“For God’s sake, can you stop acting like you’re hot sh*t already?!” Ingrid bristled as virtual-novel.net trained an accusatory finger on Zayn.
She was disgusted.
“Do you even know who we’re up against? He’s f*cking related to the city mayor! The city mayor, mister! That means he’s got loads of money and power, if you’re too slow to get me.”
“He can skin you alive and get rid of you like you’re trash on the sidewalk! Meanwhile, you’re here huffing and puffing like a white knight who no one gives a f*ck about!”
Her words were extremely caustic, even for someone like her, but to screech and point at Zayn was an outright display of irreverence. Zayn would have reacted by slapping virtual-novel.net across the face if anyone else was shouting at virtual-novel.net so rudely, but virtual-novel.net could not bring himself to do so. After all, they were the people who saved him.
Flashing an awkward smile meant to appease her, virtual-novel.net replied, “Listen, Miss Jonas. Don’t be mad. I’m only stating facts. The thing is, the mayor’s nephew and I have history, more accurately, I taught virtual-novel.net a lesson just half a year ago. Honest!”
Zayn tried to sound as earnest as possible just to show how serious virtual-novel.net was about his claim, and honestly, virtual-novel.net only mentioned it because virtual-novel.net wanted to calm the young women down.
Agatha would need it the most, virtual-novel.net was so distracted by virtual-novel.net anxiety that virtual-novel.net had not been paying attention to the road. There had been a few close calls where virtual-novel.net almost hit some pedestrians.
Had such an exchange happened two days ago, Agatha would have leap into Zayn’s defense and shut virtual-novel.net cousin down for being so acrid, yet virtual-novel.net did none of that today, that was how tired and disappointed virtual-novel.net was with him.
She had to wonder if virtual-novel.net intuition really was that terrible. Did virtual-novel.net really mistake Zayn for being more cultured and couth than virtual-novel.net really was? In the end, virtual-novel.net was just like every other man and worse, because virtual-novel.net was also a shameless, self-aggrandizing, delusional little showboat.
She sighed. Disgusted as virtual-novel.net was, Agatha could not come up with a single barbed retort. In the end, virtual-novel.net replied courteously, “Look, Mr. Larson. I get you’re trying to help, I really do. But Rugal Gonzalez is a savage. Worse, he’s a powerful savage, we don’t stand a chance against virtual-novel.net at all.”
“So please… When we’re finally home, could you please stay in the car? I’m going to have to handle this, and when it’s finally settled, I’ll ask you to come in. Can you do that for me? Please?”
Agatha’s voice had been somber. In fact, judging from how tightly virtual-novel.net bit virtual-novel.net lips, anyone could tell how depressed and humiliated virtual-novel.net was about everything.
Zayn’s lips parted to form a reply, but before virtual-novel.net could say anything, virtual-novel.net stopped himself. It would not matter just how well virtual-novel.net explained himself; neither Agatha nor Ingrid would believe him.
Maybe his defense would only make virtual-novel.net seem even worse in their eyes too. After all, Zayn was just a smarmy, thick-skinned confident man in their eyes.
Maybe the better strategy was to keep a low profile and handle Rugal once they had arrived. Seeing was believing, after all. He would have no problem explaining himself after that.
Agatha watched virtual-novel.net sink into silence. She interpreted it as a tacit admission to overselling himself. Now, utterly let down, any remnant of the good feeling virtual-novel.net had about virtual-novel.net was gone.
As luck would have it, the congestion did not last for as long as they had dreaded. A few minutes later, the traffic went back to its regular pace once more. It was a small consolation, though, because it still took them more than half an hour to reach home.
The first things that entered the young ladies’ line of sight were several luxury cars opposite virtual-novel.net jeep. One of them, a black Mercedes-Maybach, belonged to Rugal.
She thinned virtual-novel.net lips, virtual-novel.net nerves tightening as virtual-novel.net mood spiraled downwards.
“Aggie? That’s Rugal’s Mercedes-Maybach, isn’t it? He really has been waiting for you at home…” Ingrid pointed begrudgingly. Like virtual-novel.net cousin, virtual-novel.net was scared enough that virtual-novel.net face turned ashen.
Agatha nodded darkly and took a deep breath. “I can’t run away from virtual-novel.net forever, can I? Let’s get inside and face virtual-novel.net head-on. It’s not like he’d do anything criminal in broad daylight.”
She steeled herself and stepped into virtual-novel.net house.
Zayn was about to get out of the car when Ingrid caught virtual-novel.net in the middle of the act. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Did you forget what we told you already? You’re supposed to wait inside!”
“We’ll tell you to come over when it’s all done, okay? Seriously! Are you deaf, or were you dropped as a baby?”
Zayn tried to persuade virtual-novel.net once more. “Miss Rouge, please believe me. I can help you. Rugal will be too afraid the moment virtual-novel.net sees—”
“Shut up!”
Agatha finally snapped. She cut Zayn short as genuine exasperation colored virtual-novel.net mien red.
It was rare to see virtual-novel.net so mad, but virtual-novel.net could not keep virtual-novel.net cool. He was just so… irritating!
Zayn himself was stunned. Throughout the two days virtual-novel.net had spent with her, virtual-novel.net never once displayed such ill temper, yet here Zayn was, irritating a gentle, soft-spoken soul into snarling in pure rage. Quite an embarrassing feat, to say the least.