Page 23 of Doctor Billionaire's Surprise Baby

"Of course," she replied, offering me a reassuring smile. "Just... nervous, I guess."

"Understandable," I conceded, feeling a pang of guilt for bringing her into my complicated world. The thought of my sisters, Giuliana and Giorgia, and their obsession with wealth and status, made me cringe. How would they treat Simone, who was so grounded and genuine in comparison?

"Hey," Simone said softly, shifting to close the distance and reaching her hand to mine. "It’s going to be okay." She must have seen me tense up. Just thinking about my family made me feel anxious.

"Right," I agreed, feeling a warmth spread through me at her touch.

I was glad that I was doing this with Simone. She was someone I could rely on, and we were in this together. Whateverthisturned out to be. It brought me a sense of comfort I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“I am excited to go back to Italy, though,” Simone said, slicing through my thoughts. “I’ll never forget the time that Seth and I spent with my nonna. She made everything so magical. And Italy was, well, gorgeous seems to be an understatement. The architecture, the food, the people…”

I smiled as Simone seemed lost in thought.

"Ah, yes. Your nonna," I said, remembering the warm, nurturing woman who had taken Simone and her brother in during their parents' divorce. "She's quite a remarkable person. I'll never forget that she treated me so well whenever I would come over. I felt like part of the family."

Simone's face softened with affection.

"You're right. She treated you like she treated me and Seth. At least, what I can remember. Although I haven't seen her for many years, she truly is amazing. She taught us so much about love and resilience in the face of adversity. I'm forever grateful for her guidance. "

"Sounds like you two have a special connection," I remarked, feeling a pang of envy. My own relationship with my family was far more complicated and, well, cold.

"Tell me more about your family," Simone prompted gently, sensing the shift in my mood. “I know they expected you to take over the family business, and that’s, of course, not how things happened. But what are they like? I don’t remember much about them, I’m afraid.”

I hesitated, unsure of where to begin.

"Well, my father, Carlo, is very successful and, as I mentioned, he’s shifting into politics. Which is, quite frankly, perfect for him. He’s incredibly ambitious and just wants me and my sisters to have the same ambitions. He always wanted us to follow him on his path because he thought it was the right path. He’s notcompletely heartless. When I was younger, he was supportive and tried to teach me the things he knows. I think I owe some of my success to him because he took that time. I just didn’t do what he wanted in the end, and so now he’s infinitely disappointed in me. On top of that, he thinks I abandoned the family and moved to America, and he'll never see past that. My mom supports his way of thinking, of course."

“That sounds like a lot of pressure,” Simone observed, her expressive eyes filled with empathy.

I nodded.

“My mom, Caterina, is a socialite through and through. She was born wealthy and stayed wealthy. Together, my parents have always prioritized wealth, status, and power above everything else.” I paused, searching for the right words to describe my sisters. "And then there's Giuliana and Giorgia, my twin sisters, who are just as obsessed with those things as our parents. They've grown up splashed across the magazines with paparazzi following their every move. They love the attention, and because they don't really have to work for the attention or the money, they don't seem to have much ambition in life."

I paused again, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Just so you know, and I know I’ve told you before, but you are incredible, Hugo," Simone reassured me, her eyes full of admiration. "It's hard to understand that you come from the same family as the people you have just described. You're so different. You focus on helping people every single day. That's far from a waste of potential, or however your parents see it."

"Thank you," I whispered, feeling a lump rise in my throat. It was rare for someone to truly understand and appreciate my passion for my work, and hearing Simone's words of encouragement meant more than she could ever know.

She reached over and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "And remember, no matter what happens, you're not alone." Simone hesitated a bit. “You have me, Seth, and everyone at the clinic.”

I nodded again, the lump in my throat growing bigger and harder.

The plane continued to hurtle toward Italy, and over the Atlantic I found a sense of camaraderie with Simone. We turned the subject from heavy family drama to lighter topics; books, TV shows, music that I had no idea existed, and my general outlook on life that kept Simone laughing.

I wanted to make Simone laugh forever.

Shit. Where the hell did that come from?

“The neighborhood we grew up in was pretty rough,” Simone said thoughtfully. “It only got harder when my parents got divorced and Mom couldn’t afford decent housing. My dad completely bounced and moved somewhere – Arizona, I think? My mom ended up in a rundown apartment in Quincy and that’s when she sent us to Nonna. It was only supposed to be a summer, but, well, you know we were there a little longer.”

I nodded, remembering Simone and Seth in Italy for nearly two years before their grandmother started having trouble caring for them.

"I, for one, am really glad that you came to Italy. I'm not glad about why you had to come, but if there wasn't that trouble in your family, we would never have met," I murmured with empathy. "And now nursing. When and how did you decide to go into nursing?"

I hoped this didn’t sound like a job interview, but clearly, I struggled to talk about anything except work.

“Honestly, I think it's been the few years that I've been working at the clinic. I see the work you do and the impact you make, and I just want to be part of that. I want to know how to comfort someone and I think because I might be a little damagedin the emotional part of life, if I can help and comfort someone physically, that just inspires me. I just want to make a difference, you know? To at least one person. If I can help just one person at a time, that would be enough. So that led me to nursing.” She shrugged, as if not knowing what else to say.

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