Caspian had initially planned to return the revealing swimwear but anger clouded his vision when he got to the section of the boutique.
Why should he feel bad for what he had been wearing? When it was clearly all the fault of the Alpha who was a slave to his libido.
By the time they got over to the counter, the manager of the store was out.
She was in suit pants, a cashmere scarf around her neck.
"I apologize for the unfortunate event," She said politely, "The store will take full responsibility, as well as give you a generous discount to show our remorse."
Caspian attention was gotten by the mention of a discount, wishing he had taken more clothes.
"Unfortunately, the assailant isn’t an employee at this establishment but we’ll make sure there isn’t a repeat of this..." She rambled, clearly anxious.
"It’s fine." He said generously, "I’ll be taking the discount, thank you."
The manager audibly sighed in relief at that, gesturing instructions to the cashier.
"Where’s Peter?" Caspian curiously asked Keith, as he watched the cashier scan the items he bought.
Keith eyed the manager who nervously stood off to the side to watch them, "Off to make a report to the boss."
Caspian had an alarmed expression on his face like that, "He told Asher?"
Keith glanced at his phone briefly, "Probably took the creep to Asher in person."
Caspian looked thoughtful for a moment, surprisingly, his bodyguards were taking this much better than they had when he tripped and fell.
He doubted Asher would take it so calmly though, it didn’t help that the Alpha hadn’t been too eager to let him go out in the first place.
"I have to go see him," He muttered, sighing.
His anger had dissipated, leaving worry behind, it seemed like he couldn’t do anything without having something bad happen.
It was already difficult convincing Asher that he wasn’t a piece of glass, getting into ’danger’ so often wasn’t exactly helpful.
He handed the card to the cashier, too occupied with his thoughts to notice her eyes bulging in shock at the black card,
Keith’s expression was pinched, "I don’t think that’s a great idea." He said carefully.
Caspian had been about to protest but then he remembered the awkward scene he had walked into, and how difficult it was being around Asher.
"Maybe you’re right," He grudgingly accepted, heading for the door while Keith held all the shopping bags.
Keith knew he was right, the assailant was about to wish he had never been born.
Jael finally cleared out Asher’s desk, instructing the men to throw out the trash of bloody papers to set them on fire.
If it were any other time, he would have scolded Asher for shooting people right at his desk...
Enough time to get blood on every single document.
The Mafia King had just gotten back from cleaning up, expression black as sin.
Jael knew that the thug that had gotten shot was merely a scapegoat but he had long taken a background role.
So when Peter had a man brought in at gunpoint, he was immediately making calls to have someone come over to deep clean the office.
There was a time that he could convince Asher to return to the mansion to see Caspian because that always fixed his dark moods.
But even as the Alpha reached for his shot glass to take a drink, his hand staining the glass bloody, he knew that the suggestion would be an awful one.
Asher was always territorial, and the sleazebag Peter brought deserved to be ripped apart but he was worried that it would go to a hundred really fast.
He couldn’t have Asher going on a killing spree whenever anyone so much as looked at Caspian, he would need to find a less murderous way to release tension.
Jael closely studied Asher as the Alpha sat down at his desk, making no move to return to the mansion as he expected.
Peter had long returned to his station by Caspian’s side, and unlike when Caspian had been taken to the hospital, Asher didn’t go to him.
He got to his feet to make a call then, he would have called Caspian right away when he learned about what happened.
But he had thought that they would drop in at the mansion briefly to make sure he was alright in person.
"...How’s Asher?" Caspian blurted out before he could say a single word.
Jael glanced over at that Alpha, the smell of blood and guts heavy in the room. "He’ll live, and you-"
"I’m completely fine," He said dismissively, "Peter and Keith got to me in time."
Jael slowly walked over to Asher when the call dropped, "I know you don’t mind blood spray as cologne but we’ve got to hose you down..."
Asher had been staring into space before he spoke, and as he did, the Alpha’s hazel-gold eyes snapped into focus.
"Jael," He started slowly, his tone odd.
With blood smeared on his face , Asher looked feral, a hint of something beastly in his demeanor.
"Yeah?" Jael answered indulgently.
"What am I gonna do?"
The question was so odd that it made Jael speechless for a long moment. "About what?"
"I can’t let Caspian stay, but if I let him go, he’ll be in danger too..."
"Whoa! Slow down," Jael was quick to cut in, starting to get worried now.
"Maybe if I keep him in the mansion, he’ll be safe then-"
"Yeah, no... Wrap it up," Jael gestured, a few inches away from shaking some sense into Asher.
How was that any different from what his dad had done?
Was it a Knight thing to lose brain cells when love was involved?
"That’s not going to fix anything," He deadpanned, staring steadily at his Mafia King so that the blood-stained Alpha would get it.
Asher tilted his head to the side, red hair falling over his dim eyes. "But it’ll keep him safe."