Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 355

Chapter 355

Marcus’ POV

Leaning against the glass wall overlooking the runway, I watched the constant flow of people around me. Couples laughing as they scroll through their phones. Entire families loaded down with suitcases and excitement. Executives checking last-minute emails. Solo travelers lost in books or headphones. Everyone

med to know exactly where they were-and where they were going.

I, on the other hand, was standing here waiting for a woman whose name I didn’t know, about to board a honeymoon that wasn’t mine, based on a promise made after a night of sex that still felt unreal.

I slipped my hand into the pocket of my jacket and feel the crumpled piece of paper she left had behind in the hotel room. The flight details, gate number, and time were all written in hurried but careful handwriting. “This way we don’t have to exchange numbers or accidentally learn each other’s names at check-in,” she had said, wearing that mysterious smile I couldn’t get out of my head.

Any rational man would’ve thrown that paper away. Or better yet, any rational man would never have made it this far. Who in their right mind would agree to fly to the Maldives with a complete stranger just hours after meeting her, while she was running away from her own wedding?

But here I was.

And I knew exactly why.

I didn’t want to let this chance slip away again. I couldn’t spend the rest of my life wondering what if. What if this goddess in a wedding dress who appeared in front of me like she fell straight out of the sky was fate giving me one last chance not to repeat my past mistakes?

It was not every day a runaway bride crossed your path while you were riding your motorcycle down some random avenue. That wasn’t a coincidence. It was more like a neon sign flashing relentlessly in my brain: This is your chance, idiot! Don’t waste it!

The watch on my wrist told me there were fifteen minutes left until boarding. Around me, passengers began drifting toward the gate, organizing documents, adjusting carry-ons, and forming small clusters of conversation. A family with three small kids ran past me, the mother shouting something about not forgetting the teddy bear.

Was she really coming?

The question echoed in my head for the tenth time in less than half an hour. Was it just the alcohol and desperation talking when she had made that insane proposal? Did she get home, look at herself in the mirror, and think, ‘What the hell did I do yesterday?’

That would be understandable. After all, who am I to her besides a stranger who showed up at the right moment? Or the wrong one, depending on how you look at it.

“Attention passengers on flight EK261 to Dubai, please proceed to gate 12 for boarding.”

My heart sped up. The announcement echoed through the terminal, and a sizable group of people started moving toward our gate. I checked my boarding pass again, as if the information might’ve magically changed in the last five minutes. Gate 12. This was it.

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But she still hadn’t shown up.

Maybe that was for the best. Maybe it was a sign this whole thing was just a temporary lapse in judgment, and now I could go back to my normal, sensible, predictable life. Maybe I should call Christian and tell him I was officially ending my unplanned vacation. He’d have a place for me again. He always would.

“Now boarding priority passengers in first class and business class for flight 3847.”

I glanced down at my ticket. First class. She really hadn’t held back on the honeymoon. Or rather, her ex-fiancé hadn’t.

I stepped into the priority line, my carry-on heavy on my shoulder. By the time I was almost at the front, close to the agent checking passes, I mentally accepted that I was an idiot to believe this would actually happen. She was not coming. She was probably talking to her family right now, trying to clean up the chaos her canceled wedding must’ve caused.

And I was going to the Maldives alone, on someone else’s honeymoon.

“Next!”

I took my first step toward the airline agent when I heard it. My breath was caught for a second.

“Apollo!”

Her voice cut through the airport noise like a blade. I turned toward the sound; and there she was, running straight toward me, a rolling suitcase rattling behind her, sunglasses hiding half her face, loose hair flying with

every step.

It was her.

She came.

The impact of seeing her again hit me like a punch to the gut. I didn’t know if it was relief, surprise, desire, or a volatile mix of all three, but something inside me shifted completely the second our eyes met.

Even behind the sunglasses, I could see her searching for me. Finding me. Locking onto me. And in that instant, every shred of rational thinking I’d tried to hold onto all morning went straight out the window.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She stopped in front of me, slightly out of breath. “Traffic was awful and… wow. You actually came.”

“So did you,” I said, unable to hide the smile spreading across my face.

“Are you traveling together?” the airline agent interrupted, holding out her hand for our boarding passes.

We looked at each other for a second that felt endless. She could still back out. I could still back out. There was

still time.

“We are,” she said before I could, pulling off her sunglasses and looking straight at me.

Her honey-colored eyes were steady, determined-but there was a trace of vulnerability there too. She was no longer just a runaway bride escaping a failed wedding. She was a woman making a conscious decision, even if it

was a crazy one.

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“Yeah,” I said, handing my boarding pass to the agent. “We are.”

As we walked down the jet bridge toward the plane with her beside me, dragging her suitcase and me carrying my bag, I was absolutely certain of one thing.

She might be a complete stranger. I might not know her name, her age, her job, or a single detail about her life. But the moment our

eyes met at that gate, I knew I was already all in.

Right to the very end.

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