A Deal With De Niro

Chapter 7

By the time they finished eating and moved to the couch with another glass of wine, Shannon felt like she'd known him for years - not just a week. He was still intimidating, still a little cold sometimes, but she was starting to see that there was more to him than his reputation suggested.

"So," she said after a while, swirling her wine in her glass. "Tell me about your flings. Everyone in Manila talks about them - how you never see the same woman twice."

Blaine's expression darkened a little, and he looked away from her, staring out at the city lights. She immediately regretted asking - she'd promised herself she wouldn't bring up his past, wouldn't make things awkward.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I shouldn't have asked - it's none of my business."

"It's okay," he said, turning back to look at her. "You deserve to know who you're marrying. The truth is... I don't do relationships because I don't believe in them. My parents - they had a 'love marriage,' everyone said it was perfect. But when my father was diagnosed with cancer, he told us he'd been having an affair for fifteen years. With his secretary. They had two kids together that we didn't know about."

Shannon's eyes widened in shock. She'd had no idea - no one ever talked about the De Niro family's personal life, just their business success.

"He died six months later," Blaine continued, his voice quiet and tight. "My mother was destroyed - she'd given up everything for him, moved to a foreign country, left her family behind. She still loves him, even after everything he did. That's what love does to you - it makes you blind, makes you weak. I promised myself I'd never let that happen to me. Flings are easy - no expectations, no heartbreak, no one gets hurt."

Shannon reached out and touched his hand, her fingers resting lightly on his. His skin was warm, and his hand was big enough to wrap around hers completely.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "That must have been hard - for you and your mother."

"It was," he said, turning his hand over to hold hers. His grip was gentle but firm, and she felt that same flutter in her stomach again. "But it taught me something - business is safe. You can calculate risks, make plans, control the outcome. Love... love is unpredictable. It's the one thing you can't plan for, can't control. And I don't like things I can't control."

Shannon thought about Marcus, about how much she'd loved him, how much it had hurt to let him go. She'd thought love was supposed to be easy, supposed to make everything better. But maybe Blaine was right - maybe love was just a risk you took, a gamble you couldn't win.

"What about you?" He asked, squeezing her hand gently. "Why did you break up with your boyfriend? Your father said you had to, but I know there's more to it than that."

She sighed, leaning back against the couch and looking up at the ceiling. She hadn't talked about Marcus with anyone since he'd left her apartment - not even her lola. It felt good to finally say it out loud.

"His name is Marcus," she said. "We were together for three years. He's a graphic designer - sweet, funny, he always knew how to make me laugh. We talked about getting married, buying a house, having kids. He even met my lola - she loved him."

"So why did you end it?"

"Because I had to," she said, her voice getting a little thick. "My father told me about the arranged marriage, and I knew I had to choose - my family or Marcus. I couldn't ask him to wait for me, couldn't ask him to share me with a man I was supposed to marry. He deserved someone who could give him everything - not someone who was already promised to someone else."

Blaine was quiet for a moment, then pulled his hand away and ran his fingers through his hair. "You made the right choice," he said, but his voice didn't sound like he believed it. "Family comes first - that's what my mother always says."

"Does it?" She looked at him, her eyes full of sadness. "Or do we just tell ourselves that so we don't feel guilty about the choices we make?"

Before he could answer, his phone rang - a sharp, business-like tone that cut through the quiet of the penthouse. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, his expression hardening immediately.

"Sorry," he said, standing up and walking toward the balcony. "I have to take this - it's my team in Milan. Something about a new product launch."

Shannon nodded, watching as he stepped outside and started talking in rapid-fire Italian. She could tell by his body language that something was wrong - his shoulders were tense, his voice was sharp and angry. She stood up and started clearing the dishes from the table, washing them quietly in the sink while he finished his call.

When he came back inside a few minutes later, his face was back to its usual cold, business-like mask. Whatever warmth had been there before was gone, replaced by the same intensity she'd seen in her office.

"I'm sorry about that," he said, grabbing his jacket from the couch. "I have to go to the office - there's a problem with the Milan launch. They need me to sign off on some changes right away."

"It's okay," she said, drying her hands on a towel. "I should be going anyway - I have an early meeting tomorrow with the audit team."

He walked her to the door, his pace quick and efficient. She could tell his mind was already on work, already calculating risks and making plans. The man she'd spent the past few hours with - the one who cooked for her, who talked about his family, who held her hand - was gone.

"Thank you for dinner," she said, turning to look at him before she walked out. "It was really nice - the food, the conversation, everything."

He paused for a moment, looking at her like he was trying to decide something. Then he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead - a soft, gentle kiss that made her heart skip a beat.

"Thank you for coming," he said quietly. "We'll do this again next week - my turn to come to your place. I want to see your paintings."

"Okay," she said, smiling despite the disappointment she felt at him having to leave. "I'll make you sinigang - but I'll go easy on the spice."

He let out a small laugh - the warm one she'd grown to like - and opened the door for her. "I'll hold you to that. Drive safe, Shannon."

"You too," she said, walking out into the hallway and heading for the elevator. She didn't look back, but she could feel his eyes on her until the elevator doors closed.