Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 706

Chapter 706

Nick’s POV

When the social worker finished the sentence about the “current court order,” something primal rose in me. An instinct to grab my daughter and disappear.

Martina made a soft, broken sound. Gwen went completely still, her hand resting over her stomach, like her body had absorbed the blow before her mind did.

Bella was wrapped around my legs, her face buried in my pants like I was the only safe place left in the world. I ran my hand through her hair slowly, repeating “I’m here” more for myself than for her, because I needed to remember I could still stand upright.

She lifted her tear-soaked face and looked at me with a clarity no child should have.

“I don’t want to go,” she whispered.

The words hit me like something solid.

The man with the folder shuffled his papers.

“Mr. Valemont-”

“I understand,” I cut in, without raising my voice. “I just need a minute.”

I crouched down to Bella’s level.

“Princess…” I said, and it took everything in me not to let the word turn into desperation. “Look at me.”

She did.

Her eyes were red, but steady.

“Do you remember what I told you yesterday?” I asked.

She frowned, trying to follow.

“That… I didn’t do anything wrong?” she guessed.

I swallowed.

“That’s right. You didn’t do anything wrong for wanting to be with me. But you did put yourself in danger,” I said, with as much gentleness and as little blame as I could manage. “And now the grown-ups are trying to fix this in their way.”

She sniffed.

“I have to go back,” she said, like the word tasted dirty.

I looked at Cross. My hand clenched in the air, like I could grab onto an idea.

“What if I say no?” I asked quietly.

Cross leaned closer, his voice even lower.

“If you say no and walk out with her right now, you feed the kidnapping narrative.” He gestured subtly toward my phone. “And then they get an emergency order against you.”

My body went rigid.

He didn’t soften it.

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“If you act on impulse, you lose her legally.” He paused. The pause was worse than the sentence. “For good.”

I closed my eyes for a second.

For good.

When I opened them, Bella was staring at me like she expected me to flip the world upside down. I could.

The problem was the cost.

Gwen stepped closer. She didn’t touch me. She just stood there, steady, like her presence was saying: I’m here with you, but don’t let desperation drive.

“We’ll respond today,” Cross added. “Emergency motion. Protective measures. Everything. But right now… you need to stay inside the law.”

I nodded once.

It was the hardest movement of my life.

The man with the folder cleared his throat, trying to reclaim control.

“We can proceed with the transfer under supervision,” he said. “The mother is already waiting in the garage.”

I stood up slowly.

Bella clung to me again.

“Daddy, please,” she cried, the words breaking apart. “Please.”

My chest actually hurt.

I picked Bella up. She curled into me instantly, folding herself against my chest like she could disappear inside it.

“Let’s go downstairs,” I said to everyone, but really I was saying it to myself.

The walk to the garage felt endless. Elevator. Hallway. Footsteps. Every step was another chance to do something reckless. Every step echoed Cross’s warning in my head.

In the garage, the air was colder, thick with the smell of concrete and fuel,

Renee was waiting, scene perfectly arranged. Eyes slightly red. Mouth tense in just the right way. Her attorney at her side. Not too composed. Not too unhinged,

“Isabella,” she called, voice soft and sweet. “My love.”

Bella shrank against me.

Her fingers twisted tighter in my shirt like I might vanish.

Renee took two steps forward.

“It’s okay,” she said gently. “Mommy’s here.”

I felt Gwen at my side, silent. Martina stood a few feet back, rigid, holding herself together like she was bracing against an earthquake.

The man with the folder spoke quietly with Renee’s lawyer. Technical words. Names confirmed. Time noted. Documents acknowledged. Clean. Controlled.

And all I could feel was the weight of my daughter in my arms.

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“Daddy, please,” Bella whispered again, softer now, like asking quietly might hurt less. “Please.”

I looked at Cross.

I swear, for one second, I almost did it.

I almost turned and walked away.

Cross didn’t need to repeat himself. He just met my eyes and gave the smallest shake of his head.

No.

I lowered my face to Bella’s ear.

“Princess,” I murmured.

She sobbed against my neck.

“Do you remember that story I told you the other day? About the princess in the tower?”

Bella cried, but nodded.

“There was a princess who was different from everyone else in the kingdom,” I said quietly. “She was smart and brave. She saw things adults pretended weren’t there.”

Bella held her breath.

“One day, someone put that princess in a tower,” I continued. “They said it was punishment. They said she had ’caused trouble.’ But it wasn’t a punishment. It was a place she had to stay for a little while, because the tower was the only place no one could truly reach her.”

Bella’s tear-filled eyes lifted to mine.

“And while she was there…” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady, “she gathered strength. She learned. She watched. She thought. She became the most powerful princess in the kingdom on the inside.”

“Powerful…” Bella repeated softly.

“Yes.” I pressed my forehead to hers. “And when the day came for her to leave the tower, no one could push her anywhere ever again. She walked out on her own. And she saved everyone who needed saying. Even the little animals no one paid attention to.”

Bella closed her eyes for a moment.

I swallowed the urge to break apart.

“You’re that princess, understand?” I said. “For now, you’re going back with your mom because there’s a tower called paperwork. And we have to get through that tower the right way.”

Bella sobbed.

“I don’t want to,” she said.

“I know. I don’t want to either.” I held her tighter, and my voice almost broke. “But here’s what you’re going to think I’m going there to get stronger. And very soon, Daddy will come get me. And I’ll be the most powerful princess in the kingdom.

”

Bella looked at me.

For a second, I saw a child trying to make sense of an adult world.

Then she nodded slowly, like she was accepting a mission.

“Okay…” she whispered through tears.

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I kissed her forehead.

“I love you,” I breathed.

“I love you,” she answered, her voice so small it nearly shattered me.

I set her down.

She resisted for one second. Just her body holding on.

Then she let go.

Renee opened her arms.

Bella looked at me one last time.

I nodded, holding everything inside.

She went.

And when her arms left my body, it felt like someone had torn something out of me I didn’t know could be removed.

Renee’s attorney said something about schedules and “formal communication.” I didn’t hear a word.

All I saw was my daughter walking away, crying quietly, whispering to herself like it was a spell, “Powerful…”

And I stood there with empty hands, waiting for the moment I’d be allowed to turn the kingdom upside down.

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