Lena already knew that she wasn't going to be able to sleep, even though she would need sleep for the next day she knew that her mind wouldn't slow down enough for her to be able to sleep.
She ate dinner but that was only because her father refused to let her go the whole day without eating anything since there was no way of knowing what to expect for the next day. The princess didn't eat much however, she settled for having breakfast for dinner by requesting toast, eggs, and sausage. It wasn't much but it was enough to hold her over. She also made sure to drink water to counteract the effects of all the caffeine she had drank throughout the day.
Zane suggested that Genson and Evalyn use two of the guestrooms they had available. Partly so that they didn't have to travel back, but also because he wanted them nearby so that he could keep an eye on them. More so Genson because he didn't trust the other. Money was far more important to that man than loyalty was.
Once everything had been sorted for the night and most everyone had retired to get some form of rest for the next day, Lena opted for locking herself out on the second floor deck so that she that people wouldn't be hoovering around her. By that she mostly meant her father and brother who she knew were both highly worried with what was going on. While she did deeply appreciate their care and concern, she wanted her own personal space to think things through without other people around.
The hammock wasn't the most comfortable place to lay she found after getting into it, but she wasn't really in the mood to get out after she started staring at the sky. Once everything was settled, hopefully for the best she would have to tell Samuel that she didn't understand what was amazing about hammocks and he would certainly be free to use it as much as he liked because it didn't work for her.
She didn't really know what she was going to do when the next day came around. She had an idea of everything that she was going to want to get ready ahead of time and a generally idea of what the plan, but it was still vague since she had no idea where Jovani was expecting her to meet him or if it would even be the same place that he was keeping Samuel.
Samuel being a part of the Vedova Nera- that was something else that she would have to figure out how that would work out and what it would mean going forward. Did that make things better or worse? It didn't make a difference to her because they were already engaged, but.. it was definitely something that they would have to consider announcing at the engagement party since it was now turning out that she wouldn't actually be brining someone in from the outside. Instead, it would create an alliance between the two families. Both sides would have to agree to that.
She didn't even have an idea of who the head of Vedova Nera was, which would create another headache if she and her father had to meet with them to explain the situation and make sure that they approved of the engagement and marriage in the future. That would be the only unknown piece that might change how the future played out. IF they didn't agree for any reasons that could put a stop to everything.
Lena sighed as she ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes. They would also be a potential target for her anger if anything happened to Samuel and it turned out that they had anything to do with what Jovani was doing. She wasn't interested in starting a war over this, but retaliation would certainly happen if anything happened to him or her for that matter if it turned out to be a setup. Her father wouldn't stand back and let it go.
She wanted to think that if Jovani was making a move to create a business alliance with them that it meant he had plans for Samuel that included keeping him alive so that he could go through with them. But what was a question? He sounded fond of him over the phone which made her think that even though they hardly knew each other he had some form of care for him. There was however no way to determine if it was genuine or just for play.
Either way she knew that she needed to take Romeo and Clive with her because they were the only ones she trusted enough to handle any unexpected situation well. They had been working with her father for years after all and had some of the best training out of the men who served the family in terms of combat and security skills.
The princess would also have to remember though to apologize to his wife after everything happened for allowing him to end up in a dangerous situation despite knowing that he had just had a child. She would feel bad if something happened and the child ended up growing up without knowing who their father was.
It was bad enough as it was that Jeff was stuck in the hospital. The staff told his brother that he would be in the hospital for a while but would likely make a recovery without any future complications. He would just need a lot of rest before he would be able to go back to work. Lena knew that was a mistake on her part to pair him with Samuel so quickly.
Not to say that the situation was either one's fault as they couldn't have known to anticipate this would've happened and Jeff had been trying to take the necessary precautions to make sure that she knew where they were and what was going on. He just hadn't been equipped with all the training and resources to know how to handle the situation without getting hurt.
That though was something that she would be changing moving forward. It would have to go on her list of things to discuss with her father. When that would fit in with everything else she wasn't certain but there were gaps she needed to fill. She also still had no idea why Samuel had gone back to the jewelry store without her. She knew that they still needed to pick up the rings before the engagement party, but that was something that they had been intending to do together.
She could only presume that it must've had something to do with the surprise that he had mentioned to her before. They could've picked up both at the same time though. It wasn't like she would've pried that much into what it was if it was meant for a later date even if she wasn't that fond of surprises. Such things she would also have to talk with him about.
Thing to talk about reminded her that she needed to contact Clarice to let her know that she wouldn't be needing to come to the estate for a little while. Being midnight, she presumed that the other would be asleep so sending a text wouldn't be a problem. She could see it in the morning and Lena would take time after everything to explain the situation to her. She as mistaken however and Clarice messaged her back mere moments as she had sent her the message. Of course she would want to know what was wrong for there to be a sudden change in the schedule.
She opted to reply back that she would tell the other soon but she didn't have the bandwidth to go into the explanation tonight with how late it was. She did offer the hint though that Clarice wasn't perhaps wrong to think that there was something more to Samuel than their first appeared to be.
Lena probably should've chosen to talk with Clarice knowing that she would also understanding everything going and be more than willing to offer her assistance if she needed it and it was only midnight which meant that there were still too many hours left in the night.
It was going to be a long night before it would be time for her to get up and get everything together that she would need before they left. She just didn't have the mental ability to deal with talking with someone at the current moment and going over everything again and hearing someone tell her to try and be more positive about the situation and hope for the best.
It was great that people cared to try and make her look on the bright side of the situation, but it was something that was easier said than done after everything that she had been through. It was easy to try and keep a mind set when trying to look at a bad situation from that perspective hadn't back fired in the past. Instead, it just felt like she was grasping at straws in hopes that one of them would give her a positive answer to something that didn't feel positive in the slightest.
