Lake’s eyes went wide at the several bags of food that Davian had been self-aware enough to place gently and not decimate like the bathroom door.
Cookng was starting to seem like a better option than Davian buying out a restaurant at every meal time.
He couldn’t even eat much, because their big brunch had only been a handful of hours ago.
"Buy less food next time," He scolded lightly as he surveyed the amount of food still left over.
"Right," Davian accepted in a gruff voice, only focused on Lake saying ’next time’.
"We should put the leftovers in the freezer," Lake was saying, "That way we don’t have to worry about dinner..."
His phone rang as he was saying that and he reached for it.
"You’re here already?" Lake asked with a growing smile, "I’ll come meet you at the front door."
Davian’s expression turned sour at the brief phone call he just had, focusing a little too hard on packing up the leftovers.
"Caspian is here," Lake informed Davian although there was really no need to.
He glanced down at his outfit, wincing at it. But it wasn’t like he had a lot of options.
Davian’s clothes couldn’t fit him and his clothes weren’t here yet.
He could wear a bathrobe over it though, it would at least provide some level of modesty.
A few minutes later and he was ready to go, hesitating at the door for a reason he wasn’t sure of.
Davian was busy clearing up their lunch, and he felt kind of bad leaving it all to him.
But from the stoic look on the Alpha’s face, he knew that he wouldn’t let him help out.
"I’ll uh... I’ll be back," He murmured awkwardly, feeling like he had to say something.
Lake dipped out of the room before Davian could respond, hurrying down the hallway.
The mansion was just as strangely empty as it was that morning, and it had him wondering if the house staff had even come in to work that day.
Caspian was at the door just like he expected, his friend looking worried.
Keith and Peter were with him, both bodyguards tense and on high alert.
Caspian didn’t even seem to notice that he could be in potential danger, his worried expression melting away when he saw him coming down the stairs.
"Lake! Oh my goodness," The Omega sighed in relief, walking forward to meet him halfway through the foyer.
"You’re okay," Caspian beamed, opening his arms for a hug and then freezing halfway. "Oh, you weren’t kidding," He added in a whisper, the newly pregnant Omega’s scent out there for everyone to see.
Lake completed the hug, needing the physical contact. "Let’s talk about this somewhere private."
Caspian smelled like sugar and flowers, and although he had just eaten, it made him hungry again.
"You can come along if you like," He added to Peter and Keith who were hovering over Caspian.
The two shared a look over Caspian’s head before replying.
"I think we can just wait out in the car," Peter cleared his throat.
"Congratulations by the way," Keith tagged on as they made their way to the door.
Their presence in Mafia King Davian’s base already made things very tense.
Caspian coming here was one thing but bodyguards were kind of pushing it.
They knew that Lake wouldn’t let anything happen to Caspian, but seeing the Omega pregnant and sporting the Mafia King’s mating mark was more reassurance than they needed.
Lake knew the mansion well so he planned to take them to a nearby receiving room.
They didn’t get far because another person started coming down the stairs, and it was none other than Matilda.
Lake involuntarily tightened his grip on Caspian’s hand. Everyone in the mansion had been avoiding him all day so her sudden presence was concerning.
Matilda had a polite smile on her face that didn’t quite touch her eyes as she drifted down the stairs dressed in an evening gown, gold jewelry winking from her ears and neck.
She had heard that Lake had a friend over, and she had to quickly appraise whoever it was.
Things were already delicate as it was, she could let anything disrupt things even further than they already were.
So although they planned to stay out of sight until the events of last night blew over, she had to deviate from the plan a bit.
She barely glanced at Lake, her glittering green eyes passing over the bathrobe he wore.
She instead focused her attention on the Omega by his side, her sharp eyes picking up on even the smallest details.
Matilda scowled at first at how beautiful he was but she got over it almost instantly at the very visible mating mark on his neck.
"Welcome to the Black Mansion," She said generously, stopping at the last stair so that she stood a head over them.
"I’m Matilda Black, Davian’s aunt."
Lake gritted his teeth, wondering what Matilda was trying to do by showing up.
"I didn’t know we would be having visitors, I would have come sooner to receive you."
Caspian glanced at Lake and back at the strange lady, he didn’t know that Davian had an aunt.
"You didn’t have to," He said without mincing words, "I’m just here to see Lake."
Matilda didn’t appreciate his flippant way of addressing her. "And?" She lifted a brow, "Does Davian know you’re here?"
Now Caspian gave Lake a pointed look, more than a little lost about what was going on.
He didn’t understand why he was getting ire from Davian’s aunt when he was just here to see Lake.
"I don’t see how that’s any of your business," Lake joined the conversation, leveling Matilda a look.
Matilda clapped loudly and the front doors were opened by a couple of Davian’s men who guarded the mansion, the men approaching.
"I’m afraid it is," She said smugly. "It’s my duty to watch over the mansion, and that includes visitors."
Lake panicked at that moment because unless Davian showed up right then, he couldn’t stop whatever Matilda was about to do.