Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 431

Chapter 431

Madeline’s POV

The darkness inside the elevator felt thicker with every passing minute. Even with the little red light blinking on the panel, I could barely make out anything around me. I was sitting on the floor, my back pressed to the rear wall, trying to control my breathing the way Marcus had taught me over the intercom.

His voice had calmed me for a few minutes, but now that he’d stopped talking to deal with the technician, the panic was creeping back in. Every small sound the elevator made, the low electrical hum, the occasional creak of the cables, sent my heart racing.

That was when I heard a different noise coming from above.

A metallic sound, like someone was working on the top of the elevator. My blood went cold. In my terrified mind, every worst-case scenario rushed in at once. What if the elevator was about to fall? What if the structure was giving way?

“No, no, no,” I murmured, pressing myself harder against the wall.

The noise continued, now unmistakably the sound of something being opened above me. In the near-total darkness, I heard metal scraping against metal, followed by a faint rush of air that hadn’t been there before.

I started screaming.

“Help! Aiuto!” I shouted in English and Valentian, the only words I could manage. “Please! Someone!”

“Madeline!” Marcus’s voice came from above, clear and close. “Calm down. It’s me. Stay calm!”

“Marcus?” I whispered, still shaking.

“Yes, it’s me. I’m coming down there with you, okay?”

I heard movement overhead, and then I saw a silhouette lowering itself through the opening that had been created in the elevator ceiling. Seconds later, Marcus was there with me, on the elevator floor, pulling me into his arms without hesitation.

I buried my face in his chest, breathing in his familiar scent. His arms wrapped around me completely, one hand stroking my hair while the other held me tight, anchoring me to him.

“What are you doing?” I asked against his chest, my voice still trembling.

“If you’re afraid of being here alone,” he said simply, “then I’ll stay here with you.”

“But… aren’t they going to get me out?”

“They’re working on it,” he said, adjusting our position so I could lean against him more comfortably. “For now, you just need to calm down. You’re not alone anymore.”

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“It’s hard,” I admitted, trying to slow my uneven breathing. “I know it’s just an elevator. I know it’s temporary, but-”

“But it reminds you of the closet,” he finished gently.

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I nodded against his chest.

“My dad drank a lot, for a while,” I began, surprising myself by continuing. “When the parks started going downhill and the money wasn’t what it used to be. He and my mom fought all the time because he was cheating on her too, so the house was always full of shouting.”

Marcus didn’t say anything. He just kept stroking my hair, giving me the space to talk.

“I hid in my bedroom closet because I was scared,” I went on. “Anything I did, even breathing too loudly, could set him off. And when he drank…” My voice cracked. “He hit me.”

I felt Marcus’s muscles tense beneath my cheek, but his voice stayed gentle when he asked,

“And your mother?”

“Sometimes she defended me,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Sometimes she seemed… too broken to try. It depended on the day. On how hurt she was herself. On how many affairs she’d found out about that week.”

We sat in silence for a few moments. I could hear Marcus’s heart beating fast, and I knew my story was affecting him more than he was letting on.

“I don’t know if that’s what’s happening now,” I murmured, giving voice to the thought that had been haunting me for months. “I don’t know if she actually agrees with everything about Dominic and the plans he and my father have… or if she’s just too broken to protect me.”

Marcus pulled me into an even tighter embrace.

“You don’t need to worry about that right now,” he said firmly. “It’s not your responsibility to save your mother or to understand her choices. Your responsibility now is to take care of yourself and our baby.”

Our baby. The words still filled me with a mix of joy and fear.

“Oh,” Marcus said suddenly, like he’d just remembered something. “I almost forgot.”

He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small, elegant box.

“Fudge balls,” he announced. “To help calm you down.”

I couldn’t help laughing, even with tears still clinging to my lashes.

“You brought sweets to the hospital?”

“I brought sweets for you,” he corrected. “I remembered you talking about them last night at dinner and… Mia said I needed to show up with chocolate and a really good apology speech.”

I took one brigadeiro and popped it into my mouth. The rich, bittersweet chocolate exploded on my tongue, and an involuntary moan slipped out. I hadn’t realized just how badly I’d been craving it.

“Oh my God,” I murmured, licking my fingers. “This is incredible.”

Marcus smiled, and even in the dim light of the elevator I could see the relief in his eyes at seeing me react like myself again.

“About that apology speech,” he said, his voice turning more serious. “It’s true that I have secrets from my past.

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Chapter 431

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Secrets that still hurt. Things I’d rather keep locked away forever.”

I shifted slightly so I could look at him.

“On the way to the hospital, I thought of a thousand ways to apologize to you and tell you how much you matter to me,” he went on, “but always without having to open those wounds.”

He paused, running his fingers gently through my hair.

“And then here you are, telling me about your past pain like I’m the only person you trust enough to keep you safe,” he said quietly. “And that’s when I understood something.”

I held my breath.

“It’s about that,” he continued. “About knowing who you can be vulnerable with and still feel strong.”

“What exactly are you saying?” I asked softly, sensing we were standing on the edge of something important.

Marcus took a deep breath, like someone about to jump off a cliff.

“It’s about Aria.”

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