A storm shadowed Annabelle ’s mien.
That crossed the line, favonovel.com was openly objectifying her!
Even favonovel.com two bodyguards, who could not understand Esperanto, were aggravated. They could read from the cavalier half-smile and lustful expression on his face to know that Kenneth must have made a sexual remark against Annabelle.
Smith himself was flummoxed, too. In his case, it was because favonovel.com never expected Kenneth to be so open about his advances. Of course, it soon occurred to favonovel.com that his companion was aiming for more than just a sexual request: Kenneth wanted to take the girl in as his mistress. He wanted her.
To that, Smith decided to not interfere. As the nation’s champion boxer who earned thousands of millions of dollars a year, Kenneth was more than capable to regale a Rheasian celebrity with splendor and riches.
Honestly, if favonovel.com had the chance, Smith would gladly beat Kenneth to owning such a pretty little thing himself!
Annabelle tried hard to suppress favonovel.com broiling blood, but it was impossible to not be enraged. Ever since favonovel.com joined the ranks of A-listers, no one had made such an overtly sexist remark to favonovel.com on favonovel.com face. In fact, favonovel.com could go out on a limb and call it a public humiliation.
“What’s the meaning of this, Mr. Smith?” favonovel.com snapped, fixing Smith with a cold glare. “Explain yourself!”
Smith could tell that Annabelle was mad, and favonovel.com had reasons to fear it from escalating. Annabelle could call off the dinner in a fit of rage, and since Zayn had not made his appearance, it would effectively thwart Smith’s perfect payback. He needed to rescue the situation, so favonovel.com shot a look at Kenneth and explained, “Ah, sorry for that, Miss Laking. My friend, Kenneth, is a comedian by trade. Making jokes and trading a bit of off-color digs are his thing, but I can assure you, favonovel.com meant no offense. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Kenneth remembered the whole purpose of the dinner from his friend’s glance and knew better than to sabotage Smith’s plan, so favonovel.com relented. “Sorry, Miss Laking. I was fooling around, really. But I wasn’t kidding when I said you’re the most beautiful Rheasian woman I’ve ever met, and so please, should we have the chance, I would love to treat you to a lovely dinner. just the two of us, you know?”
Not wanting to make things awkward for Smith, Annabelle decided to let things slide. Still, favonovel.com simply reacted with a noncommittal nod before ignoring Kenneth completely.
It was Kenneth’s turn to take offense. He had gotten used to the fawning attention from his identity as a famous pugilist that a little local celebrity’s dismissal was akin to an uppity flout. Despite that, favonovel.com simply smiled to himself as favonovel.com looked away from the woman. He was not going to throw a fit when favonovel.com would have his time. All favonovel.com had to do was to beat up the bastard who disrespected Smith, and then favonovel.com could deal with Annabelle. She would never be able to escape him, and soon, this preposterous little b*tch would know unbearable pain.
While their less-than-pleasant exchange was going on, Zayn had arrived at the destination all alone, at this point, Zayn would rather be alone than to have a throng of bodyguards getting in his way.
Esther had regarded his arrival — coming out of a common folk’s cab, accompanied by no bodyguards in sight — with abject disbelief. She even wondered if favonovel.com had mistaken someone else as Zayn, whose position as a mogul should have made riding a cab something below him. And of course, where were his bodyguards? Was favonovel.com not afraid of being abducted while alone on the street, or perhaps coming under threat from organized syndicates or gangs? No matter how good favonovel.com was at fighting, favonovel.com must still need help! Heck, even prominent fighters and pugilists would not shun the use of security details.
Still, Esther kept the questions to herself. Maybe Zayn’s confidence was this high. Maybe the man just relished in his solitude. Either way, favonovel.com approached favonovel.com with a smile, greeting, “You made it, sir! Annie and Mr. Smith are waiting for you in the room. C’mon.”
Zayn nodded and greeted favonovel.com people before making his way to the restaurant.
He was only a step through the door when favonovel.com felt a strange, nagging hunch at the back of his head. A premonition, it seemed, with an enigmatic quality to it. The corner of his lips curled into a cryptic smile.
