Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 310

Chapter 310

Nathaniel’s POV

I’d spent the last twenty minutes discreetly searching for Annie around the Rosemont Hotel ballroom, weaving through endless clusters of conversation and obligatory greetings. I shook hands with executives eager to talk about future partnerships, smiled politely at important clients who couldn’t stop discussing business even at a party, and made small talk with colleagues, all while scanning the room for that white dress that had caught my breath when she arrived. I checked near the buffet, where she might’ve been chatting. I looked out on the terraces, thinking maybe she’d stepped outside for some air. I even peeked into the quieter lounges of the hotel, hoping she’d gotten pulled into a more private conversation.

Nothing.

Annie had vanished.

We hadn’t even had a real chance to talk yet. But that smile she had given me when our eyes met across the crowded room had been enough to reignite a hope I thought I’d lost for good. It was nothing like the distant, guarded look she’d given me when she left my apartment. There had been something there. Forgiveness, maybe. Or at least a willingness to try.

It was nearly midnight. The countdown to the new year was getting close, and I’d made a promise to myself: if I could get close to her and she smiled at me like that again, I’d finally take the kiss I’d been holding back. I didn’t care who was watching. I didn’t care if we still had to keep things quiet. I wasn’t letting the new year start without trying.

I was near the terrace again, checking one last time to see if she’d gone out for fresh air, when someone practically jumped in front of me.

“Nate!” Tori appeared out of nowhere, clearly agitated. “We need to talk.”

“Not now, Tori,” I said automatically, trying to look past her and continue my search. “I’m looking for Annie. Have you seen her?”

“It’s about Annie,” she said, and something in her tone made me stop cold.

I looked at my sister properly for the first time and realized she was genuinely nervous. Her eyes were slightly wide, her shoulders tense, and she was fidgeting anxiously with the strap of her small purse.

I took her hand and guided her toward a quieter corner, away from the music and the animated conversations.

“What happened?” I asked, a knot of dread tightening in my chest.

Tori took a deep breath, like she was bracing herself.

“There are photos of Annie going around in the Kensington employee gossip group…”

“How do you even have access to that group?” I asked automatically, frowning.

“Nate, that’s not the point right now,” she said impatiently. “What matters is-”

“What photos?” I cut in, my stomach twisting with a sick feeling I couldn’t quite name.

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I rushed to her, grabbed a clean sheet from a nearby chair, and gently covered her. I wanted to protect her dignity. I wanted to keep her warm. I took a bottle of water from the minibar and carefully sat beside her on the bed, easing her against my chest.

“Slow,” I murmured, lifting the bottle to her lips. “Small sips.”

She drank a littie, er body trembling against mine. I stroked her hair softly, trying to give her comfort, to ground her.

“You’re safe,” I whispered. “I’ve got you.”

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly, looking at her face in the soft light. “Annie… are you okay?”

She wasn’t. Not really. I knew that.

She managed a small nod, but tears slid silently down her cheeks. Not sobs-just that hollow, stunned crying that comes from shock, from the slow realization of what’s happened.

I kept stroking her hair, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head, pouring everything I couldn’t say into the touch. Every movement was a promise that she was safe now, that no one would hurt her again.

And as I held her, details kept registering, each one tightening something in my chest.

She was still clearly under the effects of something. Her pupils were dilated, her movements sluggish, and her speech slurred. A red mark stood out on her cheek, already swollen from a violent slap. Her clothes had been

torn away.

Seeing the evidence of what she’d endured made my blood boil all over again.

But more than anything, it made one thing painfully clear.

Whatever it took, I was going to protect her now.

“Annie…” I murmured, a fresh wave of rage and pain tightening my chest. “What did he do to you?”

She shook her head, the movement weak but deliberate.

“You got here before the worst,” she managed to say, her words still slurred from the drugs.

I kissed the top of her head again, relief crashing over me so hard it almost hurt. There was nothing okay about any of this, but knowing she’d been spared the worst of the trauma gave me a small, fragile sense of peace in the middle of the chaos.

After a few quiet minutes, she spoke again, her voice a little clearer.

“How did you find me?”

“Artichoke,” I answered simply.

A faint, exhausted laugh escaped her lips. It was the first sound even close to relief I’d heard from her since I walked in.

“You understood,” she said, almost surprised.

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No matter what the truth was, Annie didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve to be exposed half dressed and vulnerable in photos now circulating among our coworkers. Whatever had happened between us, whatever choices she’d made, this was an unacceptable violation of her privacy.

I didn’t want to be that guy-the controlling, possessive ex, if that’s even what I was now. But my hands were shaking slightly as I pulled out my phone. I was going to call Annie and keep calling until she picked up. I needed to hear her side. I needed to understand what had happened. And more than anything, I needed to know that she was okay. That she was safe.

But when I unlocked my screen, the message staring back at me stunned me more than any photo ever could.

One word.

Just one.

D

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