. Few more painkillers before he wouldn't be feeling that anymore."Of course. Where they will stay will be up to my cousin but I know you're plenty qualified to watch out for them." If she remembered to keep anything dangerous out of their reach.
One call already down but a ton more for him to take care of. Some would require him to call in some rather big favors. Playing his cards carefully would be important for this. Something Jovani happened to be good at when under a decent amount of pressure. Picking up the marbled glass, he finished off the amber liquid in one shot. Liquid strength wouldn't go amiss either. He didn't get a chance to make his next call before his phone started ringing.
"Alonso, I already told you before that you need to be staying at the hospital for tonight. I don't need to you to be coming back here as I can take care of myself just fine."
"While I appreciate you informing me of that. For once, it isn't the reason why I'm calling you. I thought instead that you would like to know you got a tip on one of the people you told me to watch out for. I don't how much good it will be, but worth a look at the message I sent." Jovani stopped everything else he was doing in order to find the email the other mentioned. His lips curved into a smirk the moment he scanned through it.
"Aren't you a little helpful someone. This is indeed more than a little useful for what I have been working on. Having this though means there might be a few favors I need to ask you to do for me. Top one being to make sure everyone there stays safe. Tell me if we need to get a substitute to take your place." Jovani looked through the email once more before closing it off again.
"The second being that I need you to contact a certain someone for me. I know that you aren't all that thrilled about them but their help could really come in handy right about now." Alonso became unusually quiet on the other end of the phone after Jovani finished speaking."Are you really certain they are the person you want me to contact? Isn't there someone else we could rely on instead?" Jovani's ears didn't miss the other's exasperation.
"Oh come now. It isn't like I'm asking you to work with them this time. I just need you to contact them for me and let them know I need a favor. After that, you don't have to do anything else." The Vedova Nera bossed huff. His right-hand man could certainly be a child when he wanted to be.
"I put up with Richard today due to everything else going on. You can do this one thing for far less time than what I dealt with. Just let me know when you're done and I will take it from there." Jovani didn't give the other a chance to complain again before ending the call.
Glancing around the room, he sighed. The use peace he could enjoy in his office when Alonso was gone didn't feel the same after today. The heavy silence put him on edge. No way would anything be able to lurk among the shadows yet his eyes kept trying to play tricks on him. Pain, exhaustion, stress, and blood loss were a bad combination for someone who could hardly keep his over-excited mind in the correct place most days. Rather than fixating on it, he shifted to going on to his next call. The noise would help take his mind off of it.
"Ralph! Thank you so much for picking up despite how late it is tonight. I hope you and the family are doing well still?" Jovani refilled his glass as he got the polite chatter out of the way.action
"Really? That is so good to hear, congratulations on going ahead with the second one. I hope your wife is just as pleased about it as you are? Ah well, you know me. I'm not quite in the place to be thinking about that yet." He silently nodded his head along with what the other said.
"In a few years, I'm certain that my own fiancé is eager to be where your wife is right now. Just a few more pieces need to be in place for that to happen. Actually, that leads to one of the reasons I called you tonight. I'm sure that you remember you owe me a little favor after the last time I helped you out. I thought that maybe I could take the time right now to cash in on that?"
Jovani hoped that the other would agree rather quickly. He didn't want to have to pull out the harsh card like he had done so many times in the past. Ralph was one of the few he actually liked. Family came first though. Hence, Jovani would do what needed to in order to get the other to agree if it came down to it. Enough people were still wandering around that he could afford to do some late night visits if needed.
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