Davian had started to get antsy when Lake took his time returning from the restroom, he looked away from the door and scanned the hall, not surprised to find Clint missing and that was his cue to get the hell out of his seat.
He only saw the back of Clint, not catching sight of Lake until he came close enough, and when he did, he caught the tail end of Clint’s sentence.
"Take care of Lake and my baby," Clint calmly repeated, putting himself in front of Lake.
Lake gave in to the urge to massage his temples now, feeling a headache coming on.
He knew that Clint had good intentions, but things were already delicate between him and Davian, he didn’t need this.
Davian blinked, it felt like he had been bashed on the skull with a metal bat. "What?" The question was said in a strangled whisper.
Lake couldn’t stand to let the farce go on any longer, so he stepped out from behind Clint. "The baby isn’t his," He said wearily, taking a step to close the distance between him and Davian.
Clint stopped him by holding his wrist. "It’s fine if you’re scared, just let me handle everything." The Alpha said in a pleading voice.
Lake was in disbelief, if the situation wasn’t so dire, he would suggest to the Alpha to be an actor. "I’m not- I’m not scared."
That was even more ridiculous than Clint’s bogus claims, how could he be scared of Davia-
Lake’s thoughts froze in place when he looked at Davian, the Alpha’s glare was blistering, and for the first time, delicate tendrils of doubt slowly wrapped around his heart.
What if... What if Davian believed their claims?
This was no longer about financial security for his baby, because he knew that Clint meant every of his words. This was for him, he needed Davian to trust him. He needed Davian to want him.
He slowly reached out a trembling hand to Davian, "Y-You don’t believe what they’re saying do yo-"
Clint caught his other wrist and turned him around to face him, holding both his wrists now. "You don’t have to keep this ruse up, he can’t hurt you."
If Lake wasn’t so disoriented, and if his wrists weren’t held captive by the aggravating Alpha in front of him, he would have hit him.
Davian stepped forward, slipped a powerful arm around Lake’s waist, and pulled the Omega against him. "If you want to keep your hands, keep them off my mate."
Isabella got a bit of deja vu listening to that, she had wisely stayed in the background the entire time but it wasn’t enough to protect her from the dangerous look in Davian’s eyes.
"You’re both not invincible," He calmly reminded them, spinning Lake in his arms to properly hug him. "And the next time you want to pull something , come to me. If you bother Lake, you won’t live long."
Isabella felt a full-body shiver go through her, Davian never said when he didn’t mean. She had started to get some confidence, certain that they had the upper hand, and the entire time, Davian hadn’t even fallen for their ruse.
As Davian took Lake away, it was clear that the only person affected by this was Lake. The Omega was pale as a sheet, and Davian had to carry him out.
She turned to Clint with an alarmed expression, "Yeah, I’m never doing that again."
Clint looked thoughtful, the Alpha hadn’t even been ruffled by Davian’s threat, Isabella was envious.
"Don’t you have to save your family from bankruptcy?" Clint calmly asked like they were having a normal conversation.
Isabella’s eyes went wide in anger, "How do you know that?"
"It doesn’t matter how, it doesn’t change fac-" facts, now does it?
Isabella whipped him across the face before he could get all of his words out, black fire in her eyes as she fumed, her chest heaving.
The slap didn’t hurt, Clint was more surprised that he had been hit. It wasn’t enough to wipe the thoughtful look off his face.
Davian’s reaction forced him to take a closer look at Lake’s relationship with Davian. Not only had the Mafia King been unshakable, he had also casually threatened them.
And although, he had offered to take care of Lake, the Omega had still been really shaken about Davian hearing the news, it was almost like he had genuine feelings for him.
If that was the case, then it changed everything. Contrary to what Isabella had insinuated, he wasn’t romantically interested in Lake, the Omega was just a really good friend.
"Take it back," Isabella gritted out, reminding him that the heiress was still there.
Clint cocked a brow, "What’s that going to chang- fuck," He groaned, cursing as he folded.
Isabella, that bitch, she kicked him in the balls and stomped off.
Davian didn’t return to the engagement party, Lake was tucked in the curve of his neck, the Omega still trembling.
Davian kicked himself for reacting too slowly, everything had happened too fast so he had taken some time to put things together. But not before Lake’s scent turned sour, the Omega’s face and hands pale and cold.
He bumped into Jael outside who approached with a concerned look on his face. "Tell Caspian we had to leave early, Lake is a little tired."
Jael glanced at the pregnant Omega who clutched Davian like a lifeline, it seemed a little more serious than ’just a little tired’ but he didn’t push. Plus Davian didn’t look out of sorts about it, so he just saluted them and got out of their way.
Davian had driven them to the party but he wasn’t about to let go of Lake, and with how tightly Lake held him, the Omega also had similar thoughts.
Even though it was a harmless engagement dinner, his men were never too far away, for situations .
Lake’s breathing had slowed down by the time they started their journey back home, the Omega’s scent back to its soothing sweet warmth.