The Billionaire's Demand

Hannah's Little Girl

Hannah sat with Valerio near the counter of her coffee shop, sipping from the lemonade Maria had made her. It was mint and lime flavored, resembling a mojito. It was refreshing, Maria might have a hidden talent after all. It wasn't creating healthy cake and pie options, the woman was a freaking goddess when it came to creating new drinks.
Glancing at Valerio, she noticed he had been staring at her. Raising an eyebrow at him she pressed her lips together to make sure she wouldn't giggle when the older man looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She caught him staring and he had the decency to feel embarrassed about it.

"I've met her." She told Valerio, glancing down at the cold glass she was holding onto, "She is relentless, really. It made me realize that I might have judged Nero a bit too harshly at the time."

"I thought you were friends with her?" Valerio asked confused.

Hannah looked up, narrowing her eyes on the confused looking Valerio, "Are we talking about the same woman here? I'm clearly not on friendly terms with the woman who pretends I'm a fly buzzing around Nero." Hannah scowled, "She would have put her claws in him while I was right there beside him. It seriously pisses me off."

"We're clearly not talking about the same person." Valerio muttered.

"Serena, the brunette who touched your son in all his private places while being in public."

"Who is that?" Valerio frowned, sitting up in his chair, "I thought we were talking about the great Audrey Tower, Nero's best friend and apparently also yours."

"No, Audrey is cool." Hannah put her glass upon the table next to her and slumped back in her chair, "I'm talking about the brunette who came onto Nero months ago. She was one of the reasons why we broke up. We met up again last week, nothing about her changed. She is still a freaking Siren searching for her next pray to bleed dry."

Valerio tried hard not to laugh, she could tell by the way he was puffing out his cheeks. Rolling her eyes at him, she got to her feet and reached for her glass. Walking up to the counter, she got behind it and let Maria take a break while she took over. Valerio got to his feet as well and closed the distance between them, leaning against the counter with his side while he tried to make up for laughing at her by smiling warmly at her.

"Nero is a smart guy, he catches onto things like that pretty quick."

"He drew a clear line between them." Hannah agreed, "But that's not the point, I didn't know there were women like that out there. She showed us once again that the world we're living in isn't all that pretty. We'll do anything to survive, even walking all over innocent people. As long as we're living comfortable it doesn't matter what it takes to get there."

"It's true, there are people out there who live their lives like that." Valerio placed his hand gently upon hers, his smile fading as he got serious for a minute, "But Hannah don't close your eyes to the beauty that is still present. It might not be as clear to our eyes, but I promise it's still out there."

"I know." She whispered, "She just pisses me off." She muttered and knocked back her cold drink, needing it to calm her down, "I'll be fine." She promised Valerio, "I just needed to talk to someone about it or her. Freaking Serena."

"Don't let her get to you." Valerio warned her, "That's what she wants. All you need to do is trust in Nero." She noticed the warmth in Valerio's eyes as he talked about his son, "That boy is complicated and he has lots of issues he's struggling with, but I do know that he cares about you. Last thing he wants to do is hurt you. So have faith."

Grabbing onto his hand with both her hands she held his gaze, "I love you."

He laughed, pulling away from her only to give her head a little pat, "Isn't my daughter the cutest?" He stepped away from the counter and stared at the door, "I need to head out, you two will be alright, Hannah."