The Auction House Deal: Bought by A Billionaire

Chapter 178: Back to Basics: Hannah

After we laid there for a while, we decided to shower.

I stayed in a little longer than Roman, to condition my hair and shave my legs. I took my time, using the shower to collect my thoughts and process them appropriately.

It was going to take longer than one shower to get through it, to make my mind up.

To be okay.

I knew that, and I knew I needed to call Tara and maybe make another appointment rather soon. We had agreed on weekly meetings at the same time, but I thought that maybe, until things settled down, seeing her a couple times a week might be beneficial.

That way I didn’t lose my mind while lying low again. And so that I had an outlet and didn’t grow frustrated with anyone around me and take it out on them.

I was doing my best to do things in a healthy and rational way. We didn’t have all the resources before that we had then, and I planned on using them.

Once I ran out of things to do in the shower, I cut off the water and wrapped myself in a towel. I took my time drying my hair, moisturizing, and any other little self-care things I could do to take up some time.

It wasn’t that I was avoiding Roman... it wasn’t like that at all.

Instead, I was just trying to think and care for myself and slow time down a bit. It almost felt like time didn’t exist outside of that bathroom. That as long as I stayed in there, the investigation and danger would be on hold.

It was a silly thought. I was sure that my mind was just trying to distance myself mentally and emotionally from it all.

Taking a deep breath, I knew that I couldn’t hide in there forever.

Pattering over to the door, I heard Roman talking before I even opened it. He was on the phone with someone. With context clues, I figured out it was Marcus and Ed.

I sighed lightly, wondering if maybe I should stay in there a little longer and let it finish. However, in the next instant, Roman cut the phone on speaker as he busied himself with a task. It sounded like he was rifling through his nightstand.

"You should have already gone back to the way things were, Rome," Ed sighed.

"I know. I just... I don’t know. I wanted to ease into it," Roman muttered.

"We told you what to do, and not to sound harsh or cruel, but you need to just do it. At least until we get there," Marcus chimed in.

I emerged from the bathroom, curiosity gripping me. "What do they mean by that?" I asked Roman, my eyes locked onto him.

He glanced over at me, sighed, and said his goodbyes to Ed and Marcus. He sat his phone down and patted the bed. Still in a towel, I moved over and sat next to him.

It took him a moment to gather his words. By the look on his face, I knew he was worried that he was going to upset me.

"So, they wanted us to go back to the way things were. Right away. Full blast. I had wanted to ease us back into it... Full staff, full lockdown... That’s a lot at once, you know? Especially if it’s just one guy we are trying to avoid."

A bit of frustration flared in me. "If Marcus and Ed told us to do that, we should have. Had we, maybe this wouldn’t have happened today."

"I mean, it wouldn’t have stopped the guy from running me down.

But I see your point. It wouldn’t have been such a close call."

He nodded.

"I’m sorry. I just... I don’t know. I guess I was just hopeful. And I didn’t want to make things worse for you by making it too much at once."

"The only thing that’s worse for me is even the thought of losing you," I urged.

Roman nodded and frowned. "I’ll make the call shortly to get the rest of the staff back. I’m afraid that, for the next couple of weeks, we will need to lie low. In the house. Work from here. The gala will heavily depend on if we are able to do that successfully."

"Completely understandable," I agreed.

He eyed me curiously. "Can you forgive me?"

I rolled my eyes and scooted over, giving him a big hug.

"How could I stay mad at a face like that?" I smiled.

He squeezed me tightly and kissed the side of my neck. "I forgive you so long as you promise to always have a bodyguard with you."

"Deal," he replied.

I moved from the bed and went over to the closet. "We never got to go to that festival. How about we go have a few beers downstairs?"

"That sounds perfect." He sighed happily.

"Maybe find something to eat, too. I skipped lunch."

"I thought it was a lunch meeting?" I called as I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top.

"Yeah, I got annoyed and left before the food arrived," he called to me as he looked at his cellphone.

"What got you so annoyed?" I asked as I walked in his direction.

A sly look came over his face as he hooked an arm around me. "The guy leading the meeting, not one of my employees, tried to fuss at me for texting my wife."

"Oh?" I asked with a giggle.

He nodded and kissed my cheek. "I got my way. He tried to kick off to his boss, but I had a word with the guy. A while later, the guy who tried to boss me around left in a huff."

"Aren’t you large and in charge," I giggled, bumping him with my hip.

We moved downstairs together and got into the kitchen. We opened up a couple of the seasonal beers Geoffrey had on hand, and Roman delighted in the leftovers from lunch that the butler had also boxed up. As he took an absurdly big bite, he looked about.

"I want something sweet," he announced. He looked over at me.

"Want to bake something together?"

"Oh really? Like what?" I asked.

He eyed about in the fridge and in the pantry. "Oh. Want to try and make baklava?"

"Do you know how?" I asked curiously.

He shrugged and shook his head. "No, but only one way to find out."

I rolled my eyes and grinned. "Let’s try it."

We waited for him to finish his very late lunch before looking up on our phones the recipes for baklava and homemade phyllo dough. Sure enough, we had all the things for it. Just looking at pictures of the dessert, however, I felt we were completely out of our depth.

Still, it was such good fun. We got a pretty nice buzz after a couple beers and worked together to get the dough made first. It was a difficult but delightful process.

We giggled and chatted the whole way through. He eventually played some music in the background. We sang along here and there, danced occasionally, all the while laboring over our treats.

Once the dough was resting, we worked on making the filling and deciding what to make for dinner. Apparently, his sandwich was settling rather quickly. He sent Geoffrey a message to let him know we were going to make dinner together.

With Lori planting the idea of Italian in my head, I went with lasagna and Greek salads. A way to tie everything together. I worked on the sauce, as it would take a while to cook to perfection.

We worked side by side, Roman deciding to try his hand at focaccia as well to go with dinner.

Just like that, even though we were in imminent danger and would be locked down for weeks, we were in our own little world. Nothing mattered outside of that kitchen.

We were making the most of it and I just hoped that for the remainder of lockdown, we would continue to have a good time.

I tried to tell myself that everything happened for a reason, but I didn’t want to give purpose behind the violence taking place against us. Instead, we would just focus on making the most of the situation.

We would continue working, get back into our workout routine, and find more time to have moments like that. Laboring together in the kitchen, bonding as we made food with fresh ingredients and lots of love.

When we finally sat down to eat, with baskets of baklava and focaccia, and bowls of lasagna and salad, we were nothing but smiles.

If anyone was on the outside looking in, we wouldn’t have seemed like a stressed and in danger couple. We would have simply looked happy and in love. Just as it should be... and the way I hoped it would stay.