Chapter 96: Chapter 96

Brianna arrived at Leandro Michaelson's mansion with Lucien already waiting for her by the door. She gathered they must have known her arrival ever since she reached the gates. Tatum Elliot arrived only a few minutes after Brianna, and he quickly moved out from his ride and sat on the driver seat of the car Brianna just emptied as she got off to meet Lucien by the door.

"Let's go home," Lucien greeted Anna this way as soon as he got close enough to talk to her. "You must be hungry. Let me take you to dinner. What would you like to have?"

Lucien walked towards the vehicle where Tatum was already waiting by the driver's seat, still in his mission gear, waiting for Anna and his boss to get in and leave the mansion.

"Anything would do, sir," Brianna answered casually. "But I do need to buy things and comfortable clothes." She was wearing the hooded shirt she grabbed with only the bodysuit beneath it.

"Let's eat first, then we'll go shopping for whatever you need," Lucien answered as he got her seated first before he got in the car after her at the backseat.

"Tatum, let's go downtown for dinner and shopping," Lucien informed his driver where to go. He has a few spots he would usually go for fine dining, but as the young Michaelson mentioned about shopping, Tatum knew where to take his boss tonight. And with a simple nod, the driver -slash- bodyguard started driving.

Inside the mansion...

Leandro already had his dinner, so he went to the control room and talked with his IT team along with his faithful assistant, Enzo, beside him.

"I want to check the video of what happened today with Anna," Leandro spoke with a clear tone. "I want to hear whatever conversations took place in that room before Anna fired that shot," he added.

"Yes, sir," the IT team leader replied right away.

Leandro waited for the team to do his orders.

"Also, I need someone to dig whatever we can find about this girl Anna. Dig and dig deeper. Find her ancestors if necessary. She is not who and what she is today without reason. I can bet my life on that." Leandro added to his commands. His brain was busy thinking about many things, and he is able to execute almost all of them with the help of his people.

"I'll take it," one of the IT staff answered.

There were nearly a dozen of them. They have different areas of expertise and designations, but tonight, they will have to multi-task and focus on the immediate orders the Michaelson's patriarch demands them to do. They usually monitor the monitors from outside the mansions. Like Leandro's Casino, which also has an IT team at its own casino building, but unknown to them, Leandro is also watching them from his very own home for double security. He also has eyes on his known enemies to see their every move, just in case, they try to attack him and his family. But whoever was behind these current episodes is not among his known enemies or uses hired assassins to do their dirty works.

That is another thing he wants to find out. But the most that piqued his interest is anything that has to do with Anna. She is a puzzling, admirable, and very beneficial individual for Leandro Michaelson right now. Considering she can be trusted to keep his dearest grandson safe. But above all that, Leandro wanted to know more about Anna because Lucien seems to be head over heels about this cold-hearted girl.

Leandro smiled at his thought. Then he turned to ask Enzo humorously.

"What will happen if a frigid man falls for another cold-hearted woman who might happen to be colder than himself? Wouldn't they freeze?" he chuckled.

"As far as I can see, the frigid man has started to warm up," Enzo replied courteously, yet without a smile.

"You noticed that, too?" Leandro laughed louder.

Enzo bowed his head to hide his faintly smiling mien. He does not dare be casual in front of his boss. No matter how many times Leandro has told him to be at ease around him, Enzo respects Leandro so much that he cannot do as the Mafia King asks. Be casual.

"I really need this girl around. She can warm my Lucien, and she can also read you easily like an open book before her naked eyes," Leandro teased Enzo. "I saw what happened in the basement before someone decided to blow himself up," he added, looking at a paled face of Enzo. "I wonder how she can do that."

Their moments of laughter were interrupted by an announcement that the video clip was ready to be viewed. Enzo handed Leandro a headset to have clear audio as he wanted to know what the conversation was all about.

"Play it again," Leandro ordered. The team leader personally assisted his boss.

"Volume a little louder."

"Again."

"Play it slow. I wanna see where the man was shot."

Leandro's voice giving orders, one after another, was the only voice to be heard in the entire control room. And everyone concerned to respond with his commands did their job without saying anything.

After checking everything that got piqued his curiosity, Leandro took off the headset and stared at the paused screen with Brianna's face as she was walking down the streets out from the building she stealthily got into. A clear look of confidence, fearlessness, and for a woman, she was absolutely ballsy!

Leandro had his right hand holding his chin as he fell into deep thought. Then he mindlessly asked.

"What did you understand from their conversation?"

He did not say any name, but Enzo was sure the question was directed to him. He cleared his throat and replied.

"If I am not mistaken, they seem to know her, but she doesn't recognize them."

"How do you see it that way?" Leandro asked again. He kept his gaze on the screen in front of him.

"The look in the man's eyes when she came out from her hiding spot was clear for me to say that he was surprised to see her there. I am referring to the man that was shot. The others did not seem to realize who she was until the older man barked questions at her."

Enzo gave his honest opinion about what he saw. He has learned to read people experiencing a lot of unfortunate things in his life. It made him cautious about how to blend in and react with his environment. And it encouraged him to enhance this skill as he found it being helpful to assist and serve his master, Leandro Michaelson.

"I remember they were talking about a compromised B," Leandro mentioned.

Enzo bit his lips. He did not want to say anything without confirmation of accuracy to his thoughts. He did not say anything, and as Leandro was waiting, he turned to look at his assistant.

"What? You lost your tongue?" the old Michaelson sneered.

Enzo's lips tightened into one line. He swallowed whatever words were about to escape out of his mouth.

"Spit it out! I need every idea right now, accurate or not, just say it!" Leandro frowned and nagged loudly at his stubborn assistant. He knew well, Enzo had something to say, but because he wasn't sure of its accuracy or certainty, he was refraining from making his thoughts known.

The poor assistant scratched his unitchy head—a mannerism which Leandro is very familiar with Enzo.

"Come on, now... Don't make me wait, Lorenzo!" the old Michaelson's voice roared. He knew it wouldn't bother Enzo, but he still tried his best to intimidate this bull-headed assistant of his.

They knew each other too well to be surprised at their every antic, playful or serious ones, alike.

"Let me find things out to confirm my thoughts first, Master. I will let you know as soon as I am certain about this opinion of mine," Enzo politely answered.

Leandro was sure Enzo would not say anything he wanted to hear without firm convictions of his claim. So the Mafia King glared at his assistant furiously. In most cases, Enzo's intuitions are correct, but since he is unsure without proof, Enzo would hold his words and spill them out when confirmed to be accurate. A reason why Leandro is eager to hear his thoughts, right or wrong, he still wants to hear them out, but he can threaten to cut Enzo's tongue, yet he would keep his silence to the end. So, with a heavy heart, Leandro decided to back down and wait, but not for long.

"I will give you time until tomorrow morning. Confirmed or not, you will have to tell me, do you understand, Lorenzo Quinn?" Leandro barked at Enzo in honest fury.

Enzo bowed his head.

"Do not dare patronize me! I will send you out of my house, I swear!" The old man blabbered.

His anger overwhelms him, but he cannot do anything to pull the words out of Enzo's mouth. He can roar and nag at his assistant, but he will only feel tired. It won't make any difference to convince him to speak. It irks Leandro to the bottom of his curious heart, but he still ends defeated every time they have these kinds of fights. Well, Enzo doesn't fight with him. It's his anger issues. And Enzo's stubborn issues. Their crazy issues!