Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 389

Chapter 389

Madeline’s POV

Zoey invited me to sit with her in the armchair by the window while Matt played on the rug at our feet, stacking Corful blocks with the intense focus only small children can manage.

“Gwen didn’t explain much about the details,” I began, watching as Zoey automatically picked up and reorganized the toys Matt scattered. It was a maternal gesture so natural it made me think about my own future. “She just said Marcus is doing everything he can to figure out how to protect me and the baby.”

Zoey nodded, her hands pausing for a moment before she went back to arranging the blocks.

“Marcus is mobilizing every resource he has,” she confirmed, her voice carrying a seriousness that hadn’t been there before. “Christian is involved too, using his business connections to better understand who you’re dealing with.”

The way she said you made my throat tighten. As if Marcus and I were already a unit. A couple. Something established. When in reality, I was still trying to process how I’d ended up here at all.

“But why does that involve a wedding dress?” I asked, remembering Gwen’s cryptic words back at the apartment. “Like Gwen mentioned?”

Zoey laughed, the sound a mix of amusement and familiar exasperation.

“Gwen isn’t exactly subtle,” she said, shaking her head fondly. “She probably wanted to build some dramatic suspense instead of just explaining it.”

Right on cue, Matt knocked over the entire tower of blocks he’d built, clapping happily at the destruction. The crash of plastic echoed through the room, and for some reason, that innocent sound made me smile for the first time in hours.

“The wedding dress is…” Zoey hesitated, clearly choosing her words carefully. “It’s because the strongest legal protection Marcus can offer you is marriage.”

My stomach twisted. Marriage. The word that had haunted me for months. A word tied to Dominic, to manipulation and traps. And now it was being presented as a solution. As salvation.

“You can say no,” Zoey added quickly, noticing my expression. “No one is going to force you into anything. But Marcus and Christian believe it’s the best way. As his wife, you’d have legal protections you don’t have right now. And the baby…”

“The baby would be protected,” I finished, my hand instinctively moving to my still-flat stomach.

“Exactly.”

I took a deep breath, trying to organize the thoughts crashing through my head. The logic was solid-I could see that. But the idea of marrying someone I’d known for such a short time, even for practical reasons, even someone who clearly cared about me, felt too surreal to fully grasp.

“I’ll do whatever it takes for my baby,” I said finally, surprised by the steadiness of my own voice. “But… I just want to talk to my cousin first. I need to know Olivia is okay.”

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Zoey’s expression shifted immediately, a shadow of concern crossing her face.

“Madeline…”

“You said I could ask if I needed anything,” I cut in, reminding her of her words from only minutes earlier. “And ts is what I need. I need to know my cousin is safe.”

Zoey sighed, lifting Matt into her arms as he started crawling toward the door, clearly bored with the adults’ serious conversation.

“I can’t let you make a call,” she said calmly. “Marcus was very clear about that. Any direct contact could be traced. It could give away your location.”

Tears of frustration burned behind my eyes. Olivia had been my anchor through this entire storm-the only person who had stood by me unconditionally when I learned the truth about Dominic. And now I was here, safe in a private paradise, while she was probably wondering whether I was alive or dead.

“But…” Zoey continued, her voice softening, “I can help you in another way.”

“How?” I asked immediately, leaning forward in the chair.

“You’ll have to trust me.”

Trust. Once again, that word was something that had become both my salvation and my prison. I looked at Zoey, at the baby in her arms watching me with those curious blue eyes, at the genuine sincerity in her expression.

I nodded, but a bad feeling spread through my chest like an oil spill. Lately, I’d been trusting people I barely knew far too much. Handing over crucial decisions about my life and my child’s to strangers, no matter how well -intentioned they seemed.

Maybe that was what survival required now. After all, the last time I’d trusted people I thought I knew well, I’d been betrayed on every side.

Still, it didn’t feel good. This constant sense of drifting, of my life becoming a series of choices made by other people, even if they claimed it was for noble reasons. It felt like being caught in an ocean current-you could swim with it or fight against it, but either way, you weren’t the one deciding where you’d end up.

My son was growing inside me in the middle of all this uncertainty. What kind of life was I building for him? What kind of example was I setting before he was even born?

“Madeline?” Zoey’s voice pulled me back to the present. “Are you okay?”

I blinked, realizing I’d been lost in my thoughts for several seconds. Matt was staring at me with a serious expression, as if he could sense my emotional turmoil.

“Yes,” I lied. “I’m fine.”

But the truth was, nothing was fine. I was pregnant, on the run from a dangerous man, about to marry someone I barely knew, in a place where I didn’t know how long I could stay. And now, even speaking to the one person I truly trusted was off the table.

The feeling of being at the mercy of strangers was overwhelming. But what was the alternative? Going back to Dominic meant handing my baby over to a man who had already made it clear he would see him as nothing more

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than a tool of control. Trying to handle everything on my own was impossible-I didn’t have the resources, the connections, or the knowledge to stand up to someone with the kind of power and influence Dominic clearly had.

So all that was left was trust. Trust-and hope that this time, I was making the right choice.

What do you have in mind?” I finally asked Zoey, my voice coming out weaker than I wanted.

Zoey smiled, but there was a seriousness in her eyes that told me she understood exactly how much she was asking of me.

“Leave it to me,” she said simply. “I’ll make sure you get news about your cousin. Without compromising anyone’s safety.”

I nodded again, but inside, a small, frightened voice whispered that I was doing everything wrong, giving up too much control, trusting too quickly.

Maybe it was paranoia. Or maybe it was survival instinct.

Only time would tell.

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