Heart of Pains

Chapter Seventeen

Hannah POV:

Over the last few days, these guys have been quite entertaining, except for that one time Dean unexpectedly barged into my room looking as if he were being chased. He had run in and slammed the door behind him, only to see me glaring at him. Soon, Annabella had arrived in her wolf form before returning to her human form.

She then disguised herself as our new cleaner. And let me tell you, that girl is incredibly skilled, or maybe it's their mate bond, but Dean was all riled up over her.

He kept saying, "Hannah, that cleaner of yours is so fucking... beautiful."

Believe me, I could almost hear wedding bells. I'm happy that nothing happened between us, and even Damien helped me out by locking the room after Dean finally left the room. The only downside is that we're stuck with each other.

No, we can't simply make the housekeeper start suspecting anything. But let me tell you, Damien has been doing an incredible job bonding with my kids by playing games with them and spending time with them. They've gotten incredibly close pretty quickly. It warms my heart to see them happy with a father-like figure in their lives.

Now, here's the deal—I've decided, and don't worry, it's not about filing for a divorce just yet. Instead, I'm taking a different route. I've decided to file for adoption, not in a legal sense, but in the way I want the world to see our family.

Although my little ones are too young to understand it all right now. But if they ever start asking questions about their origins when they're older; I'll be there to provide them with every single detail. I want to make them understand the depth of my love for them.

So, I will go with Damien's suggestion, I need them to experience the outside world. I can't keep hiding anymore. They need to experience a real school since my kids have never been seen by an outsider. However, I decided to do it in Australia. Believe me, there is nothing money can't buy. I first registered my kids in an orphanage. I sent them Leo and Mariel's pictures. It was pretty tricky but thank God I was able to pull it off, and I'm still waiting for the result.

In other news, my attraction to Damien is getting harder to ignore. I really need to bang someone. I need something to flush it out of my system before it becomes too toxic.

One day, I was walking through the house and noticed Dean and Damien sitting by the pool in lounge chairs. So, I decided to sit and listen. It seemed like he was talking about the new maid. I smiled secretively to myself as Dean began talking.

"I'm so in love with Annabella. But I don't know how to ask her to go out on a date with me. I need some ideas. Please help me," he said, looking at Dean in desperation.

I let out a sigh of relief; that's such good news. God, this is better than I thought. At least I won't have to keep locking my bedroom door at night.

Damien chuckled in response, sounding nervous as fuck.

"That was fast, dude, but I'd advise you to follow your heart. That's all the advice I can give you. I've never been in love with someone, so I suck at this," he answered.

"Okay. But what about you and Hannah?" Dean asked.

Damien, who was drinking a glass of water, spat it out. He looked at Dean wide-eyed.

"What do you mean by, 'me and Hannah,' Dean?" he answered nonchalantly.

"I see the way you look at her."

Wait. How does he look at me? I wondered.

"How do I look at her?" Damien replied.

"You look at her like a man who wants to be claimed..." Dean said but stopped when Damien rushed over to cover his mouth.

"Don't finish that sentence!"

Unbeknownst to me, Annabella appeared out of nowhere, so she was standing behind me. I didn't know she was there until I heard her speak.

"My queen." I jumped and spun around, annoyance rolling off of me in waves.

"Annabella, stop calling me your queen. Call me madam. I don't need my cover to be blown," I said, checking if they were still conversing. She nodded understandingly, her eyes wide.

"Yes, my... madam," she quickly corrected herself.

I gave her a sharp look before shaking my head at her and began walking out of the room. She followed me, looking puzzled.

"What was that look for?"

"I'll explain if you meet me in the garden," I said.

"Okay. Yes, madam," she replied and walked out.

I then entered the pool room where Damien and Dean were lounging. They looked up at me once they noticed me.

"Hey, guys, I wanted to talk to you, but it seems like you're busy. I'll come back later."

Although I wanted to talk to them, I masked my emotions. I then looked down at Damien's chest and swore. His glistening abs were on display and they were very distracting. Even his biceps.... Shit, I wanted to lick them.

"Don't even go there, Hannah. Respect yourself," my subconscious scolded. Damien noticed, and a wicked but stupid smirk crossed his equally stupid face.

"Hannah, if you're done eyefucking me, you can tell us what you came to say," he replied.

"Are you crazy? I don't know why I bothered to ask," I replied, rolling my eyes. He sat up and crossed his very muscular arms.

"I don't care. Now, out with it, Hannah!" I threw my hands in the air, exasperated. I wondered why I bothered with Damien sometimes. He was such a drama queen.

"Fine. I'm traveling to Hong Kong since I have to sign a contract and I'll be back next Monday. So, I came to ask if you're going to go back to your home or if you're still going to stay here and continue to bicker like women. Seriously, don't you think your three days are up by now? Or do you want me to grab a broom and sweep you out?" I said with a sweet smile that I've used to deceive the devil sometimes, hoping it would work on them.

Instead of Damien answering me, it was Dean.

"No, I've changed my mind. I've found an exciting adventure. But why do you want to go underground?" he sighed inwardly.

It's the story of my life. You see, that's why I need to always keep my enemies close. They don't have big mouths. Can you imagine?

"Keep your mouth shut, and don't you dare question me, Dean Mason," I said coldly, my tone matching my icy demeanor.

"Yes, my queen," he replied, standing up and bowing respectfully.

I nodded firmly in approval before turning to Damien, who was gaping at me in shock. I bet he had many questions, especially after hearing Dean refer to me as his "Queen". So I decided to be somewhat nice and enlighten him.

"Now, Damien, I'm going for a business transaction. Just know that I'm not just an actress or a model. I'm a lot more than that. Just keep up with the picture. I'll be back tomorrow at midnight," I said coldly.

"Okay. But what about Mariel and Leo?" Damien's concern for my children caught me off guard, but I wasn't going to let my guard down.

"They already know that Mommy's going on a trip and will be back soon," I replied, keeping my answer brief. "And if that's all the questions you have for me, I think I need to be on my way. I have many things that require my attention."

And without waiting for his response, I turned and walked out. I couldn't afford to let Damien become even more entangled in my life than he already was.