Arthur watched the car drive away, seeing nothing through the blacked-out windows.
It took him a good long while to recover from his confrontation with Mafia King Asher’s mate.
And even as he piled back into the car with the men to return to the mansion, he was still reeling.
He thought about calling the Master but he doubted he would be able to do anything.
Master Davian would have to handle this in person with the other Mafia King. So it was just better for him to inform his Mafia King in person.
Arthur still couldn’t figure out if Lake was truly affiliated with Alpha Asher’s mate, and this bothered him.
Because there was no reason for Caspian Mendez to go out of his way for a stranger unless he knew Lake.
And if he did know Lake, that made things very complicated.
Things probably wouldn’t have reached this point if he had just called the maid and told him that the Master wanted to see him.
But Arthur wasn’t going to be the one to tell him that he wasn’t in trouble and things were going well for the male Omega...
Not when he hoped to turn that around as soon as he could.
He went right to the Master’s study when they got back to the mansion, certain that Master Davian would still be there, waiting for his return.
He knocked politely and stepped in with an apology on his tongue, the injury on his head forgotten until he tried to bow.
"Cut that out," Davian said shortly, unimpressed. "Where’s he?"
"He ah..." Arthur cleared his throat, his eyes moving around shiftily. "He ran off. And when I tried to give the chase, Mafia King Asher’s mate stepped in."
Davian’s gray eyes widened imperceptibly, "Why is he running?" He had to ask.
Actually, he could guess why.
The entire situation made Davian want to claw his eyes out, he really needed to figure out a permanent solution for his rut.
Arthur just cleared his throat, giving no clear response. "Caspian took him with him."
Davian sat back in his seat and contemplated just letting the matter go, but he had begun to regain a little bit of his memory and...
The jagged pieces of his memories made him curse internally, he owed the poor staff an apology and some kind of monetary reimbursement.
"Pay attention to yourself," Davian waved a hand dismissively, "I’ll handle this matter."
Arthur looked reluctant to leave but Master Davian was already rising to his feet, his physique powerful as he strode out of the study.
He had no choice but to follow after the Alpha, fuming that he couldn’t further meddle in this.
He drifted down the hallways, deep in thought, only to bump into a recent acquaintance.
Arthur’s thoughtful look changed into a scowl at the beaming Omega in front of him.
"Why are you still here?"
Avery smiled sheepishly, "I told you, I’m Lake’s neighbor, I can help you find him."
"You can leave now." He shooed the pesky Omega that had slyly inserted himself into the chase.
"But have you gotten him back?"
Arthur’s expression shuttered, "That’s not of your business. Now leave or I’ll make you."
Avery took a step back and raised his hands nonconfrontationally, "Fine, fine. I just wanted to help out."
Arthur just brushed past him, forgetting about the nameless Omega as he was once again consumed by his scheming thoughts.
Asher stared right through the man talking to him, the Alpha was dressed in a three-piece suit.
His slicked-back hair managed to gleam despite the room they were in being dimly lit.
He barely focused on the conversation, occupied with thoughts about his mate.
If this meeting could wrap the fuck up so he could quickly check in on Caspian to make sure he was alright.
His phone ringing made him startle and he was so relieved for the distraction that he didn’t even check the caller ID before picking up.
"I heard your mate has something of mine." Davian was saying the moment the call connected, never one for pleasantries.
Asher was pleasantly surprised, he didn’t imagine it would be serious enough for Davian to reach out to him in person.
And not just that, it hadn’t even been up to an hour since Caspian called.
This was really important.
"You have Omegas now?" Asher quipped, his tone light, teasing.
"No." Davian shut down that line of conversation.
Asher should have expected that. Now he was starting to think that he should have gone back to the mansion after all.
He didn’t doubt that Caspian wasn’t smart enough to know when he was in danger, and his bodyguards wouldn’t even let that happen.
But this was such a curiously strange matter, it made the hair on the back of his neck rise.
"I don’t care if he decides to keep him, I just need to have a brief conversation with him. Preferably in person."
Once again, the conversation was going in ways that Asher couldn’t have predicted.
"Right. What do you say to dinner?" Asher offered, keeping his tone light the entire time in order to properly assess the situation.
There was a tense silence on the other side of the call for several long seconds.
"Fine." Davian bit out, the call dropping.
Asher stared at his phone, ignoring the Alpha sitting right across from him.
He hadn’t been expecting Davian to accept, hell, he hadn’t even meant the offer when he put it out.
He wasn’t letting the Mafia King anywhere near his home, no matter how neutral he tended to be.
So they would just all have to eat out, the stowaway Caspian had taken inclusive.
Asher forced himself to focus on the meeting once more, now he needed to return to the mansion.
He had to ascertain for himself that things weren’t more serious than he originally thought.
He had thought it was just some random Omega dealing with Davian’s low-ranking men.
But the Mafia King reaching out by himself and then agreeing to dinner, said it was a lot more complicated than that.