"I’m just not taking any chances," Davian said seriously, apron going on over his muscle shirt. "You don’t need to work while I’m away, I’ll ask Asher if you can spend that time over at his place."
The thought of spending five days hanging out with Caspian was tempting but not tempting enough to take his mind off the fact that Davian would equally be gone for that long.
Lake went quiet, mentally going over ways he could convince Davian to take him along.
He was seated at the counter with his almost empty drink in hand, Davian by the sink. He barely noticed the Alpha coming over, his eyes snapping into focus when Davian kissed him.
"Don’t pout, I’ll be back before you know it." Davian reassured him with a pleased expression, getting back to cooking.
Maybe he should take more business trips more often, Lake’s reaction made the time he would spend away worth it.
Lake sprawled over the counter, lips jutting out in disapproval. "If I wasn’t pregnant, would you take me?"
Davian’s smile didn’t fade. "It’s not only because of the baby."
Lake made a small sound of misery, "So I can’t ever leave Haines?"
Davian gave him his full attention now, "You can if you want to, but not to a conference."
Lake knew why Davian was being so strict about this but it didn’t stop him from wanting to go to conferences and business trips. "Let’s go on a trip soon."
Davian’s gray eyes brightened, "Sure."
Sneaking back into the company after lunch was futile, Rosie was waiting for them in the lobby with a flat expression.
Lake gave her an awkward smile, "We brought you lunch?"
Rosie took the package from Davian with a reluctant smile, "If we don’t head out for the business meeting right now, we’ll be late."
The meeting was quite the drive away, it was at one of the companies Davian had shares in, which meant that there was a chance he might bump into Clint and Bella.
Davian usually hung out with Rosie while he attended the meetings, and as much as he loved his job, right now, he really wanted to join them to chat while Rosie ate the lunch they had brought her.
Lake sighed and walked into the meeting room, the hairpins that Davian had gotten for him were in his hair, the Alpha had put them in himself.
Seeing Clint wasn’t a surprise anymore, he had more or less expected to see the Alpha.
At least he had the self-awareness to look contrite as he approached before the meeting kicked off.
"I’m really sorry about Saturday night," Clint went right to the point.
Lake looked at him with exasperation, he hadn’t been upset with Clint, and the Alpha had pushed him and Davian closer so he had very few strifes with him.
"Apologies don’t matter if you’re just going to do it again," He said in resignation.
"I’m not," Clint muttered, scratching his head.
Lake narrowed his eyes at him, "I find that hard to believe."
"Fuck," Clint cursed under his breath, rubbing his face. "I really mean it this time, I don’t think Davian is holding you hostage."
A wry smile pushed through Lake’s forced upset expression. "He’s not. How are your cooking classes going?"
Clint grimaced, "Terribly. Maybe I should quit."
Lake stifled laughter, he and Clint had kept secrets from each other but before things became complicated, their friendship had been this simple.
The meeting was about to kick off so Clint returned to his seat, a serious expression on his face.
Isabella had watched all this from her seat. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to partner with the tactless Alpha.
Although they had both been in on it, he had patched up his relationship with Lake like nothing happened, leaving her the only villain in the story.
At first, she had considered changing her objective to him but the annoying Alpha was crass and kept kicking her where it hurt, so she wouldn’t settle for him even if he were the last man left alive.
But she had one last ace up her sleeve to muddy the waters between Davian and Lake. She was running out of time after all, she was only allowed into these meetings because of her father’s position but they no longer had shares at these companies, so she would soon not be allowed in them.
So she sat patiently and waited for the perfect time for her to make her move.
It came after the meeting was over. Clint was one of the first out of the door, the Alpha never socialized and was as elusive as he was unpredictable but he did something out of character and waved to Lake on his way out.
Isabella gritted her teeth at this display and rose to her feet as well, she needed to set the stage up for her plans.
She had barely gotten to the end of the hallway when she was pulled into a corner by the very last person she wanted to see. "Don’t touch me," She bit out venomously, glaring up at Clint.
The Alpha dropped her like she was hot oil, "Gladly."
Isabella felt like she was going to explode from anger, this asshole. "What do you want?" She demanded, crossing her arms.
"I need you to quit whatever you’re trying to do."
Isabella rolled her eyes at those words, "What makes you think you have the right to say that to me? We were partners just a few days ago, remember? So get out of my way."
The Alpha had caged her against the wall, and she knew that unless he let her go she wouldn’t be able to slip past him.
"So you do have something planned," Clint doubled down, a furrow between his brows.
Isabella looked pointedly at his crotch area, "Looks like you haven’t learned your lesson."
Clint hastily backed up at that, he would admit to partnering with Isabella but now his interests had changed.
"Better," The heiress bit out, her blonde hair whipping as she strode past him in delicate silver heels.
Clint had a thoughtful look on his face, it might be better if he just avoided everything altogether. As worried as he was about Lake, he didn’t want to put any further strain on his relationship with Mafia King Davian, it would make being friends with Lake rather difficult.
So he turned around and left the company building using one of the back exits.