Chapter 583: +Chapter 583+
After sitting in Nikolai’s office for far too long all by himself, Angelo rose to his feet. Save for his encounter with the High Council’s spies that morning, he had done nothing but sit and nap.
It was fine because the Mafia King was here, and he knew that if Nikolai needed to leave the bar, he would take him along, but he wanted to go out to the bar, bored with sitting all by himself.
He reluctantly left Nikolai’s trench coat behind, planning to safely keep the one coat that wasn’t hosed down with blood.
Nikolai had only locked the door to his office while he was asleep, so the door opened easily when he walked up to it. He pushed his hair out of his face and peeked into the hallway; it was completely empty, but he could still hear the lively bar.
The lights were dimmed when he walked out, the muted strobe lights mixed with the subtle fog of nicotine smoke, and the smell of alcohol gave the bar the dangerous air that it truly had.
He could barely see faces in the bar, and it didn’t matter because he didn’t come looking for anyone. He knew that if Nikolai was no longer caught up in what he needed to do, the Mafia King would have returned to his office.
There were a handful of people by the bar counter, but he wasn’t interested in a drink, he just wanted to people-watch to occupy himself.
While Angelo could barely see the men huddled in corners, his appearance in the bar wasn’t as hidden. The office and the hallway he came from had been well-lit compared to the bar, so it took some time for his eyes to adjust.
But for the men who had been sitting in the dim interior of the bar as it got darker and darker outside, they found it far easier to see him, his voluminous hair standing out.
Angelo easily found an empty booth and slipped into it. Although he hadn’t seen their faces, he had heard the voices of women as he walked to the booth - it no longer surprised him as it used to.
Although he hadn’t come looking for Nikolai, he found himself scanning the bar, searching for a glimpse of the Mafia King.
"Looking for me?" A familiar voice came from beside him.
Angelo glanced around in time to see Nikolai getting into his booth. This meant that he was trapped against the wall, the table, and the Mafia King completely focused on him.
It didn’t unsettle Angelo, if anything, he felt more relaxed now that Nikolai was here. "How did you know where I was?" He asked instead, neither admitting nor denying the Alpha’s claims.
Even without his terrifyingly good vision, Angelo showing up at the bar had caught everyone’s attention, much to his disapproval.
"I put a tracker on you," He partly teased, thinking of having a discreet tracker made for Angelo as he did.
Angelo was just as unfazed about that, knowing that unless it was a microchip, he would certainly notice a tracker on him. "Do you still have things to do?"
"I don’t. I was just about to come get you so we could leave for our appointment." Nikolai straightened up.
Angelo tensed up slightly, glancing down at the outfit he had on. It was more suitable for killing than it was for an important dinner. "Are we stopping by the mansion first?"
Nikolai’s expression softened at that, his hand catching the tips of his hair. "There’s no need to."
Angelo didn’t feel quite sure about that, but he didn’t dispute, waiting for Nikolai to step out of the booth first.
All the Mafia King did was fiddle with his hair, and when he made a move, it was to close the distance between them.
Angelo’s back hit the padded wall behind him, pale green eyes curious and a little expectant.
To any observer around, which was practically the entire club, it looked like the Mafia King kissed the assassin, and with the dark look in Nikolai’s eyes, they wouldn’t exactly be wrong.
"You might want to put your hair up," Nikolai spoke softly, reluctantly leaning back.
This time, Angelo couldn’t hide his surprise. "Are you alright?"
Nikolai’s grin split his face, "It’ll distract me."
Angelo didn’t mind, his hair was almost always up before he met the Mafia King. But no matter how intricately he knotted his hair, Nikolai always undid it in the shortest time possible.
His curiosity about their appointment spiked then. Where were they going that they wouldn’t need to change, and his hair would be distracting?
The more he thought about it, the more it didn’t seem like a classy establishment. Angelo would actually prefer that it wasn’t, he never fit into settings like that.
So when Nikolai got out of the booth, he lingered behind to braid his hair and wrap it into a simple knot. Noting for the first time when Nikolai was standing at the edge of the table that the Mafia King was in a completely different trench coat.
Nikolai waited until he was done with his hair and out of the booth before leading the way outside. The bar was much quieter as they walked out, so much more quieter that it was noticeable.
For how cloudy most of the day had been, the sky was noticeably clear when they stepped out of the bar, not a cloud to be seen in the endless expanse of dark blue.
Angelo’s gaze lingered on the sky for as long as he could, reminded of Nikolai’s eyes, getting into the car after he did.
He knew that Nikolai had been smoking all day because the car was filled with the rich scent of his cigars. It reminded him of the day he tried to kill the Mafia King, and to mess around with him, Nikolai had fed him smoke.
It had been uncomfortable in the moment, but right then, Angelo found his attention drifting to Nikolai’s lips which were slightly raised at the corners despite the Alpha’s attention on the road like his happiness was spilling out.
Angelo settled in for the ride, knowing that the questions he had had all day were about to be answered.