CHAPTER 605: -CHAPTER 605-

Caspian was in the kitchen when he returned, the Omega was in an apron, losing his focused expression when he saw him.

"Jael," Caspian said, slightly out of breath. "Asher is still asleep, so I didn’t bother giving you a call."

Jael had already guessed that, he knew that Caspian would call if there had been any change. "How is he?"

Caspian walked out of the kitchen as they spoke, handing his apron to one of the workers in the kitchen. "Still fast asleep, I didn’t want to wake him."

Jael walked by Caspian’s side, knowing that the Omega was leading him to Asher. The doctor did say there was nothing wrong with him, and with how much he had done in a few short hours, the Alpha had a valid reason to be so exhausted.

"He’ll probably keep sleeping till morning," He noted when he saw Asher, still fast asleep, just how he had left him.

Caspian didn’t reply to that, big blue eyes perceptive. "Did you find out anything about Gage?"

Jael turned away, starting for the door. "No, but he should be fine."

Caspian wanted to ask if Jael was fine, but he knew that the weight on the Beta’s shoulders was a lot.

So he hesitated, "Do you think you’ll have the time to watch movies with me tonight?" He asked instead, voice soft.

Jael didn’t slow down, his muttered assent thrown over a shoulder as he continued down the hallway, no doubt to clean up in his room.

Caspian watched him leave, worry leaving creases on his brow. Behind him, his mate was still dead to the world.

-+-

Angelo didn’t find spending most of the day in Nikolai’s arms as strange as he thought he would.

It was also easy to make sneak attacks when people let down their guard around him. And the pride in Nikolai’s eyes whenever a knife left his slender fingers made it more entertaining than it should be.

He ignored the looks he garnered from Nikolai’s men, missing out on the admiration tainted with fear that they wore at the sight of him.

He walked languidly behind Nikolai; it was barely sundown, yet the Mafia King was so eager to clock out. Angelo dropped his pale green gaze to the polished marble floors underneath his feet, he wasn’t sure he shared the eagerness.

Despite Nikolai keeping him within arm’s reach whenever he could, the Alpha kept his hands to himself, gaze dark whenever they dropped to him.

"Cook for me tonight," Nikolai asked as he drove them out of the parking lot.

The sun had almost set, the last rays of its light slowly fading. It was a cold dusk, the air getting colder with each passing night.

Angelo was completely relaxed as he sat in the passenger seat. "Lake can’t eat noodles."

Nikolai scowled at that response, displeased.

Angelo glanced over at him when they had been driving for a while, and Nikolai still hadn’t said a word. He really couldn’t be that upset about this, could he?

He shook his head, his round lips lifting in a faint smile. It was just instant noodles, nothing special, he had no idea why Nikolai was so hung up on it.

After a while, he noticed something odd, frowning, he straightened up to study their surroundings. "This isn’t the way to Mafia King Davian’s mansion."

Nikolai’s sulking expression didn’t ease, "We’ll spend the night somewhere else."

Angelo leaned back against the leather seats, his smile returning, deeper this time. "We still have to go grocery shopping." He reminded Nikolai.

He was sated, content, happiness flowing gently like the ripples on the surface of a wind-blown lake.

Some of Nikolai’s displeasure faded at that, the Mafia King stopped at the next supermarket they came across, heading in alone.

Angelo wound the windows down this time so he could properly see Nikolai going in and out of the store.

He never felt like he belonged anywhere, but when he was with Nikolai, he didn’t think about that, he didn’t have to, the doubts in his heart were nonexistent then.

Nikolai showed up at the entrance of the store a short while later. The Mafia King didn’t linger on the stairs, instead, he walked right over, heading to his side, instead of going around to the driver’s seat.

Angelo wore an expectant expression only to have it kissed off his face.

He was stunned for a moment, only recovering after Nikolai had tossed the bags in the back seat, getting into the driver’s side.

"I got us ice cream," Nikolai informed him, back to being in a good mood, none of his displeasure from earlier left.

Angelo just silently undid his seatbelt and leaned across the center console to cup Nikolai’s face before he could start the car, returning the favor.

He leaned back after, satisfied. Kissing Nikolai was pleasant, the more memories he made with the Mafia King, the less space there was for other unsavory moments.

Now it was Nikolai’s turn to be caught off guard, his blue eyes darkening as he glimpsed Angelo’s little self-satisfied smile.

"What flavor did you get?" Angelo asked as he redid his seat belt. He couldn’t help but think that ice cream was the perfect dessert for spicy noodles, missing the look in Nikolai’s eyes.

Nikolai looked away when Angelo raised his head, starting the car. "Chili mango." He said with a straight face.

Angelo’s smile dropped off his face, replaced by a look of complete judgment. "How did you even find that in a store?"

Nikolai wanted to keep the joke going, but he got distracted by the thought of how badly Angelo handled spice. There hadn’t been any spicy variety of ice cream in the store, and he hadn’t known what the assassin liked, so he just went for a generic flavor.

Angelo kept speaking when he didn’t respond. "Maybe Lake would like that."

The Mafia King shot him a dark look at his muttered words, back to being upset. Lake wasn’t even here, yet the pregnant Omega kept popping up in their conversations.

"Davian can buy his own mate ice cream." He scowled shamelessly.

Angelo hadn’t been expecting this outburst, so he turned in surprise. Nikolai’s expression prompted a smile from him, however. "Fine, I’ll mention it to Davian." He compromised, indulgent.

Although he didn’t bring up the topic of the ice cream for the rest of the ride, Angelo couldn’t help but be worried that Nikolai had really gotten chili mango flavor.

When they first met, he believed everything the other said, no matter how ridiculous, but these days, Nikolai was prone to teasing him, so he wasn’t sure anymore.

The car went through elaborate gates, fluorescent lights turned on now that it was fully dark. It made the lights in the building stand out, they sparkled like gems, brilliant against the night sky.

A valet walked right up to them as soon as they drove in, the dapper Beta all smiles as he waited for them to step down so he could properly park the car.

"Have the things in the back seat brought up to my room." Nikolai said to the valet as he tossed him the keys.

Angelo stepped out of the car too, movements fluid. His expression was calm as he took in the surroundings.

Extravagant fountains were casually littered around, the shrubs so perfectly trimmed they looked like they were carved out of something solid.

The sprawling building they would be spending the night in was just up ahead, and from where he stood, he could see a back-lit swimming pool, the water an azure blue.

"A resort?" Angelo cocked a brow at Nikolai as they started for the entrance.

It was a little over the top considering that they planned to spend just a single night cooking instant noodles.

"It’s empty," Nikolai reassured him, walking through the doors opened for them.

Angelo gave up on him then, he was used to places like this. Being an assassin took him to every single corner of Haines, it was strange to not come to a place like this without a mission, however.

A uniformed worker hurried up to them. She wore a smile, but it was shaky, her eyes fixed on the carpet in the foyer. "T-The access card to your room, sir." She stumbled over her words, retreating hastily as soon as the card was taken out of her hand. "If you need anything, just make a call."

Saying those few sentences had taken up all her courage, she quickly darted away after, disappearing behind a door.

Angelo gave the foyer a sweeping look. Nikolai had been truthful, it was empty, completely so. Not just the guests were missing, but even the staff that worked there were out of sight.

He paid no mind to it, the resort was no different from a shabby motel to him. The only difference was Nikolai.

The Mafia King took his wrist and started for the row of elevators, it gave Angelo pause, drawing Nikolai’s attention to his hesitation.

"We aren’t taking the stairs?" He asked with a slight hint of confusion.

Nikolai slowed to a stop, letting Angelo take the lead instead. Their room was the penthouse so they had to go up a couple flights of stairs.

He had his attention on Angelo the entire walk up, holding onto the assassin’s wrist despite Angelo being in the lead. The assassin’s swaying hair was almost hypnotic that he didn’t notice they had gotten to the top floor until Angelo stopped moving.