Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 620

Chapter 620

Gwen’s POV

By Sunday night, the estate was quiet.

Most of the guests had either left or were already asleep in their rooms. The staff had gone home hours

Even Martina and Paula had turned in for the night.

ago.

It was just me and Nick in the big kitchen, lit only by the pendant lights above the central island.

“So,” Nick said with that playful smile that completely disarmed me, “after that story Christian told me about your very… unique… culinary skills, I figured it was more than time for you to learn a family recipe.”

I laughed, shaking my head.

“I knew he was going to ruin me,” I muttered. “I knew I couldn’t trust that traitor.”

Nick chuckled and pulled over a baking tray with pizza dough that had already been prepped and rested, covered with a clean cloth.

“Don’t worry,” he assured me, still teasing. “It’s something really simple. And it definitely doesn’t require advanced cutting skills like… slicing a tomato.”

“My hand is deeply grateful,” I shot back, stepping up to the counter where he had arranged all the ingredients with almost obsessive care.

Homemade tomato sauce in a ceramic bowl. Freshly sliced cheese. Basil picked straight from the herb garden. Extra virgin olive oil in an old unlabeled bottle. A few other ingredients I vaguely recognized.

“This was the first thing I taught Bella,” Nick said as he spread the dough across the tray with quick, practiced movements. “How to assemble a pizza.”

“How to assemble a pizza?” I asked, genuinely surprised.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “We leave the dough for level two. First, you learn not to dump half a pound of cheese on one side and leave the rest completely empty.”

I laughed at the mental image.

“That sounds exactly like something I would do.”

He handed me a wooden spoon,

“Start by spreading the sauce,” he instructed. “It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just… even enough.”

I dipped the spoon into the red sauce that smelled like fresh basil, garlic, and something I couldn’t quite place but instantly wanted to taste.

I started spreading it over the dough. Nick stood beside me, watching closely, occasionally adjusting my hand when I added too much in one spot.

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His fingers brushed mine. His body was close enough that I could feel his warmth.

“Now the cheese,” he said softly, placing a few slices strategically over the sauce. “See? Not too close to the edges. Leave some space so the crust can rise and get crispy.”

I copied his movements, adding more cheese. Our hands met again when we both reached for the same slice at the same time.

Nick took the opportunity to steal a quick kiss.

“Focus,” I teased, nudging him lightly with my shoulder.

“I am focused,” he protested with mock innocence. “Completely focused.”

He grabbed a spoon, dipped it into the sauce, and held it up to my mouth.

“Taste,” he offered. “Family recipe.”

I did. The flavor of fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, and a hint of red wine burst across my tongue.

“It’s perfect,” I said honestly.

But Nick didn’t pull his hand away. Instead, he brushed his thumb across the corner of my mouth.

“You’ve got some tomato sauce right here,” he murmured, his eyes fixed on my lips.

“Liar,” I accused, but I didn’t move away.

He smiled and leaned in to kiss the exact spot where his thumb had been seconds before.

“Now you don’t,” he said against my skin.

We finished assembling the pizza together, our hands constantly brushing, stealing touches, sharing quiet smiles. We added more toppings. Black olives. Capers. A final drizzle of olive oil over the top.

Nick slid the tray into the preheated oven and set the timer.

“Fifteen minutes,” he announced. “Enough time to…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. He just pulled me into his arms and kissed me for real this time. Slow. Unhurried. No interruptions.

When we finally broke apart, both of us breathing a little faster, he rested his forehead against mine, his hands still warm at my waist.

“You know what I love most about this kitchen?” he murmured against my lips.

“What?”

“That from now on, every time I walk in here, I’ll remember you with tomato sauce on your face.”

I laughed and lightly smacked his chest. “So romantic.”

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“I am,” he agreed, kissing me again, softer this time.

The oven timer started beeping, forcing us apart. Nick pulled the pizza out carefully and set it on the

counter to cool.

We stood there side by side, looking at our joint creation.

“We should save Bella a slice, or she’ll never forgive us for making pizza without her.”

I smiled at that.

“I love how close you two are,” I said. “The way she trusts you completely.”

“I hope it stays that way when she grows up,” he admitted, that honest vulnerability that always undid me slipping into his voice. “That she’ll still want to spend time with me. That she’ll still tell me things.”

“She will,” I said firmly. “You build that kind of bond from childhood. And you know exactly what you’re doing. She’ll always love you. She’ll always trust you.”

I went quiet for a few seconds, gathering courage.

“Do you ever think about having more?” I asked finally. “Kids?”

Nick paused, his fingers absently playing with a strand of my hair.

“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “I think so. I mean… it’s not something I’ve seriously sat down and planned out, but… it’s natural, right? Building a family with the person you love.”,

I couldn’t stop the huge smile that spread across my face.

“It is,” I agreed. “I want that too. Very much.”

“Really?” he asked, looking genuinely moved and a little surprised.

“Really,” I confirmed without hesitation.

We just stood there, looking at each other, the air thick with unspoken promises and imaginable futures.

“And you?” Nick asked eventually. “Would you move here to the estate for good?”

The question caught me off guard.

I thought about it honestly. As much as I loved it there, and God knew how deeply I loved this place, these people, this simple and authentic life, I didn’t want to give up my role as COO of Kensington. It was what I loved professionally. It was who I was beyond being someone’s girlfriend, beyond being a future wife, beyond being a future mother.

At the same time, Christian managed an entire empire from a mansion in Verdania, I was only a few hours’ drive from Florentia.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe… maybe we’d have to adapt. But we could do that, right? Find a balance. Make it work.”

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“We could,” Nick agreed without hesitation.

I took a deep breath.

We were talking about it. About the future. About kids. About living together. About building a life.

Maybe this was the moment.

“Besides,” I continued, forcing my voice to stay steady, “you’ve never really seen my life in Florentia.”

Nick blinked, confused.

“I thought it was just that office job,” he said lightly. “You know, paperwork, emails, the kind of stuff you do to pay the bills while waiting for the right opportunity to show up. And an apartment you barely use because you’re always here with me.”

I let out a humorless laugh.

“Not exactly,” I said slowly. “Florentia has… its own charm. My life there has its own charm. It’s very different from what you have here, but… I still like it. It still matters to me.”

I hesitated.

“Would you… want to spend a weekend there with me?” I asked, my heart racing. “See where I live? How I live when I’m not here?”

Nick was quiet for a second longer than I liked, as if weighing whether it was worth leaving his mountain paradise.

Then he smiled.

“Of course,” he said simply. “I want to know everything about you, Gwen. Everything that makes you happy. Every part of your life.”

Something tightened in my chest.

That was it.

The first step toward the truth had been taken.

There was no going back.

When Nick saw my life in Florentia, there would be no way for me to keep being just Gwen Parker.

I was Gwen Kensington.

And he was going to find out.

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