Nasya's POV
I deliberately pretended not to hear him, continuing my conversation with Joanna instead: "Aunt Matilda had something come up—she won't be joining us after all."
Joanna nodded obediently, her initial sleepiness giving way to sudden alertness as she turned around. Her eyes, which had been heavy with drowsiness moments before, now widened in alarm.
"Mommy! There's a strange man here!" she cried out, tiny fingers clutching desperately at my clothes as she tried to hide herself behind me.
I swallowed hard before responding, "...Joanna, this is someone Mommy knows. He'll... he'll be accompanying us to New York tonight."
Zayn responded with nothing more than a derisive snort, striding past us to position himself by the doorway. His imposing frame seemed to fill the entire space as he delivered his next words with chilling impatience:
"How much longer do you intend to keep us waiting?"
