Captive Mate BL-Chapter 632: - - -

Caspian had made a habit of getting up just as early as his mate, and he got away with it too. So recently, he got his goodbye kiss when he was wide-awake.

He spent the time in the kitchen, but it wasn’t like he was hard at work, mostly supervising until Patty showed up.

The accountant was sleepy that morning, her usually neatly pinned back hair left down today.

Caspian frowned as he looked her over. "Had a rough night?"

Patty wasn’t about to admit that she had stayed up late texting so she shook her head. "No, I’m fine."

Caspian didn’t look like he believed her claims but he didn’t push. It wasn’t that he expected her to be perfect all the time, he was just worried.

"I’m spending the day at Lake’s today." He informed her.

Patty nodded, waving to the familiar kitchen staff. "I’ll make sure the boss gets his lunch."

Caspian didn’t linger long after that, he wasn’t at all worried because the kitchen ran smoothly even without his involvement.

As he made his way back to his room to get ready to pay a visit to Lake, he found himself thinking about how fortunate that was because he would be spending less and less time in the kitchen in the near future if he could help it.

An hour later he was making his way to the foyer, on a call with Lake. They had just had breakfast and his friend was calling to ask if it was appropriate to invite Angelo shopping.

It didn’t hurt to invite the other Omega, he was pleasant company. But Angelo was an assassin who worked for Nikolai, the Omega might be too busy.

Caspian was a little envious of the other Omega, he was so capable, nothing like him who couldn’t even protect himself.

Lake eventually decided against inviting him. It wasn’t the weekend and it was shopping for something personal, it didn’t seem right to take Angelo away from something important just for that.

If he wasn’t certain that Caspian would absolutely love to come shopping with him, he wouldn’t have bothered the other as well.

-*-

Unaware of this conversation was Angelo curling up on his favorite sofa in Nikolai’s office, settling in for another day of napping by the window.

-*-

Lake was already outside the mansion when Caspian showed up, a bright smile on his face. He was dressed in an oversized sweater because none of his casual clothes fit anymore.

"I’ll drive us," He held up a set of car keys as Caspian walked over to him.

Caspian’s bodyguards and the men keeping an eye on Lake would tail them from a distance, leaving just the two of them in the car like it was a casual shopping trip.

Caspian’s smile was a little strained, he wanted nothing more than to offer to drive, but he couldn’t do that either.

Conversations with Lake were always easy, and by the time they were pulling into the clothing store, he could smile easily, regaining some of his enthusiasm for the shopping trip.

Casual clothes were easy to find, formal clothes, not as much. But they did see a lot of outfits with the silliest designs.

Caspian held up one of such cotton shirts, it was cut open right over the abdomen in a circle that was replaced with clear plastic to show off the belly while providing a semblance of coverage.

It was so awful that tears streamed down his face from laughter. "It’s so bad, you have to buy it." He gasped, needing to sit down to catch his breath.

Lake wasn’t as tickled by the questionable fashion because he was the one who had to wear it. "Hard pass. My belly is just going to be steaming in there."

That image only made Caspian laugh harder.

After shopping for hours, they stopped at a nearby cafe to have lunch, the air between them becoming awkward.

Lake was having a difficult time keeping the secret about the baby shower - he really wanted to talk to Caspian about it.

Caspian on the other hand, had a lot of heavy thoughts weighing him down, it thinned his usually bright smile.

"I was thinking of having everyone over for dinner this weekend," Lake finally blurted out, stirring his hot chocolate.

The marshmallows on it were repeatedly dunked into the dark brown liquid, drenching them.

Caspian brightened, happy to have something to distract him. "That would be so nice! It’s been a while since we’ve done that."

Although they were supposed to spend the day together, Caspian left early, right after lunch.

Lake didn’t think much of it, aware of how possessive Mafia Kings got. He also had a session with his personal trainer later that afternoon so he already moved on to other things.

He went right to his room to get started on sorting out the things he bought before Cora showed up, pleased with himself for keeping his secret safe.

-*-

Caspian was distracted on the ride home, staring out the window. He had already subconsciously decided on what he wanted to do, and as they got to the high gates of the mansion, he spoke up.

"Don’t drive in yet," He straightened up in the backseat.

Keith and Peter looked at him questioningly.

"Asher owns the area around, I just wanted to practice driving for a bit," He deflated with each word he spoke, defensive. "There’s no need to report to him, I want it to be a surprise."

By the end of his sentence, his voice was no louder than a whisper.

Keith and Peter shared a look, silently agreeing to face whatever consequences they got from this.

"Sure." Peter agreed casually, driving past the gates.

It was a straight wide road with trees on either side, not exactly the best for driving practice but they really couldn’t say no to Caspian right then.

The Omega was always larger than life, bright like the sun. It was unsettling to see him so dimmed down.

Asher certainly wouldn’t mind his mate learning to drive but the Mafia King would want to get involved, which would end up with him not learning anything.

Some light came back into Caspian’s eyes, he hadn’t been expecting them to give in so easily. The light in his eyes was tampered with determination, he had taken the first step.