The spice seemed to have jolted Lake awake because the Omega insisted on staying on the balcony instead of going right to bed like he wanted to earlier.
They had moved to a hammock next to the set of chairs and table. It was made of the same wicker material as the chairs, cushions padding the interior of the large basket held above the ground.
Davian couldn’t complain about this outcome, not when he was cozy with his mate in his arms, watching the distant ocean, the breeze cool enough to dispel the heat from the elevated temperatures.
They didn’t even have to speak, content to just share the moment together, the light from the balcony barely reaching the palm trees behind the villa.
Lake rested his head against Davian’s shoulders, his tongue was still numb from dinner but he was impatient to drive down to the village after they had settled down to get more.
Davian had a gentle hand on his stomach, the warmth from the Alpha’s palm was soothing, the familiar scent of dark chocolate blending with the salty smell of the ocean and the smell of wet sand.
Lake lifted his head to look at Davian, finding that the Alpha had been looking at him the entire time instead of the view in front of them. Wordlessly, he tilted his head up, closing his eyes as Davian ducked to close the distance.
He could hear the sound of the sea as the taste of his mate filled his lips, soothing the sting of the spice. It was just the first night but the vacation was already everything he had looked forward to and more.
The next morning, Lake was up bright and early, his honey eyes spilling warmth as he happily got out of bed. He was still barefoot, his hair messy around his ears, the bathrobe he wore to bed barely hanging on to his slender frame.
Davian was a bit groggy that morning, still suffering the effects of jet lag while Lake seemed to be completely recovered.
Unlike in Haines where they had separate bedrooms despite sharing the same bed, here they just chose one of the master bedrooms with the best view and stayed in it together.
Moving their luggage in from the van Davian had rented specifically for its space was the easy part, the tough part was unpacking.
"We don’t have to unpack all at once," Lake said the words he hoped to hear, "Want to shower with me?"
Davian didn’t miss the sparkle in his mate’s eyes, "It’s just the two of us, let’s eat breakfast and maybe go down to the beach first."
Lake was instantly energetic, momentarily forgetting around cornering his Alpha in the bathroom. "Can we swim in the sea?"
Davian steered the chatty Omega to the open kitchen, there were windows everywhere, and the furniture was the simple but sturdy off-white wicker like the ones in the bedroom, it made the kitchen look airy and simple.
"It’ll get warmer soon so we should be able to," He said all the right things, going over to get started on breakfast.
Nikolai noticed his daily routine changing with Angelo’s presence. The assassin had only been in his penthouse for a few nights but his schedule seemed to revolve around him.
He showed up to Angelo’s room that morning in a white dress shirt and a black leather trench coat, the scent of his aromatic cigar preceding him.
Angelo had already showered that morning, it was already well past dawn, sun spilling into the room. The Beta lifted his head when he walked in without knocking, his pale green eyes catching a ray of sunlight.
Nikolai couldn’t help but think of a piece of sea glass at the sight, blowing out a cloud of smoke to distort the image. "Get up, we’re going out."
Angelo rose to his feet without any questions, tucking his hands in the pockets of his hoodie as he walked behind the Mafia King.
He had gotten accustomed to the smell of his cigar smoke, so he had known Nikolai was coming before the door opened.
He slowed down when they got to his stairs, a swirl in his pale eyes that almost looked like the trails of Nikolai’s cigar smoke.
Nikolai stopped and looked at him expectantly, if Angelo were to complain even lightly, he would let the assassin take the elevator but none of that happened.
Angelo just dropped his eyes to the ground, and quietly started down the stairs, his hair down around his shoulders.
Nikolai nearly crushed his cigar between his fingers, it wasn’t that he was starting to get bored of the assassin being so agreeable because he could see the struggle Angelo went through every time he obediently did what he thought was expected of him.
But each time Angelo forced himself, he was reminded of the assassin’s pleading voice asking him not to put him back in the safe room and he felt like he had been shot point blank in the chest each time.
Nikolai blew out a breath and followed behind Angelo, hadn’t the assassin tortured him enough? Did he really have to apologize to stop being reminded about what he had done?
Angelo got into Nikolai’s car and looked out the window on his side as usual only to flinch in surprise when the windows came down so he could actually see through.
He couldn’t help but glance over at Mafia King Nikolai, only to find the Alpha expressionlessly tapping on the laptop on his legs.
Angelo decided not to point it out, looking outside the window. As they drove out the window, he caught a glimpse of a young Omega stuffing her toddlers into the back seat of her car in a hurry, clearly late for something.
He almost wished the windows had been left up, that image struck him painfully, but he was unable to look away, staring until their car drove away.
He had no idea where they were headed that morning, but Nikolai hadn’t bothered asking him to change so maybe it was just the Mafia King’s casino.