Angelo snatched his hand back, Nikolai’s touch burned hotter than the metal of the gun had. "I don’t mind blood," He found himself saying, he would just wash his hair tonight.
Nikolai took his wrist again, this time, he used it to pull Angelo to the side to shoot Bean in the neck. He was already bored of this, it was getting late and they still needed to eat dinner.
Angelo barely noticed the man choking on his own blood, hyper-focused on Nikolai’s hold on him, it wasn’t the kind of nauseating discomfort he got from most people touching him but it was unsettling all the same.
He sighed a silent sigh of relief when Nikolai let him go and slipped his gun into the inner pocket of his trench coat, rising to his feet.
The club was dead silent as they walked out, the hairs on the back of Angelo’s neck were raised, certain that they would get shot in the back but none of that happened.
Right outside the front doors were a handful of Nikolai’s men with their guns drawn, they seemed surprised to see their Mafia King out so soon.
Nikolai didn’t acknowledge them but they already had their orders so they made their way in, expecting to find everyone dead but not only was that not the case, the living far surpassed the dead.
Now they were concerned, was the boss coming down with something? Or did it have something to do with the strange company he had brought along?
"Where are we going next?" Angelo asked after they had gotten into the car.
Nikolai glanced at the Omega treating this as an outing, even assassins and hitmen were wary of him, Angelo was the only person he had ever met who saw their life as expendable. He knew he should stop trying to get Angelo’s disapproval, but he couldn’t help it.
"To eat dinner," He replied dryly.
"Oh," Angelo murmured, surprised. "And then?"
"I’ll drop you off at the penthouse." Nikolai said with a hint of amusement, most people tended to keep a distance from him, even his own men but here was Angelo doing all the wrong things.
Angelo deflated, his hair in a bun wilting as well. He didn’t argue, he wasn’t ready to face Silvia yet, and Nikolai could kick him out anytime.
Nikolai looked away to hide the smile creeping on his face, he was also going back to the penthouse, there was nothing left to be done, unless he wanted to go back to the casino to watch Angelo wait for him for a few more hours.
He didn’t correct the assassin’s assumptions, the car heading to a restaurant close to the apartment complex. Dinner was mostly quiet, despite Angelo’s sour mood, the assassin ate dutifully.
"Do you want hormone inhibitors?" Nikolai asked as they rounded up dinner.
Angelo glanced up from his mostly empty plate, not expecting to be asked that. Usually, he would, he rarely forgot to keep up with the drugs but if he somehow did, as soon as the faintest wisps of his scent leaked out, he would take more.
Silvia always had stacks of them on hand, so even if he ran out, he just had to go to her. Hormone inhibitors weren’t common so they weren’t all that easily accessible but Silvia had a supplier.
"I could get them for you." Nikolai prompted when he didn’t get an answer.
Angelo shrugged, when he left in a week, he would have to go back on them but for now, he could be himself and not be scared. No one would approach him while he was with the Mafia King, and Nikolai was uninterested.
"Not right now, I’ll get them from Silvia after I leave." He answered honestly.
Nikolai pushed down his complaints, why was he getting ruffled that Angelo would rather get them from Silvia when he should be rooting for the assassin to leave as soon as possible?
After dinner, they made their way back to the apartment complex, Angelo was pleasantly surprised that Nikolai went through the trouble to walk him all the way to the penthouse, it wasn’t like he was going to try and run off.
Angelo glanced over his shoulder when Nikolai walked into the apartment with him, "You’re not leaving?"
Nikolai took off his trench coat and headed to his room, "No."
Angelo walked off to his room satisfied with that answer, he had been worried that Nikolai was sending him back to the apartment because he was a nuisance.
He took his hair out of the knot as he got to his room, staring at his hands. He hadn’t gotten blood on himself but it might be best if he took a shower regardless.
He thought back to Nikolai’s offer as he headed to the shower, he hadn’t once thought about getting more hormone inhibitors after the drugs wore off. Nikolai didn’t treat him any differently, and neither did the Mafia King’s men.
It was clear that abilities were respected over a person’s secondary gender and that was pretty rare, especially in a Mafia House. Even Silvia had to keep her status a secret or she wouldn’t have been able to climb to the position she got to.
So it had been easy to stop hiding behind drugs, there were some downsides to getting off hormone inhibitors, and the most prominent one was how sensitive his skin was getting. He couldn’t stand the usual temperature of water he usually bathed with, it felt like he was showering in boiling oil. Besides the sweet, dark scent that clung to his skin, he didn’t feel much different.
He brushed out the tangles in his hair after cleaning up and changing clothes, wondering if he should speak to Silvia. He knew he had made her worried, telling her all that had happened was the least he could do.
And maybe he could convince her to let him come back to work for her, although he doubted Silvia would agree to that. But he didn’t have a phone so he would have to bother Nikolai.