Chapter 4 Nero's Unspoken Demand

Nero's eyes trailed to the elevator, watching as a rather nervous looking Hannah stepped out. She didn't know what to do with herself. Walking to her he stopped in front of her, not touching because he knew it freaked her out. He didn't understand why considering she loved his touch before. Now it looked like his touch burned her. Trying to stay civil he forced a polite smile on his face instead.

"Let's move this to the living room."

She followed after him like he thought she made sure to keep her distance from him. He wanted to know why she suddenly behaved like that, what made her dislike him so much, but their focus would be on the child she was carrying and not them.

"Take a seat." He suggested, "Did you have dinner?"

"I did." She told him as she took a seat on the couch, moving to the far edge of the couch while she made herself small, almost curling up into a protective ball. He didn't like seeing her like that for multiple reasons. The main reason being that he hated the fact that he was the one who made her behave like that.

"Do you want something to drink then?" He asked, wanting to make her feel more comfortable around him. Otherwise, their conversation would become long and tiring.

"I'm fine." She told him.

"Well, I need my coffee for this conversation." He moved to the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee, "You sure you don't want anything?" He called over his shoulder, "I think I still have some of that tea laying around which you liked so much."

"Licorice mint tea?!"

Her voice changed, she sounded more alive. He could picture the excited shine in her blue eyes and her wide, childish smile. He always thought she was beautiful, he never hid that from her. He liked that unrestrained smile of hers. Her laugh sounded like that of a little girl, but it added to her charms. When she let her hair down and it was all over the place, he liked brushing it back and cupping her small face in his hands. It always made her cheeks get a nice pinkish color. He needed to let those memories go though. She wasn't as kindhearted as he thought she was. A nice girl who cared about others wouldn't leave him without a word, making him lose his mind about her safety. It was sudden and he didn't see it coming, just like they had done.

Needing to think about anything else, but her cute, little face he focused on making her the damn tea which smelled sweet with a hint of mint. He didn't leave the teabag in knowing she didn't drink her tea strong. Tossing the used bag in the bin he grabbed their cups and headed back to the living room. He figured he gave her enough time to gather her thoughts. Approaching her he handed her the cup of sweet-smelling tea and took a seat on the other side of the couch, respecting her unsaid wishes.

"It smells good." She whispered, clearly not aware he heard her.

"Your questionable taste hasn't changed at all."

She trailed her eyes at him, "The one who has questionable taste is you."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "I'm not the one who prefers pineapple on their pizza." He reminded her, "I'm also not the one who drinks licorice tea."

"For your information, this tea is pretty healthy when not consumed often. The Egyptians drank it in the old days to cure all kinds of diseases."

His lips curled up into a smirk as he listened to her trying to justify her bad taste in food, "You haven't changed at all." He muttered.

She stopped her rambling and stared at him, those blue eyes scanning his face before she looked away, trying to hide her gaze from him.

"Of course not, it's only been six months or so. It would be odd if I changed that much in a short period of time."

He narrowed his eyes at her, shifting in his seat, "A lot has changed in that short period of time." He reminded her, his eyes trailing to her round stomach, "Like you carrying my child and nearing your due date while not even considering to contact me." He sipped his coffee, needing the warm liquid to comfort him, otherwise, he'd be saying things to her which he'd regret later on, "My father visited you often-"

"I didn't know he was your father!" She quickly told him, "I didn't link it together until you came strolling in for a coffee."

"Seriously?"

He didn't think his father was someone she could forget about that easily. He was the type of person who made an impression. People often referred to his father as a kind gentleman. Someone who never forgot about his manners. Aside from that women always followed him everywhere, wanting to be noticed. Especially when they realized he didn't wear a ring on his finger anymore. Valerio was considered a good match by those women.

"Seriously." She confirmed, "I never officially met your father."

That was true, he couldn't believe he forgot about that painful memory. He never introduced her to his father, but he was about to. He had planned a dinner, wanting to introduce the girl who changed his whole world to his father. Valerio had been excited. He already talked about weddings and grandchildren. It had been a dinner they both looked forward to, but that evening when he stepped into his penthouse there was no trace of Hannah anywhere. Her mentioning that she never met his father officially hurt. It made it that much harder for him to stay calm and have a quiet conversation with her.

"Whose fault is that exactly?"

"W-What?"

"Never mind." He needed to remind himself this wasn't a conversation about their needs, "We can't change the past so let's focus on our future instead." He continued, not giving her time to respond, "I made it clear to you before, I'm not going to stay in the background. That child is mine and I'll be in their life. Actively."

"Nero, that might be difficult."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we're not together, we live our lives separately. You being in our child's life might prove to be difficult for the both of us. You have the hotel which has your full attention and the coffee shop has mine. I'm combining my work together with raising my baby."

He let go of the fact that she called their baby her own. It wasn't just her baby, but he knew that in her mind she referred to their child as her own since she planned to raise the baby without him.

"You're going to keep working full-time?'

She looked at him as if he spoke Martian, "Of course."

"So you're going to let a babysitter or a nanny take care of our child while you manage your coffee shop?"

"I'm going to take our baby with me to the coffee shop."

"That's not going to work, Hannah."

"It will!"

She got upset. It was probably something she had been struggling with for a while, not knowing what to do with herself because it was an unplanned pregnancy. The coffee shop was clearly important to her and he could understand that. The hotel was important to him too. But her plans were mere fantasies, in reality, it would never work out taking the baby with her to the coffee shop while she managed it. It would be stressful for both her and their baby. He wouldn't allow that to happen.

"It's not going to work out." He repeated firmly, "You might think it will, but that's because in your head it sounds like a brilliant plan. In reality, it will not only ruin your business but also stress out both you and our child."

"Then what do you suggest?"

She was willing to listen to him, he was glad this wasn't one of those subjects she'd firmly stand her ground even though she was wrong.

"That you let me play an active part in our child's life."

"But what does that even mean?!"

"Calm down." He told her, not wanting her to be upset before they even discussed things properly, there was plenty of time for her to put up a fight after he made his demands clear, "What it means is that I want more than weekends and holidays, Hannah. It means that I want to wake-up to see my child's face and go to bed while their face being the last thing I see."

"I'm not giving my child up." She told him, sounding a lot calmer yet deadlier.

"You don't have to give the baby up."

It was silent between them for a while, her eyes taking him in. He could practically hear her thinking until the cup of hot tea slipped through her fingers and spilled on his rug. She covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head, looking at him in disbelief.

"No!"

He didn't mind her dropping her cup because he surprised her, but he didn't want her to get hurt. Putting his cup coffee on the glass table in front of him, he got to his feet, noticing how she cowered away. Sighing he kneeled down, grabbed the cup to check if it broke and then placed it on the table as well.

"Be careful when you get up, the cup doesn't look broken, but just to be sure."

"You're out of your mind!"

"I just want you to be safe." He muttered, knowing she wasn't referring to him wanting her to be careful because of the spilled tea.

"I'm not talking about that." She slipped away from him, walking around the glass table, "We're not together, we don't work as a couple. So how can you even consider such a thing."

He got to his feet, glaring at her for being so insensitive with her words, "The one who decided we didn't work out was you, you decided it all on your own. Not even giving me the chance to explain myself."

"Explain what, that you didn't think I was good enough? Your actions told me though, words weren't necessary."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"We don't need to bring up the past. The plans for the future you made, they're ridiculous. I'm not considering marriage with you. So you can forget about that." She quickly reached for her bag and stalked to the elevator, wanting to run away from him once more.

He quietly followed after her and pushed the elevator button for her this time, placing his hands in his pockets he stood beside her. His eyes taking in her confused face.

"You can run away from me again, but don't think I won't follow you. If you're going to be difficult about it I'll do the same. I'm giving you an offer which will keep the peace between us. If you choose anything else I'll become your worst nightmare." He promised her calmly, "For now I'll let you leave and think things through."

She was breathing heavily, looking angry and scared at the same time. Her blue eyes told him she knew he wasn't joking. Once the elevator arrived she stepped inside and watched him. Her fighting spirit leaving her when she saw how serious he was about his offer. The last thing he saw of her was her shoulders slumping down and her hanging her head low, realization hitting her.

Stepping away from the elevator he walked back into the living room and cleaned up after them. He was glad she didn't get hurt physically, her state of mind was something which would heal eventually. Her words about him proving to her he thought she wasn't good enough for him stayed with him all night. He didn't understand what she meant by that. The one who ruined them was Hannah, yet she made it sound like it was all his fault. How could that selfish woman shove all the blame upon him without remorse?