Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 221: Banquet (Part 2)

Chapter 221: Banquet (Part 2)

The hall where the Galverra banquet was taking place was attached to a five star hotel, where some guests would go to dress in the rooms or touch up their makeups. And as the banquet hall buzzed with anticipation for Xavier Galverra’s arrival, in the quieter corridors of the hotel, Mia and Neil had just arrived through the back doors, both not yet dressed for the occasion.

Mia’s clothes had been sent to the hotel instead of their house, and they had arrived late because of an unexpected visit to the hospital earlier in the day. Mia had woken up with a strange stomach pain, and despite Neil’s insistence that she stay home after the doctor had said her stomach pain were due to side effects of her medication, Mia had assured him she could manage. Knowing the significance of her presence and what he planned to do for her after the banquet, Neil had reluctantly agreed to let her come along. But every second, he would be asking if she was all right.

As they reached the room where Mia’s clothes were, Neil stopped and looked down at her, concern evident in his grey eyes. "Are you sure you’ll be fine alone? Do you need help getting ready? I can help you dress up."

Mia had declined Neil’s suggestions of hiring her a makeup artist and an assistant to help her dress, because of her wariness with people these days. She’d said she could do her own makeup and dress up. And since Rayne didn’t know they were the hosts of the banquet, Mia couldn’t call her here to help her with dressing up. And now that Neil suggested to help her, she shook her head with a reassuring smile. "I’ll be okay, Neil. You need to go prepare yourself. Liam is waiting for you in your room. Go on and don’t keep him waiting, he has been calling the whole time on the way."

Neil nodded reluctantly, still worried about her. "I’ll come back for you in an hour then," he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. As he turned to leave, he paused before entering the elevator, looking back at her one last time. "Don’t push yourself too hard, let me know if you feel any discomfort," he muttered, his voice soft but firm, before the elevator doors closed, leaving Mia standing in the hallway, preparing herself for the evening ahead.

As she turned to open the room’s door, she felt the tightening pain in her stomach return and she leaned her head against the door for it to subside before she opened the door and sighed in relief when the pain disappeared completely. She didn’t know what was wrong with her lately, if she didn’t have a terrible, skull splitting headache, she’d have a stomach tightening pain.

Closing the door behind her, Mia decided to take a quick shower in the bathroom, hoping the pain would not bother her evening. After her shower, she walked out of the bathroom with a robe provided by the hotel, she was drying her hair when she paused at the sound of a cherry female voice raised in greeting at the hallway of her room.

"Trisha, darling, you look marvelous; it’s been ages since I’ve seen you. I bet you are also here to flash those full tits of yours to Xavier Galverra and make him your man."

"Oh, come on, Erika. As if that’s not why every young female elites of the country are here. I traveled here all the way from Rome just so I could have the man, and I’m not backing out of it until I get him."

"You sure still think too highly of yourself, Trisha. What if the man is married? Are you still going to seduce him to your bed?" Joked the other female.

"As if marriage as ever stopped me from getting a man I want to seduce. I came here for business, and I’m not backing down until I have him in one of the rooms in this hotel, it would even be wonderful if one of his seeds take root in me. Imagine how such a scandal would be to my career. I’d be the talk of the show in a month."

Mia stiffened at the woman’s words. She didn’t have to be told to know dozens of other women in that hall were here for the same purpose. Whoever that Trisha is, Mia thought in disgust, was a delusional bitch if she thought for a second Mia would allow any woman near her Neil in that hall, or give them the chance to seduce him.

The woman continued to say, "Well, my father wanted to meet him for some business purposes, but I want to meet him for my own purpose. I wonder what’s taking him so long to show his face. Let’s go back to the hall before we miss the special moments of seeing him walk into the hall..." The voices faded as the two women moved away.

The women shamelessness stunned and irritated Mia, but she calmly pulled open the door and peeked her head out to see their retreating backs, one was wearing blue and the other red. She’d never felt possessive over someone like she felt for Neil. And knowing that the hall would be filled with women like these two, she decided to get her head out of the clouds and overcome her anxiety of attending the banquet.

Xavier Galverra had been the country’s mystery CEO, and it was no surprise that every woman would come with the hopes of being the Cinderella tonight. She couldn’t wait for them to see that Xavier and Neil were the same person and that he had a girlfriend who’s proudly pregnant with his child already. With the anticipation of seeing the women’s face after learning the truth, Mia hurried back into the room to dress up to match the position of being Mr. Galverra’s partner.

She had been dreading the moment she’d step out to the hall, but now that she had a silent mission to fend off any unwanted female attention from her man, she looked forward to seeing their expressions when they learned the truth about the man behind the Galverra Enterprise.

Seated at the dressing table twenty minutes later, Mia brushed her heavy hair until the burnished chocolates strands framed her face and tumbled in glorious waves over her shoulders. Then she hastily applied a rosy blusher to her cheeks, smoothed the matching gloss over her lips and tossed the cosmetics into her purse. She didn’t need too much makeup when she had no blemishes to hide, furthermore, her skin had been glowing again lately.

Neil had already knocked on her door a minute ago, and she knew he was surely standing outside waiting for her right now. The thought brought a glow of sheer happiness to her eyes as she leaned closer to the mirror and carefully put on the diamond earrings Neil had bought for her days ago.

When she finished, she stepped back to study the effect of the long, sophisticated black dress she wore. The soft fabric emphasized her high full breasts, and the long tight sleeves hugged her arms all the way to the wrists, where they ended in points at the backs of her hands. The gold link belt nipped in the slightly blousy waistline, so that every feminine curve Mia possessed was beguilingly displayed, from the top of the straight neckline to the hem of the skirt where her two inches black heels peeped out.

Neil had insisted she wear short heels, as he’d said safety and comfort first before fashion. He said he wouldn’t be able to rest well knowing she was wearing high heels in her condition. Slipping while pregnant was something common in the elite world, he explained when she tried to argue that she could walk perfectly in high heels. He was right—she hadn’t always been a fan of high heels but had wanted to wear them for the occasion. Now that she wore these two-inch heels, she felt much more comfortable. Her dress didn’t hide the fact that she was pregnant from the front view, as she had no intention of hiding it anymore.

Looking at herself one last time in the mirror, she picked up her purse from the bed and left the room. And just like she’d thought, Neil was standing right at the door with his back to her, one hand shoved casually into his trouser pockets as he talked into the phone to Liam who she heard was urging them to come down to the hall already.

"I don’t care about them. Mia’s still dressing up and I don’t intend to rush her for some guests who are eager to get on my nerves and annoy the shit outta me." He was saying when she came out and stood behind him.

As if he sensed her nearness, he turned his head sharply, and his eyes met hers across the seven feet distance between them. He hung up the call and shoved the phone into his pocket without taking his eyes off of her and began to simply stroll towards her.

As he turned completely towards her, Mia had her first full-length view of him, and her breath caught. His raven black tuxedo fit his tall, splendid frame as if it had been made specifically for him by the finest tailor. The dazzling whiteness of his inner shirt contrasted beautifully with his bronzed face and formal black bow tie, and he wore the elegant attire with the easy assurance of a man who was thoroughly accustomed to it. Mia felt absurdly proud of him, and she made no attempt to hide it when he finally stood in front of her with shimmering grey eyes.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" she asked softly as she reached up her hands to adjust his bow tie and stroked his beardless jaw.

A slow boyish smile spread across his handsome features. "What would you think if I told you no?"

Mia laughed. "I’d think you were trying to appear modest."

"Then what am I supposed to do now?" he teased.

"I suppose you should try to look a little flustered and embarrassed by the flattery."

"I don’t fluster or embarrass very easily."

"In that case, you could try to fluster me by telling me how I look then," she hinted broadly. Turning slowly so that she could deliberately give him the full shock effect of her dress. Her hair danced around her as she completed her turn and waited while Neil’s gaze moved over her glowing face, luminous brown eyes and softly full lips, then swept downward over the lush outlines of her figure.

"Turn around so I can see the back again," he said with a small frown.

Mia obediently complied.

"How can anything that looks so demure from the front be so open from the back?" her possessive lover asked with a hint of displeasure in his voice as he looked at Mia’s trim back, her milky glowing skin exposed almost to the waistline.

"What if you catch a cold?" he asked, turning her around to face him. "You look stunning in the dress, but I’m worried it’s too open at the back. You—"

"What the hell, man!" came Liam’s voice from the end of the hallway. "The guests are waiting. Nobody is touching their food because they’re too eager to meet you. You can neck with Mia later, but please, I can’t stand another random stranger asking me if I know when Xavier Galverra will arrive."

Liam had been waiting in the hall after he finished dressing up with Neil, but the people’s anticipation was starting to get on his nerves. Not to mention his little niece clinging to Rayne Wallace, who had been glaring daggers at him from across the room as if he’d done something unforgivable to her. The hall was filled with many people he disliked, and he couldn’t wait to leave, but Neil was taking his time with his woman, leaving Liam to deal with all the bullshit in the hall.

"Fuck off, Liam. Mia needs a change of outfit," Neil deadpanned, not caring about the eager guests or his friend’s torture.

"Oh no she doesn’t. That black dress looks stunning, and I think Mia likes it. Don’t you, Mia?" Liam asked from across the hall. Mia was quick to nod while nudging Neil in the side and glaring up at him. "Let’s go. We’ve kept the guests waiting for too long."