Hannah's POV

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Today was day two of being in France.

Ace was grumpy, but he still let me sleep in my own bed the first night. I made breakfast and made him eat. After, he taught me how to play chess for a few hours. It was hard and gave me a headache, but I was obsessed with trying to beat him. Eventually, he had to pry me away from the chess board because I still couldn't win.

We ate lunch in the courtyard, overlooking the beautiful land in France. I've always thought Paris would've been beautiful, but I never even considered the countryside. I could see why Ace liked it out here so much. It was quiet, peaceful.

"Can we play chess when we go back inside?" I begged him. He just laughed, shaking his head.

"No, Amore."

"Why?"

"Because you won't win."

"Then tell me how to win." He's silent, overlooking the estate.

"You won't win because you're worried about protecting your king."

"Isn't that the whole point?"

"Yes, that's how you win. Do you know who the most important piece is though?"

"The king." I say, matter of factly.

"No, it's the queen. The queen is the most powerful, the only one able to make every possible move on the board. If you make one wrong move, you can lose your queen. If you lose her, most people forfeit there."

"Why? You can still win without her."

"Anything is possible in chess, but it's not likely. When you lose your queen, you will eventually lose all of your pawns, and then your king. You can't protect your pieces by taking one step at a time. Losing your queen to your enemy, it gives them all of the power."

I'm silent, thinking. The queen can't possibly have that much power. I mean, don't get me wrong I think we should be treated equally, but chess is an old game. If the queen has always had more power, then maybe every hierarchy we've thought of is wrong.

After lunch we decided to watch a couple movies. It was fun, but also frustrating. Ace and I's game from yesterday has still been going on. No sex, but subtle little touches. Just when you think you're going to get more, you're shoved back to arms length.

For dinner, Ace decided he was going to show me how to make authentic Italian spaghetti. It was so funny, watching how serious someone could be over making pasta. By far, the best part was testing to see if the noodles were done. I thought I was going to lose it when I watched Ace chunked a noodle at the kitchen cabinets. I wanted to try it and, even though I was aiming for the cabinet, I accidentally hit Ace.

"Amore..." We were both frozen as the noodle fell to the ground. "You shouldn't of done that." He says lowly. 

I immediately bolted out of the kitchen with Ace chasing me. I ran into the living room and stopped behind the couch, catching my breath. Ace stood on the other side of the couch, smirking. Before I could realize what happened, he chased me in circles around the couch. I ran out of the back door and into the yard where he chased me for a little while longer. I screamed when arms wrapped around me from behind, lifting me off the ground.

"Not so fast, are we?" He whispers in my ear.

"I let you win." I breath out. He puts me down before walking back inside.

"Come on, Amore." I ignore him and lay down on the grass, still out of breath.

Ace turns around and laughs when he sees me. He walks back to me before pulling me off the ground. I groan as he shakes his head. He turns around and lets me get on his back before carrying me back inside.

We ate dinner, which was amazing, before I finally convinced him to play more chess. I made sure to protect my queen more but, to no avail, I still lost every time. I could tell Ace was trying to take it easy on me, which irritated me more than losing.

Around 11:00, he finally had enough and decided we should go to bed. I went to my room and he went to his. I was tired and tossed and turned, trying to find sleep. No matter how still I laid, I just couldn't. 

I got up from my bed and quietly walked to his room. Not only was it pitch black, but all of the old floors were squeaky, making it hard to be quiet. When I got to his room, I quietly opened the door. His lamp was on and he was on his balcony, drinking a glass of a golden brown liquid.

I said nothing as I quietly got into his bed while he wasn't looking. Ace's bed smelt exactly like him and immediately started to lull me to sleep. I was just on the brink of sleep when the lamp turned off and I felt his side of the bed dip down. He climbed in and adjusted the covers before pulling me closer.

"Did you finally get tired of your own stubbornness, Amore?" He whispered.

"Shhh, I'm sleeping." I  avoid his question, earning a sleepy laugh from him. "Can we play chess again tomorrow?" I whisper.

"No, we have other plans for tomorrow."

"Like?"

"It's a surprise." He tells me. "Just wear the white dress you got the other day." I gasp in fake shock.

"Ace Russo. Don't tell me your taking me on a date!"

"Never, just a little outing." He laughs. 

"Will I get a kiss at the end of the night?" I tease.

"Goodnight, Amore."

"Goodnight, Ace."

With that, we went to sleep. We woke up well in the afternoon with the sun blaring through the windows. Ace was immediately up and out of the bed, whereas I took a little longer. It doesn't matter if I wake up in the morning or the afternoon, I am not removing myself from the bed until I am fully awake.

"Hannah, I'm not telling you again, get up." Ace says with his arms crossed at the foot of the bed. I groan in response. Ace throws the covers off of me and I scream when he grabs my feet and pulls me to him. Without warning, he immediately starts tickling me. I try to fight him off but his grasp is too strong.

"Ok, ok, I'll get up!" I laugh out, immediately causing him to stop.

I walk out of his room and go to my bathroom to get ready. I got a shower before trying my best to do a hot makeup look. It turned out horrible and made me look like a clown, so I took it all off before just trying something natural. It came out good, but it definitely wasn't the best I've ever looked.

I walked to my room and put on the white dress before trying to figure out which shoes to wear. I had my converse from the night I got here, some heels for god knows what, and some strappy sandals. The converse wouldn't have matched and the heels didn't feel right for walking around France, so I decided to go with the sandals.

Then, I was left with my hair. Normally, I have Sarah or Thea do it. Before them, I at least had a few of Olivia's hair products to use. Here though, all I had was a hairbrush. I decided my best bet was to do a braided look that Thea taught me. I left my hair down and braided two pieces in the front, connecting them with a hair tie in the back. I looked cute but simple. It may not be the best I've ever looked, but it's definitely the best look I've done on myself.

"Ready?" I asked Ace, walking into the living room. He was wearing a suite without a jacked. He didn't have a tie and his sleeves were rolled up. He looked handsome as always.

"You look beautiful, amore." I couldn't help but blush. I can never stop blushing when it comes to Ace.

We went to his car and took off out of the driveway. We stopped in town and got pan bagnat for lunch. It was a sandwich with a bunch of different things, but was surprisingly really good. I expected us to stay in town, but we ended up going towards some of the vineyards. 

We stopped at one and they gave us a tour of the vineyards, the distillery, and even how they made the champagne. It was incredible seeing all of the work that went into one bottle. I knew champagne was just white wine, but I never knew that it could only be labeled "Champagne" if it came from Champagne, France.

The tour lasted a few hours and the sun was already starting to set by the time we left. We walked around town, looking at different shops and things until my stomach started to growl. Apparently, Ace booked reservations at a fancy restaurant called Le Parc. 

Le Parc was so elegant and fancy, I never thought I'd be caught dead in a place like this. All of the waiters referred to Ace as "Don", signifying they knew exactly who he was. He didn't seem to care though. I guess we weren't in any sort of danger here.

I ordered the Shrimp Étouffée and Ace, who you would think would be more diverse, just ordered a burger. We talked the whole time. I told him about my life growing up, what little I remembered of my parents, and some of the crazy experiences I had with Olivia. Ace's childhood wasn't that great, but he mainly talked about high school.

Apparently, he went to a boarding school with the capos, as well as some of the other heirs, called Stonebridge Academy. I never heard of it, but it was actually in America. A ton of rich people went there and it was completely off limits for the mafias to terrorize. He hated the school, but it was the one place he was completely safe. He didn't have to worry about the real world there, he was able to be a normal kid.

Before the check came, Ace went to the restroom while I finished my food. I looked around at all of the elegant people in this place and wondered what it would've been like to grow up in a world like Ace's. I don't know if I would've loved it or hated it. 

"Excuse me, ma'am." A man said, coming up to me. 

The man was wearing a waiters uniform, but it looked as though he put it on in a hurry. Unlike the others, who spoke French or had a strong French accent, this one spoke perfect English. I immediately got a bad feeling about him and was hoping Ace would quickly come back. I froze though, when I saw a tiny bit of blood on his collar.

"I'm going to need you to come with me."

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