Captive Mate BL
Chapter 306: - - 306-

Chapter 306: -Chapter 306-

Lake didn’t stay asleep for very long, rousing as soon as the car rolled past the gates.

The mansion looked familiar in a different way now, it no longer felt like his workplace.

"Awake?" Davian’s quiet voice came in the softly illuminated interior of the car.

Lake response was an unintelligible hum, Doctor Perez’s unsolicited suggestion for them to share a bed made a lot more sense now, because he felt so refreshed after that short nap.

He let Davian carry him out of the car and into the mansion, enjoying his half awake state.

That only lasted till the got past the foyer, he couldn’t make Davian carry him up the stairs when his legs worked perfectly. The time for that would come soon.

"Sorry I slept off in the middle of dinner," He apologized lightheartedly as they walked side by side up the stairs.

"I don’t mind, I had our food packed up to go..."

The irony of that made Lake chuckle. What was the use of going through the trouble to drive to a restaurant to eat dinner if they ended up having takeout anyway?

"Let’s eat before it gets cold."

Not just their dinner had been interrupted, their conversation too, so when they were settled in the dining room with the food properly served, Lake picked up from where they left off.

It may just be Lake’s preference but he rather preferred eating in the quiet of the mansion, no outsiders to taint the mood.

"...I just wanted to let you know that I will have to leave the mansion more often." Lake dug into his plate, his appetite big because dinner had been delayed.

"And if you feel nauseous?" Davian asked, properly concerned but also playing his trump card.

"I’ll get over it," Lake was quick with his response. "Besides, you’re not always going to be around."

"I..." Davian trailed off, noticeably holding back his words. "There’s a festival coming up." He said instead.

"A festival?" He repeated, his surprise lightly choking him. He hadn’t expected their conversation to take that turn.

"My dad laid most of the ground work but I’ve bought and own a good deal of the businesses in Haines," Davian went into a lengthy explanation.

"And it’s becoming a ritual of sorts to hold events among the executives to encourage community..."

"You don’t sound really excited about it," Lake chimed in.

Davian sounded like he was reading off a paper at the end of his explanation, his tone flat and unenthused.

"I usually just show my face at the events to keep up my image, you don’t have to attend if you don’t want to."

"When is it?" Lake leaned forward to ask, a spark in his soft brown eyes

"In two days," Davian let him know, sounding apologetic. "It’s fine if you have other arrangements."

Lake waved a hand to dismiss Davian’s words, Caspian still had an important decision to make with his mate before he could fully get started on his job as a wedding planner.

Besides, his hours were not that tight, he could make time.

"I can make it," He said bluntly.

Lake was more of the opinion that a bigger issue than his availability was if Davian wanted to show him off at such an important event.

It was an event for executives, and prior to this conversation, he hadn’t known that the Black Mafia house ran an almost autonomy on most of the businesses in Haines.

Did Davian really want to attend such an event with a pregnant and mated Omega on his arm?

Did Lake want to be a part of any of that drama?

"We can leave whenever you feel like it," Davian said in consideration.

"I’ll try to avoid wines in general," He tagged on dryly, their attempts at eating out still fresh in his mind.

Lake could hardly believe it, the conversation had gone so well, Davian had handled his news about new job spectacularly.

"Do you need an assistant to help you with planning the wedding?" Davian asked, helping him with the thing of sauce he had been silently struggling to reach.

How considerate! Lake was pretty sure that Caspian would make that available if it was needed though.

"I don’t think so, you don’t need to hire one just for that."

"Hire one?" Davian said with a frown, prompting Lake to make the same expression as well.

"Do you already have an assistant on standby?" He asked with a twinge of concern.

"You could say that, I’ll be your assistant." Davian said self assuredly.

Lake needed to take a moment to figure out that the Alpha was in fact not joking.

"You have a Mafia House to run," He said bluntly.

Again, Davian got that look on his face that he did when he had something to say, his gray eyes dropping to the table.

"And if I get all my work done in time?" Davian asked seriously.

Just when Lake was congratulating him mentally for handling his new job well.

"Then you would have to get past Mafia King Asher." He said with a flourish, immediately not liking how Davian seemed to really consider it.

"And if I do?" Davian kept pushing, taking all the impossible tasks thrown at him in stride.

Lake opened his mouth and closed it before trying again. He was probably going to regret this.

"Fine. As long as Caspian is also fine with it," He reluctantly agreed, certain he was going to come to regret his words.

Davian said nothing to that, but he didn’t need to, a metallic glint of determination in his eyes.

This was ridiculous. Lake knew that but he didn’t take his words back, constantly accommodating Davian while being quick to bring up boundaries.

"Let me help clean up the dishes today," He was quick to say while dinner was rounding up.

"No," Davian handed bluntly to him.

"You can’t do all the house chores yourself," Lake sat up, refusing to give in this time.

"But I can do the dishes," The Alpha doubled down, pettily stubborn over the least expected things.

"Did you fire all of the house staff?" Lake asked the question that had been on his mind for a while now.

"I did." Davian admitted, stacking up the empty dishes with admirable efficiency. "Then I hired a new set that only comes in a couple times a week."

"Oh," Was all Lake could say. It would explain why he was yet to see any of the new house staff.

While he worked at the mansion, he couldn’t understand why they had to come in every single day to clean already clean rooms, and mop spotless floors.

This was more efficient, because most of the rooms in the mansions weren’t being used anyway, so they just needed a little bit of upkeep.

The kitchen staff was another matter...

"Will you get another cook?" Lake asked timidly, getting to his feet when Davian started for the door.

He had done nothing to contribute to clearing up the dishes, and Davian looked perfectly fine with that.

"I won’t," Davian grumbled.

Lake didn’t push, it wasn’t like they had to worry about the cost of food, Davian could easily afford to keep things as they were.

"I’ll cook breakfast tomorrow," The Alpha tagged on, that stubborn determination back in his voice.

Lake didn’t try to dissuade him this time, a humorous smile on his face. "Can I have hot chocolate then?"

"How do you like it?" Davian asked as they got to the kitchen, the Alpha beelining for the sink.

The absence of people in the kitchen made the space much bigger, light glinting off the tiles and the pans lined up against the walls.

Lake got comfortable on the stool he had Davian sit on, on the morning of his rut while he tried to prepare them breakfast.

"Slightly bitter," He answered, his response instinctive, zero thought behind it.

Davian made mental notes as he strode over to where the aprons were hung to take one.

Lake watched in half amazement and half horror as the Mafia King put it on. Did he always wear an apron to do the dishes?

Lake didn’t have a lot of good memories growing up but some were deeply ingrained in his psyche regardless, and this night in the kitchen was going to be one of his core memories.

Davian in a floral pattern apron doing the dishes, the soft ambient lights, the sound of the running water and the clinking plates, how quiet it was like they were the only ones in the mansion.

Decades could pass and Lake knew with a certainty that he would never forget this moment.

The Mafia King didn’t even have to wash the dishes by hand, there was definitely a dishwasher in this grand kitchen.

Lake would blame his hearty dinner because he really wanted to lay his head on the counter and go right to sleep.

Davian easily caught Lake dozing out of the corner of his eyes, feeling a little guilty that he had indulged Lake’s presence instead of pushing the Omega to get ready for bed.