Page 64 of Shâhzâdeh

“My cousin, Midas. And zhis is his lovely wife, Nevaeh.” He kept his eyes focused on me as he nodded toward the people with him. To keep myself from appearing rude, I stood up causing his eyes to rake in the details of my outfit, before I reached over to shake Nevaeh’s hand and then her husband’s.

“Very pleased to meet you.”

“You as well! I can already tell I like you.” She leaned over and gave me a hug, squeezing me as she did. “I can see why he’s so gone over you. You are absolutely gorgeous.”

When she leaned back, her smile was even broader and I could feel the heat creeping up my neck, flushing my entire face. I hated to blush or to be put on the spot. I ended up looking like a giant orangey-red ball of skin.

“Thank you.”

It was wild how she just gave me a compliment and I felt like she was sincere. She is what I thought of when I thought of beauty. She had smooth, freckle-less skin that was the color of deep honey. Her hair was in big coils that she wore out proudly and she looked and smelled expensive. Not like she was dressed in millions of dollars worth of diamonds, but she looked extremely luxurious. Like her clothes were of the highest quality and well tailored to her frame despite how simple they were. It wasn’t the understated luxury bullshit where everyone walked around looking like an anti-color palate of boring beige. She had a style all her own and was incredibly beautiful. And warm. Her spirit practically glowed.

“Are you giving away secrets,soeur?”

Never had I thought hearing French coming out of a southern man with a slight Middle Eastern accent would be so…spine-tingling. I shifted on my feet as my thighs clenched together, because something really had to be wrong with me.

The restaurant was located in Uptown and wasn’t a location that I thought would’ve been too casual for him. It was inside of a beautiful hotel, but many people frequented this restaurant. In my mind, it wasn’t exclusive enough for him. The place was nice and not cheap, but I assumed he would be more into private dining. Or flying me out-of-state like he’d suggested when we’d closed on his home.

“Never that. Just showing a beautiful woman appreciation for her being so beautiful.”

“An act I’m sure befalls you multiple times a day.” Their banter was playful so I didn’t feel at all jealous of him calling her beautiful.

“Bruh, stop flirting with my damn wife.” The man that was with them, Midas, turned to me after playfully shoving Xerxes. “Forgive my cousin. He lacks manners, which is why we don’t allow him to hang out with us that often. My wife and I were looking to purchase property in the area and we were told that you were the person to see. We will be calling your office for an appointment soon.”

“I have an exclusivity contract with your cousin. I’m not sure—”

“He doesn’t have a problem with family intruding. Hell, it might help his Blarasian ass get his shit together.”

My mouth dropped open and Xerxes only shook his head. “Blarasian… that’s new.”

“You think of anything that fits his ass better? Black, Arab and Persian: Blarasian.”

“Vanya has plenty of choice vords for me. None zhat are as kind as Blarasian. I’m sure she vill be shocked vhen she learns zhat Persians are not Arabs but zhat’s a story for another day. But I am not the only one being rude. Vanya, who is your guest?” His eyes flitted to the table behind me, and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

I knew the skin on my neck had to be deep red now because I’d completely forgotten I was here with someone. When I turned, my date looked completely unbothered by any aspect of the conversation and was playing some game on his phone. That was the issue with him all night. He seemed so focused on his phone that he hardly paid attention to me. I tried to chalk it up to nerves, but he didn’t really seem interested in me at all. As it was, I’d been trying to excuse myself.

“Ummm, this is my date, Patrick. We met at the library.” Patrick barely said a word to them and gave a quick wave of his fingers that could’ve been seen as dismissive. I had to wonder if he was just an extreme introvert and unsure of how to act around other people. I was offended by his rudeness but was going to encourage him to say something but a staying hand was put on mine.

I turned and saw Xerxes give a slight shake of his head.

“The last thing you want to do is give him a reason to cut up. He says the wrong thing and then we have to provide a multi-million dollar pay out for the damage he’ll do to him and this restaurant because he has no off switch with disrespect. If you get tired of where you are, you’re more than welcome to enjoy dinner with us.” Midas was smiling while Xerxes’ eyes were now trained on Patrick. He was studying his features in a way that worried me. Like he was cataloging everything about him that he could. The air seemed to get heavier, like his actions were foreshadowing something I couldn’t understand.

Please don’t let us cause a scene in this restaurant. I have a reputation to uphold and lies to distance myself away from.

“It’s fine, Midas. I wouldn’t want to intrude. But thank you all for the invitation. Xerxes, I’ll have another list of properties for the stables for you to view in the morning. Mr. And Mrs. Cannon, I will be more than happy to assist you with whatever you need.”

Nevaeh reached out to shake my hand the same welcoming smile on her face. “Warren. Midas and Nevaeh Savadogo Warren.”

My brain almost short-circuited when I realized whose hand I was shaking. I tried to keep my face steady but it was clear they realized that I recognized them.

“My apologies, Mr and Mrs. Warren. But the words still stand. Xerxes has my contact information and I’ll be happy to help find whatever it is you need.”

They said their goodbyes and they walked ahead of Xerxes who lingered behind. We were staring at one another silently before he dipped his head slightly and walked away.

“You don’t think you were being rude?”

I felt embarrassed as people I knew I would enjoy spending time with walked away and I was left with my date. His head was still buried into his phone and I didn’t know if he was reading or holding a conversation with someone else. I’d attempted to bring him into the conversation, but he’d wanted to be antisocial and complain later.

He kept looking at me like I was the one who was wrong when it was clear he was.

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