Lauren looked dismayed, she had been skeptical of Isabella Blackburn’s words at first but Davian’s general lack of interest in sex or emotional connections had strengthened her belief.
Clearly, the only way Davian would willingly be with someone else was if they had an edge over him.
"So that’s your baby..."
"And my mating mark," Davian was quick to tag on, still pissed off but his anger was no longer directed at his old friend. "Did Bella make you return to the continent for this?"
Now Lauren was also pissed, "Yes. I hurried down as soon as I could and I had to make some concessions."
Davian said nothing to that, their conversation was over. "Come apologize to my mate, and if he’s fine with it, come for dinner before you leave. I’ll cook."
Davian walked off after saying that leaving Lauren rooted to the asphalt of the parking lot, stunned. Cook? Did Davian just say he would cook?
Lake was seated in the backseat with a worried Rosie. The secretary hadn’t seen what happened before Lake came to the car and she had barely gotten a proper answer when she asked after Mafia King Davian.
But that was the least of her concerns, Lake looked pale and he squinted occasionally like he was in pain, she was already close to dashing out of the car to find Davian when the Alpha showed up.
A vein ticked on Davian’s head at the sight of Lake, he had let Bella Blackburn get away with far too much.
"Hey," Davian said after opening the door, "Lauren has something to say to you."
Lake’s brows furrowed, that was the last thing he expected Davian to say when he returned, looking past the Alpha’s gentle eyes to a regretful Lauren behind him.
Lake stepped out of the car with Davian’s help, needing to lean against the Alpha. He didn’t say it but he felt a little faint and nauseous.
Lauren looked really torn as she spoke, "I’m really sorry about my approach earlier. Davian and I are just old friends, and I’ve been out of the continent since we graduated high school."
Some color came back into Lake’s face from the sheer shock of Lauren’s words, more things he didn’t expect to hear.
"I came back now because Isabella Blackburn reached out to me regarding a blackmail scenario..."
The rest of the tension bled out of Lake’s shoulders at the familiar name. Of course, it was her. Why hadn’t he thought about it? If she could get Clint to play along with her, she clearly could also do this.
"...I’m really sorry about this," Lauren said genuinely, worried at how affected the pregnant Omega had been.
"It’s fine," Lake reassured her, "We both fell for Bella’s ploys."
Lauren’s expression darkened at that, "Talking about that, I need to tell her a few things, if you’ll excuse me."
Lake watched Lauren walk off in a random direction, a thoughtful look on his face. "I didn’t know you had friends," He teased Davian but his smile was a bit tired.
Davian pulled him into his arms, "We can invite her for dinner if you want." He murmured.
Davian knew Bella Blackburn’s motives and although her schemes were pathetic at best, they were taking a toll on Lake. He didn’t like that.
Unfortunately, even in the dark underworld, there were still rules. He used to have a decent friendship with Liam Blackburn, one that was inherited from his dad.
So he couldn’t just cut down the nuisance of a heiress like he usually would. He would have to find more proactive measures, he might need to ask Nikolai for a favor.
"Dinner is fine," Lake sighed, his thoughts had finally calmed down but his body was exhausted.
Rosie hadn’t been eavesdropping but she had caught a few keywords and put the story together in her head. When Davian got into the backseat with Lake, she hopped out and sat in the driver’s seat.
"Are you going to take the rest of the day off?" Rosie asked carefully as she started the car.
"He will." Davian replied to Rosie’s question.
The secretary didn’t dispute the arrangement, getting ready to drive her boss and her Mafia King back to their home.
"Can we stop for ice cream on the way?" Lake lifted his head from Davian’s chest to ask. He might feel terrible but ice cream was a necessity.
"Sure thing, boss." Rosie said with a small smile, driving out of the parking lot.
Caspian had been busy all day researching what was needed for a weekend camping trip. Although, the campsite was a short hike away from his house, he was taking it very seriously.
While he had been busy on the kitchen laptop, Patty offered helpful suggestions, and he had gotten an email from Doctor Brianna reminding him to come in for a checkup.
Caspian didn’t want a checkup to get in the way of his camping plans, so he decided to go down to the hospital the very next day to get it out of the way.
They camped out in the kitchen study all day, and Caspian had even managed to string the mansion’s accountant to join in on the camping trip.
He had to leave a few hours before dinner because Patty had to get some work done, and for the first time, he truly thought about getting himself another laptop. Researching on his phone simply didn’t cut it.
After dinner and a shower, Caspian put a slender hand out to stop Asher when the Alpha immediately swooped down on him. "I’m going for a routine checkup tomorrow."
Asher scowled but he knew how much power Doctor Brianna held, he couldn’t have the doctor prescribing something painful like no sex again.
"Even a kiss? Or two?" He slyly tacked on.
Caspian’s hand didn’t come down, acting like a barrier between them. He stuck a lace-covered leg out of the covers and pushed his husband to the other side of the bed. "You’ll stay there tonight-"
"But..." Asher was already protesting.
"It’s just for a night."