Davian’s first instinct was to go right to Lake’s bedroom to seek out his mate, but then he caught Nikolai and Angelo out of the corner of his eye and was reminded that he had to play host. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Before he could turn to them, Lake made an appearance at the top of the stairs. His smile dimmed slightly at the sight of Lake in an apron that was stretched over his rounded belly, a beaming smile on his beautiful face.

Rosie’s bright red hair peeked out of a hallway in the corner, a cooking spoon in hand. "Are they here yet? Oh! You guys came just in time for lunch."

Davian hurried up the stairs before Lake could start down them, pulling him into his arms. "Why didn’t you two order something to eat instead?" He asked quietly.

Lake just waved away his mate’s worries, expecting Davian’s overreaction. "I don’t mind cooking, and Rosie helped out."

Rosie waved with the spoon and then ducked out of sight, no doubt to return to the kitchen.

"Why don’t you go get cleaned up, and I’ll get our guests settled in," Lake patted his cheek, slipping free of his hold to go down the stairs.

Davian remained on the stairs to watch him go down with dissatisfaction on his face, reluctantly leaving only after Lake was safely in the foyer. The sooner he got clean and in the kitchen, the sooner he could get the apron off his mate.

Lake’s smile was kind as he approached Nikolai and the male Omega beside him, who was no doubt Angelo. "Welcome to my home," He greeted, a hairband in his hair to keep it out of his face.

Angelo’s pale green eyes widened at the sight of Mafia King Davian’s mate, with plump cheeks and fluffy brown hair, wearing a patterned apron, he looked soft and fragile, his rounded belly pulling the entire look together.

Despite how surprising Caspian’s appearance had been the first time they met, the Omega’s startling beauty had suited Mafia King Asher, but the Omega in front of him was nothing like he expected a Mafia King’s mate to look like.

He looked too gentle for the dangerous life Mafia Kings led, his honey eyes holding warm sunlight.

"Thanks for having us," Nikolai said dryly, not deceived by Lake’s soft, squishy look, the pregnant Omega was a force of nature.

"There are tens of rooms, I’ll give you a tour so you can pick which you prefer." Lake went right to business, "I’m sure you’ll want to clean up," He tagged on, starting the tour.

"Jael already made arrangements for your things to be brought over," Lake went on, starting on the ground floor. "It should be here anytime soon."

Nikolai had quickly come to learn why Asher could take things easy any time he wanted, his right-hand man was scarily dependable.

"Lunch is ready. Join us in the kitchen when you’re done cleaning up," Lake concluded.

They didn’t let him walk around for too long, the rooms were all glamorous, so picking one was easy. They chose one on the ground floor, decently far away from the other occupants of the mansion who had their rooms on the first floor.

Lake didn’t make any comments when they chose separate rooms side by side; there were enough rooms that they could take five each, and it wouldn’t be a problem.

"See you at lunch," He waved them off, making his way to the kitchen.

Rosie was humming a discordant tune when he came in, seeing as they barely ate breakfast and Davian didn’t even have any at all, they had made some simple breakfast-esque meals.

Lake took off his apron as he walked in, hanging it up. "I’m going to go check up on Davian," He informed his secretary. Breakfast was more or less done, so Rosie just waved him off.

Davian was already hurrying out of the room when Lake got there, dressed comfortably and a little haphazardly. He was clean, but his hair was still damp and unbrushed.

Lake stepped in his way to stop him, "Why are you in such a hurry? You didn’t even dry your hair properly," He fondly scolded.

Davian let himself be pushed back into his room, letting his mate scold and fuss all over him, and ignoring the fact that Lake’s hair was thoroughly tousled.

Lake carefully dried the Alpha’s hair after guiding him to sit on the edge of his bed, slowing down when Davian wrapped his arms around him and held him close.

"Are you alright?" Lake paused to ask, leaning back as much as Davian’s hold would let him so he could look in the Alpha’s eyes.

Davian usually didn’t give much thought to the dangers that came with being a Mafia King; he had lived in it all his life, so he had completely gone numb to it. But all he had to do was picture Lake next to him and he started crumbling.

He would have never let Lake come alone with him today but now it wasn’t just his mate’s safety that made him paranoid. He couldn’t bring himself to imagine Lake’s future without him in it; it didn’t help that things were only going to get more dangerous.

If he and Asher had lingered around Nikolai’s casino for even a few minutes, they would have gotten caught up in the explosion. It was a new feeling being worried for his own safety, despite it being for his mate’s sake.

"I am now," Davian let his hold go slack, sighing softly.

Lake stepped back with a smile that looked more like he was trying to keep in his laughter. "With all the three Mafia Houses working together, we’ll get through this together," His reassuring words were diminished by the giggles that spilled out.

Davian’s had a faint smile on his face and a curious look in his eyes. "What’s so funny?"

Lake turn away to hide his laughter in his hand, "Nothing, nothing." He said in a rush, "Don’t bother looking in the mirror, let’s go eat lunch."

Davian couldn’t make out what was tickling his mate so hard but laughter looked really good on him, so he listened to him, rising to his feet and coming over to give him a kiss, right before leading the way to the kitchen.