"Where did you go off to?" The Omega yawned and stretched.
"On a short stroll to the parking lot, I got tired of sitting." He lied easily.
Caspian’s response was muffled, satisfied with his excuse, he turned around and waddled back to his corner.
Jael’s lips twitched in amusement, wondering if Caspian was still half asleep.
He quickly checked in on him and it was no surprise to find him curled up on the plush carpet, fast asleep.
Jael had been worried that bringing Caspian here would backfire but the Omega had settled in immediately.
He got back to work to distract himself, phone lines constantly ringing.
By the time the sun started to set, he called it a day. It was a new routine for him because he needed to get back in time to eat dinner with Caspian.
So even though the Omega was with him this time, he still closed early.
He drove them back to the mansion with the windows down, a warm breeze filling the quiet car.
"Do you know when Asher will be back?" Caspian asked randomly.
Jael nearly swerved off the road at that, the Omega always hit him with questions when he least expected.
His tongue doubled in size in his mouth, he had no clue, and that was the problem.
"You don’t need to answer that," Caspian quickly cut in.
He actually didn’t want to know, not knowing was bad but awareness would be worse.
Jael quickly took the lifeline that was handed to him and backed away, he didn’t appreciate playing mediator.
When they got back to the mansion, Caspian asked to eat dinner alone.
Jael didn’t push, doing a terrible job of hiding his worry.
Taking Caspian to work with him had been a bad idea after all. Of course, it was...
What made him think that taking Caspian to a place where he would constantly be reminded of Asher was a great idea?
Caspian pushed his food around on his plate, staring at a blank screen.
His phone was on the table right next to him, and ever so often his gaze would linger on it.
If he called Asher, would he pick up? What would Caspian say to him? What would he hear?
Despite his thoughts, Caspian went to shower mechanically without making the call, leaving the phone on the table as he climbed into bed.
It was a surprise he was able to fall asleep but a person could only take so much emotional strain.
He woke up late the next morning, and without checking, he already knew that Jael was long gone.
Caspian endured the stale silence of the room for a couple of hours before having enough.
Changing out of the bathrobe he had put on gave him some kind of purpose, and although he didn’t have any destination in mind, he left the bedroom behind.
The kitchen was a no-go because he was well aware that Jael had put a ban on his presence until he felt better.
Physically he did, but emotionally he was a wreck.
So he ended up in the living room he had been eating dinner with Jael recently. At least, this time he remembered to turn the TV on.
It didn’t matter anyway because he stared right through it, but at least it made him look less insane just staring at a blank screen.
A few hours after settling into the living room for a change of pace, a commotion caught his attention.
Caspian glanced in the direction of the noise, his heart rate spiking at the possibility that Asher was back.
The noise was unnatural, however, as the mansion was mostly quiet. He frowned, his thoughts turning dark, or was it an attack?
Sitting and guessing wasn’t providing any answers so he rose to his feet and cautiously started in the direction of the noise.
It was while he was doing this that he realized that he left his phone back in the room, so he wouldn’t even be able to call Jael if it was something dangerous.
But that was unlikely, right?
The sound of a gunshot just around the corner made him jump, panic bleeding into his wide blue eyes.
The collective sound of a group of disappointed people didn’t even register as he was already backing away.
Whoever it was finally made it around the corner, and it was a painfully familiar Alpha.
Caspian stopped dead in his tracks, his brows furrowed, lips turned down in a frown.
The dark-haired Alpha in front of him looked wrong, he looked like an older version of Asher with darker hair and silver stripes.
Even stranger than the Alpha’s presence was the slew of men behind him, they kept trying to get closer to him and he had to keep them at bay with a gun.
The only thing was that they looked really happy to see him, some were even moved to tears.
Gage quickly pocketed his gun at the sight of the Omega in front of him, dismissing the men with a wave of his hand.
They knew when not to push, quietly disappearing at the silent order.
He had been gone for well over seven years, it was no surprise the long-time men would make a ruckus at his return.
"I take it you’re Caspian," He broke the silence between him and the Omega standing a short distance from him.
Caspian nodded subtly for a lack of what else to say, the Alpha was clearly not dangerous, and if he wasn’t seeing things, could be Asher’s actual father.
"I’m Gage Knight, I reckon Asher didn’t tell you about me."
The leftover tension in Caspian’s shoulders bled out at the confirmation.
He was still nervous to be in the presence of a Mafia King who was also Asher’s father but it was different from being nervous for his safety.
Gage didn’t seem surprised that Asher hadn’t told him that, and it tracked because the Alpha barely told him anything.