CHAPTER 599: +CHAPTER 599+

The mansion was exactly as they left it, Davian right away going up the stairs while Nikolai hesitated a moment before turning to head to his room.

Simply holding Asher up for a few moments had gotten his hands and coat stained. He shrugged off his coat when he got to his room, going over to wash his hands.

So much had happened, and it was barely noon. Things had turned out so well with the addition of Caspian to the situation, Jael’s relief had been palpable.

As concerning as the strangeness of Asher’s behavior had been, Nikolai absolutely didn’t want to be the Mafia King’s enemy. Hell, letting him loose on the High Council might actually be enough to get rid of them.

-+-

Davian’s swift strides took him to his mate’s side. He went into his room first so he could clean up, not wanting to take the scent of blood to Lake.

Angelo was still by Lake’s side, the television was on, but no one was really paying attention.

The assassin rose to his feet when he made an appearance, stopping by the side of the bed to pick up his knives.

Davian went right to Lake’s side, appreciation in his steel eyes. "Thank you."

"It’s fine," Angelo replied quietly, starting for the door.

"Nikolai should be in his room." Davian tagged on, gently taking out Lake’s headband so he could put it on properly again.

He had called Lake on the drive back, knowing that his mate would want to know if Caspian was alright.

Angelo didn’t reply, the Omega slipping out of the room after a friendly wave to Lake.

Davian didn’t let his thoughts linger on him for too long, easily going down to the bed when Lake tugged him lightly, asking, "How do you feel?"

-+-

Angelo adjusted his knives as he went down the stairs. It was relieving to hear that everyone turned out mostly okay, worrying about so many people was a first for him.

He didn’t walk past to his room, stopping in front of Nikolai’s door. He reached out a hand to knock and then hesitated, pulling back.

The door opened then, Nikolai staring at him with a focus that burned his skin. "Were you waiting long?"

Angelo calmly held his burning gaze, "Not long. Are we leaving?"

"Yeah," The Alpha stepped out of his room, his gaze lingering on Angelo’s hair.

Now that the assassin was no longer worried about others, he caught on to this. "Not going to touch my hair?" He asked bluntly. He left it down for the Alpha, the least he could do was fuss with it.

Nikolai was taken aback by this; although he had recently kept his distance from the assassin, hair and all, because his self-control took too many hits when he simply existed right next to him.

He was also of the idea that Angelo was mildly irritated by him constantly messing with his hair and was simply being indulgent.

Angelo didn’t back down, "I leave it down for you, not going to touch it?"

Nikolai wasn’t given the chance to recover, speechless for the first time. "I-"

"Let’s leave..." Angelo started forward, not sure why he was a little irked... actually, he knew exactly why he was miffed.

Nikolai kept trying to get into his bed, only for the Alpha to ditch him halfway through the night.

He didn’t get far, a solid arm around his waist pulled him back, right into the Alpha’s personal space, his back against Nikolai’s chest.

Angelo let it happen, ignoring the faint shiver that snaked its way up his neck when Nikolai came close so he could better see his face.

"You’re upset," Nikolai noted calmly, but there was no concern in his tone. If anything, the Mafia King seemed happy, his dark blue eyes lighting up.

Now Angelo slipped out of his grasp, wanting to keep his anger a little longer. Nikolai being close to him was detrimental to that.

"Let’s leave." He repeated, walking forward away, long dark hair swaying temptingly.

This time, Nikolai didn’t try to stop him, walking after him. He had changed coats, making sure to move the knives he had taken from Angelo to the new coat.

Nikolai’s mood only got better and better, even after they got into the car in complete silence. He glanced over to watch Angelo stoically braid up his hair and wrap it up into a secure bun.

Last night had been fun, he knew that Angelo’s upset didn’t stem from their date but from much later. He planned to straighten things out as soon as they got to the bar, but right then, he was simply enjoying this display of emotion.

Angelo never demanded anything, seeming content to just quietly remain by his side, curled up on couches and waiting outside doors. His little show of anger right then reminded Nikolai of the assassin that tried to kill him - he had almost forgotten...

Angelo didn’t miss the little smiles that Nikolai had on his face on the entire ride to the club, scowling harder because, of course, he should have expected this reaction from the other.

He got out of the car as soon as it came to a stop, heading into the bar without waiting for Nikolai. The men guarding the door immediately parted for him to go their, hesitantly and nervously nodding to acknowledge his presence.

Angelo barely noticed, too caught up in his own thoughts, there’s was nothing to do except resume his position on the couch and watch Nikolai keep busy for the rest of the day.

It had him seriously considering asking Nikolai to give him a task. He was sure he could easily do whatever tasks Nikolai usually assigned to the cherubic Omega that worked for him.

By the time he curled up on his chair, he had momentarily forgotten to be upset with Nikolai, too focused on his new line of thought.

He straightened up as soon as the door opened, "Give me a task," He requested as soon as Nikolai stepped in.

The Mafia King paused, the lights in his eyes dimming as he slowly closed the door behind him, locking it deliberately. "Where is this coming from?" He asked, taking this far more seriously than Angelo’s earlier show of anger.

Angelo wasn’t upset at the moment, he simply didn’t like doing nothing but sitting. "It has nothing to do with you leaving my bed, I’m just not used to sitting around doing nothing."

Only then could Nikolai take a step in his direction, the tension bleeding out of his shoulders with every step he took. The fear that Angelo could one day decide to leave and he would be unable to stop him was still very real - the assassin really had no reason to remain by his side.

"I’ll take you out with me," He offered on a dime.

Angelo looked up at him, unimpressed. "I don’t need you to babysit me."

The offer was sweet but Angelo knew that the Mafia King had a lot of duties to attend to. Angelo wasn’t interested in sitting at a meeting where all they did for hours on end was play mind games.

He was only good at hunting and killing, surely Nikolai had to have a task or two every now and then that involved just that.

"But I do need to be babysat," Nikolai said with a serious expression, placing his hands on both arms of the single seater sofa Angelo was curled up on.

Angelo was about to refute that and then thought of all the dangerous situations the Alpha jumped head first into when they were together.

He pressed his lips together, "You’ll sit tight in your office whenever I go out," He decided.

"No," Nikolai shut down quickly, deeply bothered by this topic of conversation. "I’ll come with you."

Angelo wanted to be a bit more exasperated by the situation but he found that he couldn’t be, reminded of how quickly Nikolai had come to his side when things went south during his visit to Silvia.

He had been perfectly fine, and if Nikolai had simply sent men over for clean up, it would have been all he needed.

He sighed and gave up on that line of conversation, he had never seen Nikolai get so serious so quick about anything. "Fine, but do I get an explanation about why you left my bed?"