Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 604

Chapter 604

Gwen’s POV

I woke up to sunlight pouring in through the opening at the top of the tower.

It took me a few seconds to fully process where I was. The soft cushions beneath me. The colorful

still clinging to my skin.

blanket pulled up to my bare shoulder. Nick’s so

I turned my head.

He was already awake. Propped up on one elbow, watching me in that way that always made my heart speed up.

“How long have you been up?” I asked, my voice rough with sleep.

“A while,” he said, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I couldn’t stop looking.”

“Why?” I asked, suddenly shy under his gaze.

He reached out, his fingers brushing gently along my cheek, sliding down the line of my jaw.

“Because I still can’t quite believe you’re here,” he said. “With me.”

I leaned in and kissed him slowly. Different from the urgent kisses the night before. This one was soft.

Promising. Like a beginning instead of an ending.

When we pulled apart, he rested his forehead against mine.

“We could stay here all day,” he murmured.

“We could,” I agreed. “But Bella’s probably already up. And Martina’s going to start wondering where we

are.”

He sighed dramatically.

“Responsibilities.”

“Responsibilities,” I repeated with a smile.

We got dressed slowly, searching for clothes scattered among the cushions. Laughing when he found my bra hanging from one of the lantern hooks on the wall.

Going down the tower was easier in the daylight. Even so, Nick held my hand, guiding me along the

uneven steps.

We walked back toward the main house. The sun was already high, it had to be at least nine in the morning. Late by the property’s standards, where everyone woke up early,

When we stepped through the front door, Paula was coming out of the kitchen carrying a basket of laundry.

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She froze when she saw us.

Her eyes moved from me to Nick and back again. Taking in the same clothes from yesterday. The messy hair. The way we were still holding hands.

“Good morning,” she said, a smile spreading across her face. “Sleep well?”

“Good morning, Paula,” Nick replied, trying to sound casual and failing miserably.

“Mhm,” she hummed, stepping closer to me.

She reached up and pulled something from my hair. A small twig with leaves that had probably gotten caught during… well.

“You’ve got something here,” she said, showing me the branch before dropping it to the floor with a huge

grin.

My face went completely hot.

“Breakfast in thirty minutes!” Paula called as she headed down the hall, unable to hide her laughter.

Nick and I stood there, staring at each other.

Then we started laughing too. Awkwardly.

“I’m going upstairs,” I said, still laughing. “To shower. And change.’

“Good idea,” he agreed. “Me too.”

But neither of us moved for a few seconds. We just stood there, smiling at each other like idiots.

Eventually I made my way upstairs to the room I used whenever I stayed at the estate. I stepped into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and let the water heat up while I peeled off yesterday’s wrinkled clothes.

The shower was quick but necessary. Washing the smell of sweat and sex from my skin, even though part of me wanted to keep it. That physical reminder of what we’d done.

I changed into clean clothes. Jeans and a simple top. I ran my fingers through my damp hair, trying to make myself look somewhat presentable.

When I looked at myself in the mirror, I barely recognized the expression on my face.

I was smiling in a way I hadn’t in years.

I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, just trying to process it.

I had never actively decided to shut myself off from love. It had just… happened. After everything I’d been through, after him, it had felt safer not to let anyone get too close.

I’d tried. Matthew had been wonderful. Patient. Understanding. But I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let myself love him back the way he deserved. And it didn’t feel fair to pull someone into my confusion, my walls, my unresolved trauma.

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That was why I understood Nick so well now. Understood why he’d tried to push me away. The fear of not being enough. Of dragging someone into a complicated life.

Maybe I needed that fall. Needed to forget who I was completely so I could remember who I used to be.

Someone who could love. Someone who dreamed of having a family. Someone who believed in happy

endings.

Before he destroyed all of that.

The memories came without warning, like they always did. Carefully filed away for years, but never really

gone.

I had been four months pregnant. I’d chosen to leave him, to raise that child on my own because I knew

it would never work between us.

But he wouldn’t accept it. Wouldn’t accept that I could make a decision without him. He kept calling. Showing up wherever I was. Saying he wanted to talk.

That day, he had insisted so much that I finally agreed. I got into the car thinking we’d have a civilized conversation about how to make things work.

But he was angry. Maybe drunk, even though it was noon. His eyes had that glassy look that should have warned me immediately.

He ran a red light. Cut off cars. Drove into oncoming traffic for seconds that felt like forever.

“Stop!” I had screamed, gripping the dashboard. “For the love of God, stop the car!”

He didn’t stop.

“If you insist on having this child and ruining my life, I’ll end this once and for all.”

I remember the truck coming straight at us. The screech of brakes. The impact.

And then, nothing.

I woke up in the hospital three days later. He had walked away without a scratch. I had lost the baby. And with it, my ability to believe that love was something safe. Something worth the risk.

Tears slipped down my face before I could stop them. Crying for that life that never happened. For the child I never got to meet. For all the years I spent blaming myself in some way.

I

“Gwen?”

Bella’s small voice made me lift my head quickly.

She was standing in the doorway, looking at me with those big, worried eyes.

“Are you crying?” she asked, walking closer.

I wiped my tears quickly, trying to smile.

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“I’m okay, sweetheart. I just… remembered something sad.”

Bella climbed onto the bed beside me, sitting close.

“I saved the panna cotta,” she said seriously. “Like you asked. It’s in the fridge.”

Something broke open in my chest. Something that had been closed for a very long time.

I looked at that beautiful little girl. At her trusting eyes. At the smile she gave me like I was the most important person in the world in that moment.

And I realized.

Now I could let myself dream about having a family again.

It wouldn’t be the family I imagined when I was younger. It wouldn’t be that baby I lost. But it would be real. It would be my choice. It would be built on love instead of illusion.

Because of Bella. Because of Nick. Because of an icy staircase that had made me forget everything so I

could remember what really mattered.

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