The Billionaire's Demand

Hannah's Emotional Date

Wiping the counter Hannah hummed to the soft music playing in the background, she felt happy. Her mood had been so much better since things were more friendly between Nero and her. She made the first move to focus on their relationship as husband and wife rather than two mere acquaintances living in the same house or hotel room rather, for now at least. They were getting married and Hannah wanted their marriage to work. She knew Nero agreed with her, he was right there with her. Only he was afraid to make things work, fearing that in the end she would somehow end up betraying him. She was aware of this, so she pushed him. Her mother had warned her that sometimes it wasn't smart to push people. Something in their minds could break and it would be harder to fix the situation then.

"Nero and I are going on a first date tonight." She told Valerio who sat at a table close to the counter, "It's been a while since we've done that." She admitted, "And I kind of pushed him, not giving him time to make up his mind."

Valerio laughed, "Sometimes he needs a push in the right direction."

She stilled her movements and stared at the towel she was holding onto, "Nero has a lot of issues."

"I'm aware." She looked up, not quite believing she heard Valerio admit that, "He struggles with a lot of things since his mother and Valentina died."

"He is afraid." She whispered, almost not daring to say the words out loud, "I don't want to do anything which only makes those fears and negative thoughts worse."

Valerio sighed tiredly, running a hand through his hair, "You shouldn't hold back when it comes to Nero. You should honestly tell him how you feel, even if you think it might hurt his feelings. You two parted because things weren't honest between you."

She put the towel away and walked around the counter, taking a seat across Valerio. She smiled when his eyes warmed up. He was always the calming voice to her while when he talked to Nero she knew Valerio became such a drama queen. She wondered if the man was like this with his daughter. She didn't mind if he thought of her as a replacement. Valerio definitely reminded her of her father. Unlike her mother who was rather uptight all the time, her father had been more gentle, also more open about his feelings.

"That we broke up was my fault." She admitted to Valerio, "I'm the one who made assumptions and ran away. Not even giving him the opportunity to talk about things. I just figured a guy like Nero would never honestly like a girl like me. He was so put together, a guy who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. Not to mention the looks and money. I had none of that."

Valerio snorted, "You're a beautiful girl, Hannah. Don't ever doubt that."

She glanced down at her feet, "This marriage thing, this has to do with his sister, right?"

The silence which followed made her realize that Valerio hadn't considered that. When she looked up and met his gaze she noticed the sadness behind those hazel eyes. Valerio looked like he wanted to run to Nero and hug the guy.

"It might." He whispered.

Hannah stretched and leaned back in her chair, wanting to let go of all the negative thoughts they had involving Nero and his fears. If they also got caught up in it, no one would be able to save him. She had to stay positive and show Nero that it was okay for him to be happy and to trust in someone again. That it was okay for him to move forward.

"I've made up my mind." She told Valerio, "I'm going to give Nero the time of his life during this date."

He chuckled, "Aren't you aiming too high, it's only one date."

"I'm going to doll up and take Nero to this pizza place where he can complain about all my bad food choices. He might make fun of me, but I know he enjoys our banter whenever we discuss our food preferences. I think afterwards we can have ice cream at this new place which recently opened. According to Maria it's pretty good."