Page 36 of Billionaire Unforgettable: Tanner

At one time, Hannah had looked at me like I’d hung the moon and stars just for her.

Now, she looked at me like she wasn’t sure that she trusted a single word I said.

Maybe it was unreasonable to want anything different, but I did.

“I know you’re trying to clear up the misunderstanding in town,” Kaleb said. “I get that. It’s the fair thing to do since Hannah needs to live here, too, but it feels like you’re taking this personally.”

“How can I not take it personally coming from her,” I said irritably. “We were together for years, and we were engaged. I loved her.”

“Years ago,” Devon reminded me. “Are you sure you ever got over that breakup?”

“It has been years, and you’ve never dated another woman,” Kaleb observed, eying me like he was trying to figure me out.

I stared him down. “Obviously, I moved on. We’ve made this company into one of the most successful holding companies in the world. Maybe I’ve just never met someone I wanted to be with.”

“That was an expert evasion of that question,” Devon observed. “Hannah is pretty special. I think she’d be a hard woman to get over.”

I sent my little brother an annoyed glance. “Even if I wasn’t over the breakup, she’s already put me in her rearview mirror. I hurt her, and I can’t take that back.”

“Be straight with us, Tanner,” Kaleb said solemnly. “You’ve never really talked much about what happened with Hannah, not even to us. I knew you were hurting, but I didn’t want to force you to discuss it if talking about her made it harder for you.”

I took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to talk about her. I didn’t want to think about her. Especially if I had to picture her with another guy. I wanted to bury the entire relationship.”

“How did that work out for you?” Devon asked in a serious tone.

“It worked out fine,” I lied. “Until I saw her again and realized that I’d lost her because I was an idiot. Hannah was my everything. I knew that soon after we met. I think my anger about her leaving me for another guy made me irrational, which is why I didn’t go after her. I wasn’t listening to her, so it was the only explanation that made sense at the time.”

“Honestly, it didn’t make sense to me,” Devon mused. “Don’t get me wrong, I believed you, but it never made sense. Hannah was crazy about you. And I never took her for the kind of woman who would just up and leave you for another man. But my judgement when it comes to females has always sucked.”

“Truthfully, it didn’t make sense to me, either,” Kaleb admitted. “Hannah was like family, and her devotion to you was obvious. Like Devon, I believed your theory. But I was caught in the same obsession over KTD that you were at the time, so in my mind, it was the only explanation that seemed plausible. Looking back, I’m glad I wasn’t in a relationship at the time. I don’t think I could have balanced a relationship and the demands of our company at the same time.”

“She was really supportive of KTD. She had a lot of patience,” Devon said thoughtfully. “But I think she must have felt like she wasn’t important to you anymore. Everything we did revolved around this company at the time.”

“I made her feel like she wasn’t important,” I said hoarsely. “I didn’t listen to her. I was so distracted that I didn’t keep any of the promises I made to her.”

And I hated myself for that now.

“And you regret that now,” Kaleb stated. “But you can’t go back and change that, Tanner. We all acted like idiots back then. The only difference is that Devon and I weren’t in a committed relationship at the time, but I have some regrets over not paying attention to the important things in life, too. I get it. What do you want from Hannah now?”

“She doesn’t owe me anything,” I said in a graveled voice. “And I can’t expect anything from her. I want her to trust me again. I want to help her reach her own goals since I didn’t do shit for her when she needed me.”

“Then support her goals now,” Devon suggested. “What’s stopping you?”

“Her,” I replied, frustrated. “She doesn’t want my help, and she doesn’t need my support. She doesn’t needme. She’s been successful, and she can do it again on her own. Hell, all I want is to make it easier for her to achieve that goal.”

I explained to my brothers about what Hannah’s plans were for her business, and about my offer to help finance it, which was flatly refused.

“It might be a little soon to make her an offer like that,” Kaleb advised. “You two need to get to know each other again. Luckily, none of us are the idiots we were when you two broke up.”

“I plan on getting to know her,” I rumbled. “But I’m not so sure she has the same intentions.”

“You’re the most persistent guy I know,” Devon informed me. “Wear her down.”

“This isn’t a business transaction, Devon,” I said in a disgusted voice.

“No,” Kaleb argued. “He’s right. If this is important to you, make it happen. Just go a little slower.”

Devon snickered as he looked at Kaleb. “Like you should be talking about going slow? You don’t think your relationship with Anna happened at warp speed after you figured out that the two of you were supposed to be together?”

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