Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 615

Chapter 615

Gwen’s POV

I felt everyone at the table freeze at the exact same time, like someone had hit pause on a movie.

Then Nick stood up so fast he nearly knocked his chair over, the scrape of wood against stone far too loud in the sudden silence.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his volce sharper than I’d heard in weeks.

Renee gave a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Bella invited me,” she said sweetly, stepping closer to the table with slow, calculated movements.” Didn’t you, sweetheart? You told me your grandmother was making a special dinner tonight.”

Bella’s eyes went wide. She looked desperately at her father, then at me, and shook her head slightly.

“Of course you did,” Renee insisted smoothly. “You said your grandmother was making ragù, didn’t you, Bella?”

She was already pulling out an empty chair between Dante and Martina, sitting down as if she had been expected all along.

“But lamb stew is even better than ragù,” she added brightly, placing a napkin on her lap. “It’s my absolute favorite. Especially Martina’s.”

“Renee,” Nick said, still standing, rigid with tension, “this is a family dinner.”

“But I am family,” she replied with that sugary, poisonous tone. “I’m Bella’s mother. Or does that suddenly not count anymore?”

The silence that followed was thick. Suffocating.

Renee looked around the table slowly, her gaze lingering on each unfamiliar face.

“Hi, everyone,” she said with exaggerated cheer. “I’m Renee. Nick’s ex-wife. And you are?”

No one answered right away. Everyone was looking at Nick and me, waiting for direction.

Dante was the one who finally broke the tension.

“Dante,” he said easily, offering a polite smile. “Nice to meet you. Gwen’s cousin. And this is her brother Christian, her sister-in-law Zoey, and our cousin Mia.”

“What an elegant and beautiful family,” Renee commented, calmly serving herself some stew. “Did you all travel far for this dinner? It must be very special.”

I reached for Nick’s hand under the table and gently tugged downward, signaling for him to sit.

When he finally did, I leaned toward him and murmured softly, just for him to hear.

1/3

“It’s okay. Breathe. We’re not making a scene in front of Bella.”

His jaw tightened, but he gave the slightest nod and forced himself back into his seat beside me.

“So,” Renee continued, slicing into the meat delicately, “what exactly are we celebrating tonight? A birthday? A promotion? An engagement, perhaps?”

I felt Nick tense again.

“Just dinner,” I answered before he could speak. “Getting to know each other better. Spending time together. Nothing formal.”

“Ah,” Renee said lightly. “Well, that’s still lovely. Families meeting, blending. That usually means things are getting pretty serious between the two of you, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” Nick replied firmly, his tone making it clear the subject wasn’t open for discussion.

“How romantic,” Renee said, in a voice that somehow managed to sound both sweet and cutting at the

same time.

The conversation restarted, forced and brittle. Christian asked something neutral about the vineyards and the harvest. Nick answered mechanically, like he was on autopilot. Zoey attempted a light joke about

wine that landed flat.

Then Mia mentioned casually, trying to keep things normal, “The heat in Verdania is so different from here in Valentia. More humid. Heavier. When we visited Christian and Zoey, I thought I was going to melt.”

Renee visibly perked up, like a predator spotting movement.

“Verdania?” she repeated with exaggerated interest, turning fully toward Christian and Zoey. “You live there? How exotic… and interesting. And what exactly do you do there? It must be something important

to live so far from Valentia.”

Christian took a deliberately long sip of wine before answering, his face a flawless mask of polite

neutrality.

“Family business,” he said vaguely. “Nothing particularly exciting for dinner conversation.”

“Oh, but I love talking about business,” Renee insisted, leaning forward. “Especially successful family businesses. What field? Technology? Import-export?”

“Various investments,” Zoey answered when it became painfully clear Christian wasn’t going to elaborate.

“How interesting,” Renee said, clearly dissatisfied. “And you, Gwen?” she asked, feigning curiosity. “Didn’t you want to work in the family business too? Follow in your older brother’s footsteps?”

“I preferred to build my own life in Florentia,” I replied as calmly as I could.

“Admirable,” Renee said, though her tone suggested she meant the opposite. “It must be hard living away from family in another city.”

2/3

sonus

“We see each other whenever we can,” Zoey added, trying to soften the edge. “It’s never a bad time for good wine and Valentian food.”

“And speaking of wine, the vineyards are looking especially beautiful this year,” Martina interjected, trying to redirect the conversation. “The harvest promises to be excellent.”

But Renee wasn’t distracted. Not even a little.

“Whenever you can,” she repeated slowly, as if tasting the words. “That must cost a fortune, doesn’t it? Those Verdania-Valentia flights aren’t exactly cheap.”

She paused, her gaze sweeping deliberately around the table.

“But I imagine that’s not an issue when the family is obviously successful, right? You can tell immediately. From Zoey’s elegant posture. From Mia’s clearly expensive, tailored clothes. From Christian’s discreet but very costly watch…”

She let the silence stretch.

“And of course,” she added smoothly, “from the genuine diamond necklace Gwen gave my daughter.”

P

Comments

Support

Share

+2

3/3