Chapter 7 7

Ainsley let out a sharp, cold laugh that echoed off the marble walls of the lobby.

She locked her eyes onto Katharina's fake, pitying face.

"Did the bone marrow transplant shrink your brain along with your conscience?" Ainsley asked, her voice like cracking ice.

Katharina's face instantly drained of all color.

Tears immediately flooded her eyes. She grabbed Kade's arm, looking up at him like a wounded animal.

Kade's chest puffed out. He stepped forward to defend his girlfriend's honor.

"You are disgusting, Ainsley!" Kade shouted. "Screaming like a trashy lunatic in a place like this!"

Preston felt his authority crumbling in front of the elite crowd.

He lunged forward, throwing his large hand out to violently grab Ainsley's slender wrist and drag her out the door.

Before Preston's rough fingers could even graze Ainsley's skin, a massive hand clamped down on his forearm like a steel vice.

Hill Frazier stepped out from behind Ainsley.

The murderous intent radiating from Hill's black eyes was so heavy it made the air in the lobby hard to breathe.

Hill didn't say a word. He just twisted his wrist.

A sickening, loud crack echoed through the lobby as Preston's wrist bone snapped.

Preston's face contorted in absolute agony. Cold sweat instantly exploded across his forehead.

But when Preston looked up and met Hill's dead eyes, the scream of pain died instantly in his throat. Pure terror choked him.

Hill threw Preston's broken arm away like he was discarding a piece of rotting garbage.

Hill reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a dark blue silk handkerchief. He slowly, methodically wiped his fingers, as if Preston's skin had infected him.

He didn't even look at the Thomas family.

Hill simply turned his head and wrapped his large, warm arm securely around Ainsley's narrow waist. He pulled her flush against his side.

Ainsley's spine stiffened at the sudden contact.

But to completely humiliate the Thomas family, she didn't push him away. She actually leaned her weight into his chest.

Watching Ainsley press against this terrifying, god-like man felt like a knife twisting directly into Kade's ego.

The general manager sprinted across the lobby, his face pale with panic.

When he saw Hill's face, the manager's knees actually buckled. He stopped and bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

"Mr. Frazier!" the manager gasped, his voice shaking violently. "I am so deeply sorry for this disturbance!"

The name 'Frazier' hit Preston like a physical blow to the head.

There was only one Frazier family in Washington D.C. They were the absolute apex predators of the political food chain.

Eleanor clutched her chest. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed heavily onto the velvet sofa, gasping for air.

Hill dropped the soiled silk handkerchief directly onto the floor at Preston's feet.

"Has the standard of this club dropped so low that you just let unwashed trash walk through the front door?" Hill's voice was a freezing whisper.

The manager broke out in a cold sweat.

He spun around and screamed at the four massive security guards standing by the door. "Throw these people out immediately!"

Katharina couldn't process the reality. She screamed, "We have a reservation! We are VIPs!"

"Your membership is permanently revoked!" the manager barked back.

The security guards grabbed Preston by his good arm and dragged him backward.

Kade felt his face burning with absolute shame. He ripped his arm out of Katharina's grip, lowered his head, and practically ran toward the exit to save himself.

Katharina panicked. She tried to run after Kade, but her stiletto heel slipped on the polished marble.

She crashed hard onto the floor, her pink Chanel dress bunching up around her waist in total humiliation.

Ainsley watched them get dragged out like stray dogs. A cold, heavy satisfaction settled in her chest.

Hill looked down at Ainsley. The lethal ice in his eyes melted instantly.

"Did they scare you?" he asked, his voice dropping low.

Ainsley looked up into his dark eyes.

"I just thought they were too loud," she replied flatly.

Carmel clapped his hands together slowly. "Better than a Broadway opening."

The manager practically crawled backward, gesturing frantically toward the back of the lobby.

"Please, Mr. Frazier, Miss. The VVIP elevator is waiting for you."

Hill laced his fingers through Ainsley's.

Under the terrified, reverent stares of the entire lobby, he led her into the solid gold doors of the private elevator.